Hank Patterson
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- October 9, 1888
- Died
- August 23, 1975 (aged 86)
- Birthplace
- Springville, Alabama, USA
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."
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Love, American Style
TV · as Farmer · 1 ep
The Mod Squad
TV · 1 ep
Cimarron Strip
TV · 1 ep
The Guns of Will Sonnett
TV · 1 ep
Custer
TV · 1 ep
Green Acres
TV · as Fred Ziffel · 31 eps
Laredo
TV · 1 ep
The Loner
TV · as The Bartender · 1 ep
The Legend of Jesse James
TV · as Porter · 1 ep
Daniel Boone
TV · as Jed Harper (uncredited), Gray, Fiddler · 1 ep
Burke's Law
TV · as Lukey Slade · 1 ep
Petticoat Junction
TV · as Fred Ziffell · 11 eps
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV · 1 ep
The Virginian
TV · as Old Man · 1 ep
The Absent-Minded Professor
Movie · as Fisherman Spectator (uncredited)
Mister Ed
TV · 1 ep
Straightaway
TV · 1 ep
87th Precinct
TV · 1 ep
Miami Undercover
TV · 1 ep
Gunfighters of Abilene
Movie · as Andy Ferris
The Andy Griffith Show
TV · as Hobo · 1 ep
The Tall Man
TV · 2 eps
The Westerner
TV · as Sample · 1 ep
Lone Texan
Movie · as Jack Stone (uncredited)
Gunmen from Laredo
Movie
No Name on the Bullet
Movie · as Ed - Chess Player (uncredited)
The Twilight Zone
TV · as Old Man, Freitag, Mr. Gentry · 1 ep
Rawhide
TV · as Simpson · 1 ep
The Alaskans
TV · 1 ep
Black Saddle
TV · as Harvey Morgan · 1 ep
Lock-Up
TV · 1 ep
Riverboat
TV · as Rare, Johnny Mullins (uncredited) · 1 ep
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV · as Mr. Phillips · 1 ep
Johnny Ringo
TV · as Old Man · 1 ep
Bonanza
TV · as Blacksmith · 1 ep
The Saga of Hemp Brown
Movie · as Gil Henry
Terror in a Texas Town
Movie · as Brady (uncredited)
Attack of the Puppet People
Movie · as Night Manager, Theater Janitor
Earth vs. the Spider
Movie · as Hugo
The Decks Ran Red
Movie · as Moody
Monster on the Campus
Movie · as Townsend - Night Watchman
Sea Hunt
TV · 1 ep
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV · 1 ep
Bronco
TV · as Railroad Costigan · 1 ep
The Rifleman
TV · 1 ep
Bat Masterson
TV · as Prospector, Soda Smith, Warren T. 'Soda' Smith · 1 ep
The Texan
TV · 1 ep
Gunsight Ridge
Movie · as George Clark (uncredited)
The Amazing Colossal Man
Movie · as Henry
The Storm Rider
Movie · as Milstead
Beginning of the End
Movie · as Dave
Trackdown
TV · 1 ep
Perry Mason
TV · as Jack Gilly · 1 ep
Have Gun, Will Travel
TV · 9 eps
The New Adventures of Spin and Marty
TV · as Pete Duggan · 1 ep
Strange Intruder
Movie · as Knife Grinder
Julie
Movie · as Ellis
The First Traveling Saleslady
Movie · as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV · as Slim Baker, Jonas Mulvey · 1 ep
Tarantula
Movie · as Josh
Phantom Trails
Movie · as Jess Morgan
Gunsmoke
TV · as Jake, Carl, Judge, Crowbait, Carl Miller, Hank Miller, Cowboy, Hank Miller (uncredited), Livery Man · 1 ep
Highway Patrol
TV · 1 ep
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
TV · 2 eps
Navy Log
TV · 1 ep
Buffalo Bill Jr.
TV · 3 eps
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
TV · 1 ep
Cheyenne
TV · as Sunset · 1 ep
Southwest Passage
Movie · as Barstow
Jack Slade
Movie · as Old Tom
Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders
Movie · as Jed Larson
Woman They Almost Lynched
Movie · as Townsman (uncredited)
City Detective
TV · 1 ep
California Conquest
Movie
Gang Busters
TV · 1 ep
Hopalong Cassidy
TV · 1 ep
The Abbott and Costello Show
TV · as The Tramp · 1 ep
Death Valley Days
TV · as Phi Jones · 1 ep
Don Daredevil Rides Again
Movie · as Buck Bender
Silver City Bonanza
Movie · as Postman
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV · 1 ep
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV · 3 eps
The Return of Jesse James
Movie · as Clay County Marshal
Code of the Silver Sage
Movie · as Sergeant Woods
The Gunfighter
Movie · as Jake (uncredited)
Desperadoes of the West
Movie · as Hardrock Haggerty
Blades of the Musketeers
Movie · as The Old Fisherman
No Sad Songs for Me
Movie · as Night Construction Workman (uncredited)
The Gene Autry Show
TV · as Wagon Driver Idaho · 1 ep
The Cowboy and the Indians
Movie · as Tom
The James Brothers of Missouri
Movie · as Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11]
The Lone Ranger
TV · as Calico · 1 ep
Panhandle
Movie · as Old Timer (uncredited)
Night Time in Nevada
Movie · as Tramp
The Denver Kid
Movie · as Sergeant Cooper
Oklahoma Badlands
Movie · as Postmaster Fred
Relentless
Movie · as Bob Pliny (uncredited)
Springtime in the Sierras
Movie · as Old-Timer
Bells of San Angelo
Movie · as Deaf bus passenger
Robin Hood Of Texas
Movie · as Taxi Driver, Guest
Under Colorado Skies
Movie · as Slim
Duel in the Sun
Movie · as Man (uncredited)
Abilene Town
Movie · as Doug Neil
Santa Fe Uprising
Movie · as Deputy Jake
The El Paso Kid
Movie · as Jeff Winters
Gallant Bess
Movie · as Ranch Hand (uncredited)
Three Faces West
Movie · as Pool Player
The Arizona Kid
Movie · as Townsman
Sabotage
Movie · as (uncredited)