Q Did Ken Curtis, who played Festus on Gunsmoke, ever sing with the Sons of the Pioneers?
—V. Smith, Williamsport, Pa.
Colorado-born Curtis was a Big Band singer before he found his way to Hollywood. Prior to joining the TV series Gunsmoke as cantankerous deputy Festus Haggen in 1964, he sang with the Sons of the Pioneers from 1949 to 1952 (and rejoined them briefly in the studio in 1955). He died of a heart attack in 1991 at the age of 74, and his ashes were scattered on the Colorado flatlands.
