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."
Acted in
The Mod Squad
1968
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
Cimarron Strip
1967
Custer
1967
The Loner
1965
as The Bartender
Laredo
1965
Green Acres
1965
as Fred Ziffel
The Legend of Jesse James
1965
as Porter
Daniel Boone
1964
as Jed Harper (uncredited)
Daniel Boone
1964
as Gray
Daniel Boone
1964
as Fiddler
Petticoat Junction
1963
as Fred Ziffell
Burke's Law
1963
as Lukey Slade
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
The Virginian
1962
as Old Man
Straightaway
1961
87th Precinct
1961
The Absent-Minded Professor
1961
as Fisherman Spectator (uncredited)
Miami Undercover
1961
Mister Ed
1961
The Andy Griffith Show
1960
as Hobo
The Westerner
1960
as Sample
The Tall Man
1960
Gunfighters of Abilene
1960
as Andy Ferris
The Alaskans
1959
The Twilight Zone
1959
as Old Man
Johnny Ringo
1959
as Old Man
The Twilight Zone
1959
as Freitag
The Twilight Zone
1959
as Mr. Gentry
Lock-Up
1959
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Mr. Phillips
Riverboat
1959
as Rare
Riverboat
1959
as Johnny Mullins (uncredited)
Lone Texan
1959
as Jack Stone (uncredited)
Gunmen from Laredo
1959
Black Saddle
1959
as Harvey Morgan
Rawhide
1959
as Simpson
Monster on the Campus
1958
as Townsend - Night Watchman
The Decks Ran Red
1958
as Moody
Bat Masterson
1958
as Prospector
Bat Masterson
1958
as Soda Smith
Bat Masterson
1958
as Warren T. 'Soda' Smith
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
The Saga of Hemp Brown
1958
as Gil Henry
The Rifleman
1958
The Texan
1958
Bronco
1958
Terror in a Texas Town
1958
as Brady
The Spider
1958
as Hugo
Attack of the Puppet People
1958
as Night Manager
Attack of the Puppet People
1958
as Theater Janitor
Sea Hunt
1958
The New Adventures of Spin and Marty
1957
The Amazing Colossal Man
1957
as Henry
Trackdown
1957
Perry Mason
1957
as Jack Gilly
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Gunsight Ridge
1957
as George Clark (uncredited)
Beginning of the End
1957
as Dave
The Storm Rider
1957
as Milstead
Julie
1956
as Ellis
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Slim Baker
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Jonas Mulvey
Strange Intruder
1956
as Knife Grinder
The First Traveling Saleslady
1956
as Courtroom Spectator
Tarantula
1955
as Josh
Highway Patrol
1955
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
1955
Navy Log
1955
Gunsmoke
1955
as Jake
Gunsmoke
1955
as Crowbait
Gunsmoke
1955
as Judge
Gunsmoke
1955
as Carl
Gunsmoke
1955
as Carl Miller
Gunsmoke
1955
as Cowboy
Gunsmoke
1955
as Hank Miller
Gunsmoke
1955
as Hank
Gunsmoke
1955
as Hank Miller (uncredited)
Gunsmoke
1955
as Livery Man
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955
Phantom Trails
1955
as Jess Morgan
Buffalo Bill Jr.
1955
Southwest Passage
1954
as Barstow
Jack Slade
1953
as Old Tom
City Detective
1953
Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders
1953
as Jed Larson
Hopalong Cassidy
1952
California Conquest
1952
Gang Busters
1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1951
Don Daredevil Rides Again
1951
as Buck Bender
Silver City Bonanza
1951
as Postman
Blades of the Musketeers
1950
as The Old Fisherman
Desperadoes of the West
1950
as Hardrock Haggerty
The Return of Jesse James
1950
as Clay County Marshal
The Gunfighter
1950
as Jake (uncredited)
No Sad Songs for Me
1950
as Night Construction Workman (uncredited)
Code of the Silver Sage
1950
as Sergeant Woods
The Cowboy and the Indians
1949
as Ranch hand Tom
The James Brothers of Missouri
1949
as Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11]
The Denver Kid
1948
as Sergeant Cooper
Night Time in Nevada
1948
as Tramp
Relentless
1948
as Bob Pliny (uncredited)
Panhandle
1948
as Old Timer (uncredited)
Oklahoma Badlands
1948
as Postmaster Fred
Under Colorado Skies
1947
as Slim
Springtime in the Sierras
1947
as Old-Timer
Robin Hood Of Texas
1947
as Taxi Driver
Robin Hood Of Texas
1947
as Guest
Bells of San Angelo
1947
as Deaf bus passenger
Duel in the Sun
1946
as Man (uncredited)
Santa Fe Uprising
1946
as Deputy Jake
The El Paso Kid
1946
as Jeff Winters
Abilene Town
1946
as Doug Neil
Three Faces West
1940
as Pool Player
Sabotage
1939
as (uncredited)
The Arizona Kid
1939
as Townsman