Hank Patterson1888 - 1975

usually

Actor

Popularity

0.6

Famous

Biography

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."

Credits

The Absent-Minded Professor
The Absent-Minded Professor

1961

Comedy • Family • Science Fiction

as Fisherman Spectator (uncredited)

6.5
1.2
Gunfighters of Abilene
Gunfighters of Abilene

1960

Western

as Andy Ferris

5
0.4
Lone Texan
Lone Texan

1959

Western

as Jack Stone (uncredited)

5
0.3
Gunmen from Laredo
4.7
0.7
Monster on the Campus
Monster on the Campus

1958

Horror • Science Fiction

as Townsend - Night Watchman

6.1
0.4
The Decks Ran Red
The Decks Ran Red

1958

Adventure • Crime • Drama • Thriller

as Moody

6.4
0.3
The Saga of Hemp Brown
The Saga of Hemp Brown

1958

Western

as Gil Henry

5.7
0.4
Terror in a Texas Town
Terror in a Texas Town

1958

Western

as Brady

6.7
0.8
Earth vs. the Spider
Earth vs. the Spider

1958

Horror • Science Fiction

as Hugo

4.7
0.5
Attack of the Puppet People
Attack of the Puppet People

1958

Horror • Science Fiction

as Night Manager

5
0.6
Attack of the Puppet People
Attack of the Puppet People

1958

Horror • Science Fiction

as Theater Janitor

5
0.6
The Amazing Colossal Man
The Amazing Colossal Man

1957

Adventure • Science Fiction • Thriller

as Henry

4.4
0.3
Gunsight Ridge
Gunsight Ridge

1957

Action • Adventure • Western

as George Clark (uncredited)

6
0.5
Beginning of the End
Beginning of the End

1957

Horror • Science Fiction

as Dave

3.8
0.7
The Storm Rider
The Storm Rider

1957

Western

as Milstead

0.2
Julie
Julie

1956

Mystery • Thriller

as Ellis

5.7
0.4
Strange Intruder
Strange Intruder

1956

Drama

as Knife Grinder

5.6
0.3
The First Traveling Saleslady
The First Traveling Saleslady

1956

Comedy • Western

as Courtroom Spectator

5.4
0.4
Tarantula
Tarantula

1955

Horror • Science Fiction

as Josh

6.5
1
Phantom Trails
Phantom Trails

1955

Western

as Jess Morgan

0.2
Southwest Passage
Southwest Passage

1954

Western

as Barstow

5.4
0.8
Jack Slade
Jack Slade

1953

Western

as Old Tom

6.4
0.4
Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders
6
0.3
California Conquest
California Conquest

1952

Adventure • History • Romance • Western

4.6
0.5
Don Daredevil Rides Again
Don Daredevil Rides Again

1951

Western

as Buck Bender

6
0.2
Silver City Bonanza
Silver City Bonanza

1951

Western

as Postman

0.2
Blades of the Musketeers
Blades of the Musketeers

1950

Adventure • TV Movie

as The Old Fisherman

0.5
Desperadoes of the West
Desperadoes of the West

1950

Western

as Hardrock Haggerty

3.8
0.4
The Return of Jesse James
The Return of Jesse James

1950

Action • Drama • Western

as Clay County Marshal

5
0.3
The Gunfighter
The Gunfighter

1950

Western

as Jake (uncredited)

7.3
2.2
No Sad Songs for Me
No Sad Songs for Me

1950

Drama

as Night Construction Workman (uncredited)

6.2
0.4
Code of the Silver Sage
Code of the Silver Sage

1950

Action • Drama • Mystery • Western

as Sergeant Woods

6
0.4
The Cowboy and the Indians
The Cowboy and the Indians

1949

Western

as Ranch hand Tom

6.8
0.4
The James Brothers of Missouri
The James Brothers of Missouri

1949

Western

as Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11]

6
0.4
The Denver Kid
The Denver Kid

1948

Western

as Sergeant Cooper

7
0.4
Night Time in Nevada
Night Time in Nevada

1948

Action • Western

as Tramp

6.2
0.4
Relentless
Relentless

1948

Western

as Bob Pliny (uncredited)

6.2
0.9
Panhandle
Panhandle

1948

Western

as Old Timer (uncredited)

5.8
0.8
Oklahoma Badlands
Oklahoma Badlands

1948

Western

as Postmaster Fred

3
0.4
Under Colorado Skies
Under Colorado Skies

1947

Western

as Slim

0.1
Springtime in the Sierras
Springtime in the Sierras

1947

Western

as Old-Timer

4.2
0.8
Robin Hood Of Texas
Robin Hood Of Texas

1947

Western

as Guest

0.4
Robin Hood Of Texas
Robin Hood Of Texas

1947

Western

as Taxi Driver

0.4
Bells of San Angelo
Bells of San Angelo

1947

Action • Adventure • Drama • Music • Western

as Deaf bus passenger

4.1
1.3
Duel in the Sun
Duel in the Sun

1946

Drama • Romance • Western

as Man (uncredited)

6.3
1.2
Santa Fe Uprising
Santa Fe Uprising

1946

Western

as Deputy Jake

0.6
The El Paso Kid
The El Paso Kid

1946

Western

as Jeff Winters

0.3
Abilene Town
Abilene Town

1946

Romance • Western

as Doug Neil

5.3
1.4
Three Faces West
Three Faces West

1940

Drama • Romance • Western

as Pool Player

5.4
0.7
Sabotage
Sabotage

1939

Action • Drama

as (uncredited)

7
0.4
The Arizona Kid
The Arizona Kid

1939

Western

as Townsman

5.8
0.4
Because I Love Him
Because I Love Him

Drama • TV Movie

0.1

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