Hank Patterson (born Elmer Calvin Patterson; October 9, 1888 – August 23, 1975) was an American actor and musician. He is known foremost for playing two recurring characters on three television series: the stableman Hank Miller on Gunsmoke and farmer Fred Ziffel on both Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.
Hank Patterson (born Elmer Calvin Patterson; October 9, 1888 – August 23, 1975) was an American actor and musician. He is known foremost for playing two recurring characters on three television series: the stableman Hank Miller on Gunsmoke and farmer Fred Ziffel on both Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.
Patterson found plenty of movie work, mainly playing cantankerous types as well as blacksmiths, hotel clerks, farmers, shopkeepers and other townsmen, usually bit roles and character parts in Republic Pictures westerns, and then in popular juvenile TV westerns such as The Cisco Kid, The Adventures of Kit Carson, The Lone Ranger, and Annie Oakley.
Patterson played recurring or different roles in adult/family TV westerns, including the role of "Hank Miller" in 33 episodes of Gunsmoke from 1962 through 1972, on Have Gun-Will Travel (eleven episodes), Death Valley Days (nine episodes), Tales of Wells Fargo (seven episodes), Maverick (four episodes), Cheyenne (four episodes), Wagon Train (three episodes), Daniel Boone (three episodes), The Virginian (two episodes), The Rifleman, Bonanza, and in episodes of Lawman, Bat Masterson, The Restless Gun, and many others.
He made additional TV appearances, including three episodes of The Twilight Zone as well as Perry Mason, Burke's Law, The Untouchables, Judd for the Defense, My Three Sons, and in later years The Mod Squad and Love, American Style.Highway Patrol.
In 1963 Patterson first appeared in what would become a recurring role as farmer Fred Ziffel on the popular CBS rural comedy Petticoat Junction. In 1965 CBS debuted another rural comedy, Green Acres. Both series were set in the mythical farming community of Hooterville, with characters from Petticoat Junction often also appearing in Green Acres, including Patterson's Fred Ziffel character. It was on the popular, irreverent Green Acres that Patterson earned his greatest fame. In 1965 and 1966—two of the years in which the two series ran concurrently—Patterson frequently appeared in both shows in the same week on primetime.
The association of Patterson's character with the popular character Arnold, the pet pig whom Fred and his wife Doris treated as a son, ensured Patterson a place in TV history. Arnold attended school, watched TV and was a talented artist, piano player, and actor. He even "talked" (snorted, grunted and squealed) in a language that everyone in Hooterville seemed to understand except Oliver Wendell Douglas (Green Acres co-star Eddie Albert).
According to westernclippings.com "Characters and Heavies" by Boyd Magers, "Ironically, by the time Patterson was doing 'Green Acres' he was in his late 70s and almost completely deaf, but the producers loved his portrayal so much they worked around his hearing impairment by having the dialogue coach lying on the floor out-of-shot tapping Hank's leg with a yardstick as a cue to speak his line."
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0666230
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3126803
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Filmography (Movies)
The Absent-Minded Professor
Character:Fisherman Spectator (uncredited)
Release Date:20/01/1961
Gunfighters of Abilene
Character:Andy Ferris
Release Date:01/01/1960
Lone Texan
Character:Jack Stone (uncredited)
Release Date:01/03/1959
Gunmen from Laredo
Character:
Release Date:01/03/1959
No Name on the Bullet
Character:Ed - Chess Player (uncredited)
Release Date:01/02/1959
Monster on the Campus
Character:Townsend - Night Watchman
Release Date:15/10/1958
The Decks Ran Red
Character:Moody
Release Date:10/10/1958
The Saga of Hemp Brown
Character:Gil Henry
Release Date:05/09/1958
Terror in a Texas Town
Character:Brady
Release Date:01/09/1958
Earth vs. the Spider
Character:Hugo
Release Date:01/09/1958
Attack of the Puppet People
Character:Night Manager
Release Date:01/04/1958
Attack of the Puppet People
Character:Theater Janitor
Release Date:01/04/1958
The Amazing Colossal Man
Character:Henry
Release Date:25/10/1957
Gunsight Ridge
Character:George Clark (uncredited)
Release Date:01/09/1957
Beginning of the End
Character:Dave
Release Date:28/06/1957
The Storm Rider
Character:Milstead
Release Date:01/03/1957
Julie
Character:Ellis
Release Date:17/10/1956
Strange Intruder
Character:Knife Grinder
Release Date:02/09/1956
The First Traveling Saleslady
Character:Courtroom Spectator
Release Date:01/08/1956
Tarantula
Character:Josh
Release Date:29/10/1955
Phantom Trails
Character:Jess Morgan
