1888-10-09 Springville, Alabama, USA
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."
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The Absent-Minded Professor | Fisherman Spectator (uncredited) | 1961-03-16 |
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Gunfighters of Abilene | Andy Ferris | 1960-01-01 |
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Gunmen from Laredo | 1959-03-01 | |
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Lone Texan | Jack Stone (uncredited) | 1959-03-01 |
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The Decks Ran Red | Moody | 1958-10-10 |
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Attack of the Puppet People | Theater Janitor | 1958-04-01 |
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Monster on the Campus | Townsend - Night Watchman | 1958-12-17 |
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Attack of the Puppet People | Night Manager | 1958-04-01 |
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The Saga of Hemp Brown | Gil Henry | 1958-10-01 |
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Earth vs. the Spider | Hugo | 1958-09-01 |
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Terror in a Texas Town | Brady | 1958-09-01 |
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Gunsight Ridge | George Clark (uncredited) | 1957-09-01 |
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Beginning of the End | Dave | 1957-06-28 |
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The Amazing Colossal Man | Henry | 1957-10-25 |
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The Storm Rider | Milstead | 1957-03-01 |
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The First Traveling Saleslady | Courtroom Spectator | 1956-08-01 |
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Strange Intruder | Knife Grinder | 1956-09-02 |
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Julie | Ellis | 1956-10-17 |
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Phantom Trails | Jess Morgan | 1955-05-08 |
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Tarantula | Josh | 1955-12-14 |
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Southwest Passage | Barstow | 1954-04-01 |
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Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders | Jed Larson | 1953-07-08 |
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Jack Slade | Old Tom | 1953-11-08 |
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California Conquest | 1952-07-04 | |
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Silver City Bonanza | Postman | 1951-03-01 |
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Don Daredevil Rides Again | Buck Bender | 1951-04-10 |
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The Return of Jesse James | Clay County Marshal | 1950-08-01 |
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Blades of the Musketeers | The Old Fisherman | 1950-11-24 |
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No Sad Songs for Me | Night Construction Workman (uncredited) | 1950-04-27 |
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Desperadoes of the West | Hardrock Haggerty | 1950-08-02 |
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The Gunfighter | Jake (uncredited) | 1950-06-23 |
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Code of the Silver Sage | Sergeant Woods | 1950-03-25 |
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The James Brothers of Missouri | Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11] | 1949-08-31 |
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The Cowboy and the Indians | Ranch hand Tom | 1949-09-15 |
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Night Time in Nevada | Tramp | 1948-09-05 |
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Panhandle | Old Timer (uncredited) | 1948-02-22 |
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Oklahoma Badlands | Postmaster Fred | 1948-02-22 |
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The Denver Kid | Sergeant Cooper | 1948-09-30 |
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Relentless | Bob Pliny (uncredited) | 1948-06-15 |
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Springtime in the Sierras | Old-Timer | 1947-07-15 |
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Robin Hood Of Texas | Guest | 1947-07-15 |
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Bells of San Angelo | Deaf bus passenger | 1947-04-15 |
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Robin Hood Of Texas | Taxi Driver | 1947-07-15 |
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Under Colorado Skies | Slim | 1947-12-15 |
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The El Paso Kid | Jeff Winters | 1946-05-22 |
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Abilene Town | Doug Neil | 1946-01-11 |
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Santa Fe Uprising | Deputy Jake | 1946-11-15 |
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Duel in the Sun | Man (uncredited) | 1946-12-31 |
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Three Faces West | Pool Player | 1940-07-03 |
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Sabotage | (uncredited) | 1939-10-13 |
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The Arizona Kid | Townsman | 1939-09-28 |
