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person_profile-Hank Patterson

Hank Patterson Died at age: 86

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Hank Patterson

Date of Birth:

Oct 09, 1888

Country of birth:

USA

Died:

Aug 23, 1975

Biography of

Hank Patterson

    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."

Photos of

Hank Patterson

Photos ( 2 Photos

Filmography of

Hank Patterson

Found 51 Movies in total

The Absent-Minded Professor

Fisherman Spectator (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1961

Gunfighters of Abilene

Andy Ferris ( Actor )

... 1960

Lone Texan

Jack Stone (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1959

... 1959

Monster on the Campus

Townsend - Night Watchman ( Actor )

... 1958

The Decks Ran Red

Moody ( Actor )

... 1958

The Saga of Hemp Brown

Gil Henry ( Actor )

... 1958

Terror in a Texas Town

Brady ( Actor )

... 1958

Earth vs. the Spider

Hugo ( Actor )

... 1958

Attack of the Puppet People

Theater Janitor ( Actor )

... 1958

... 1957

Gunsight Ridge

George Clark (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1957

Beginning of the End

Dave ( Actor )

... 1957

The Storm Rider

Milstead ( Actor )

... 1957

Julie

Ellis ( Actor )

... 1956

Strange Intruder

Knife Grinder ( Actor )

... 1956

The First Traveling Saleslady

Courtroom Spectator ( Actor )

... 1956

Tarantula

Josh ( Actor )

... 1955

Phantom Trails

Jess Morgan ( Actor )

... 1955

Southwest Passage

Barstow ( Actor )

... 1954

Jack Slade

Old Tom ( Actor )

... 1953

... 1953

... 1952

Don Daredevil Rides Again

Buck Bender ( Actor )

... 1951

Silver City Bonanza

Postman ( Actor )

... 1951

Blades of the Musketeers

The Old Fisherman ( Actor )

... 1950

Desperadoes of the West

Hardrock Haggerty ( Actor )

... 1950

The Return of Jesse James

Clay County Marshal ( Actor )

... 1950

The Gunfighter

Jake (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1950

No Sad Songs for Me

Night Construction Workman (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1950

Code of the Silver Sage

Sergeant Woods ( Actor )

... 1950

The Cowboy and the Indians

Ranch hand Tom ( Actor )

... 1949

The James Brothers of Missouri

Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11] ( Actor )

... 1949

The Denver Kid

Sergeant Cooper ( Actor )

... 1948

Night Time in Nevada

Tramp ( Actor )

... 1948

Relentless

Bob Pliny (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1948

Panhandle

Old Timer (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1948

Oklahoma Badlands

Postmaster Fred ( Actor )

... 1948

Under Colorado Skies

Slim ( Actor )

... 1947

Springtime in the Sierras

Old-Timer ( Actor )

... 1947

Robin Hood Of Texas

Guest ( Actor )

... 1947

Bells of San Angelo

Deaf bus passenger ( Actor )

... 1947

Duel in the Sun

Man (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1946

Santa Fe Uprising

Deputy Jake ( Actor )

... 1946

The El Paso Kid

Jeff Winters ( Actor )

... 1946

Abilene Town

Doug Neil ( Actor )

... 1946

Three Faces West

Pool Player ( Actor )

... 1940

Sabotage

(uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1939

The Arizona Kid

Townsman ( Actor )

... 1939