Release Date:08/05/1955
Southwest Passage
Character:Barstow
Release Date:01/04/1954
Jack Slade
Character:Old Tom
Release Date:08/11/1953
Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders
Character:Jed Larson
Release Date:08/07/1953
California Conquest
Character:
Release Date:04/07/1952
Don Daredevil Rides Again
Character:Buck Bender
Release Date:10/04/1951
Silver City Bonanza
Character:Postman
Release Date:01/03/1951
Blades of the Musketeers
Character:The Old Fisherman
Release Date:24/11/1950
Desperadoes of the West
Character:Hardrock Haggerty
Release Date:02/08/1950
The Return of Jesse James
Character:Clay County Marshal
Release Date:01/08/1950
The Gunfighter
Character:Jake (uncredited)
Release Date:26/05/1950
No Sad Songs for Me
Character:Night Construction Workman (uncredited)
Release Date:27/04/1950
Code of the Silver Sage
Character:Sergeant Woods
Release Date:25/03/1950
The Cowboy and the Indians
Character:Tom
Release Date:15/09/1949
The James Brothers of Missouri
Character:Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11]
Release Date:31/08/1949
The Denver Kid
Character:Sergeant Cooper
Release Date:30/09/1948
Night Time in Nevada
Character:Tramp
Release Date:05/09/1948
Relentless
Character:Bob Pliny (uncredited)
Release Date:15/06/1948
Panhandle
Character:Old Timer (uncredited)
Release Date:22/02/1948
Oklahoma Badlands
Character:Postmaster Fred
Release Date:22/02/1948
Under Colorado Skies
Character:Slim
Release Date:15/12/1947
Springtime in the Sierras
Character:Old-Timer
Release Date:15/07/1947
Robin Hood Of Texas
Character:Taxi Driver
Release Date:15/07/1947
Robin Hood Of Texas
Character:Guest
Release Date:15/07/1947
Bells of San Angelo
Character:Deaf bus passenger
Release Date:15/04/1947
Duel in the Sun
Character:Man (uncredited)
Release Date:31/12/1946
Santa Fe Uprising
Character:Deputy Jake
Release Date:15/11/1946
The El Paso Kid
Character:Jeff Winters
Release Date:22/05/1946
Abilene Town
Character:Doug Neil
Release Date:11/01/1946
Three Faces West
Character:Pool Player
Release Date:03/07/1940
Sabotage
Character:(uncredited)
Release Date:13/10/1939
The Arizona Kid
Character:Townsman
Release Date:28/09/1939
Television Appearances
Love, American Style
Character:Farmer
The Mod Squad
Character:
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Character:
Cimarron Strip
Character:
Custer
Character:
The Loner
Character:The Bartender
Laredo
Character:
Green Acres
Character:Fred Ziffel
The Legend of Jesse James
Character:Porter
Daniel Boone
Character:Jed Harper (uncredited)
Daniel Boone
Character:Fiddler
Daniel Boone
Character:Gray
Petticoat Junction
Character:Fred Ziffell
Burke's Law
Character:Lukey Slade
The Beverly Hillbillies
Character:
The Virginian
Character:Old Man
Straightaway
Character:
87th Precinct
Character:
Miami Undercover
Character:
Mister Ed
Character:
The Andy Griffith Show
Character:Hobo
The Westerner
Character:Sample
The Tall Man
Character:
The Alaskans
Character:
The Twilight Zone
Character:Old Man
Johnny Ringo
Character:Old Man
The Twilight Zone
Character:Mr. Gentry
The Twilight Zone
Character:Freitag
Lock-Up
Character:
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Character:Mr. Phillips
Riverboat
Character:Rare
Riverboat
Character:Johnny Mullins (uncredited)
Bonanza
Character:Blacksmith
Black Saddle
Character:Harvey Morgan
Rawhide
Character:Simpson
Bat Masterson
Character:Prospector
Bat Masterson
Character:Soda Smith
Bat Masterson
Character:Warren T. 'Soda' Smith
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Character:
The Rifleman
Character:
The Texan
Character:
Bronco
Character:
Bronco
Character:Railroad Costigan
Sea Hunt
Character:
The New Adventures of Spin and Marty
Character:Pete Duggan
Trackdown
Character:
Perry Mason
Character:Jack Gilly
Have Gun, Will Travel
Character:
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Character:Slim Baker
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Character:Jonas Mulvey
Highway Patrol
Character:
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
Character:
Navy Log
Character:
Gunsmoke
Character:Jake
Gunsmoke
Character:Carl
Gunsmoke
Character:Crowbait
Gunsmoke
Character:Judge
Gunsmoke
Character:Carl Miller
Gunsmoke
Character:Cowboy
Gunsmoke
Character:Hank Miller
Gunsmoke
Character:Hank
Gunsmoke
Character:Hank Miller (uncredited)
Gunsmoke
Character:Livery Man
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Character:
Buffalo Bill Jr.
Character:
City Detective
Character:
The Abbott and Costello Show
Character:The Tramp
Death Valley Days
Character:Phi Jones
Hopalong Cassidy
Character:
Gang Busters
Character:
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Character:
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Character:
The Lone Ranger
Character:Calico
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