Cheater Gunsmoke

Cheater Gunsmoke
Publication information
Created by	Chester Gould

Cheater Gunsmoke is a fictional character in the Dick Tracy cartoon series. He was voiced by veteran voice-over performer Paul Frees.

Fictional character biography

Cheater speaks with a Southern accent. A chainsmoker, his head is always enwreathed by smoke. In fact, in a later short of his, a bucket of water is thrown at him, and instead of dissipating, the smoke cloud simply gets wet and droops, as if it were solid.

Gunsmoke first appears in the eponymously titled short Cheater Gunsmoke, in which he attempts to steal cigarettes and cigars from Fumbles Department Store. Detective Heap O'Callory (whose voice is patterned after that of Andy Devine) is assigned by Tracy (voiced by Everett Sloane) to pursue and apprehend him.

Cheater later appears in the short Tobacco Load, again scheming to steal cigars. Detective Hemlock Holmes (a British bulldog, whose voice is modeled after that of Cary Grant) and the Retouchables (somewhat of a cross between the Keystone Cops [in their bumbling ineptitude] and The Untouchables [in name, at least]) thwart Cheater in his efforts to cross the border, as well as in his final attempt to get them all stuck in a glue trap.

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