Modern audiences will remember Dabbs Greer mostly as the older version of Tom Hanks in The Green Mile, but what many fail to realize is that this versatile actor had equal contributions in Hollywood projects for over fifty years.
He was practically a mainstay in network television for most of his career as he guest starred in an endless number of popular shows that included The Loretta Young Show, The Rifleman, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, Lassie, Peyton Place, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Perry Mason, The Fugitive, The Brady Bunch, Bonanza, Ironside, Gunsmoke, The Incredible Hulk, Picket Fences, Diagnosis Murder and believe it or not, that doesn't even begin to cover his work.
Outside of The Green Mile, audiences may remember him from The Little House on the Prairie, where he played the recurring role of Reverend Alden for several seasons, or from the memorable episode of LA Law as the man addicted to licking frogs.
Dabbs Greer is as much a part of television history as Lucy is. It's very hard to watch a season of your favorite show from the past and not see him in some capacity. He was a true actor and complete ensemble player. He may be gone, but his work will live forever.
He was practically a mainstay in network television for most of his career as he guest starred in an endless number of popular shows that included The Loretta Young Show, The Rifleman, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, Lassie, Peyton Place, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Perry Mason, The Fugitive, The Brady Bunch, Bonanza, Ironside, Gunsmoke, The Incredible Hulk, Picket Fences, Diagnosis Murder and believe it or not, that doesn't even begin to cover his work.
Outside of The Green Mile, audiences may remember him from The Little House on the Prairie, where he played the recurring role of Reverend Alden for several seasons, or from the memorable episode of LA Law as the man addicted to licking frogs.
Dabbs Greer is as much a part of television history as Lucy is. It's very hard to watch a season of your favorite show from the past and not see him in some capacity. He was a true actor and complete ensemble player. He may be gone, but his work will live forever.
Dabbs Greer was one of those unforgettable character actors who appeared in almost every TV series in the 1950s and 1960s. He could play a store keeper like Mr. Jonas on "The Rifleman" to the town busybody and drunk to nasty villains. He was convincing in every role he played. They don't make actors like him anymore.
ReplyDeletethe first time i saw him was as the gas station attendant that left a pod in Kevin McCarthy's trunk in the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers.........always gave top notch performances..........
ReplyDeletei believe he had a recurring role on little house on the prairie, as the minister of Walnut grove
ReplyDeleteYes he did. Dabbs Greer was also the older version of Tom Hanks' character in "The Green Mile" That was his final film. He played Reverend Alden on "Little House On The Prairie" from 1974 to 1983. He also had a recurring role as Wilbur Jonas on "Gunsmoke". Despite most of his characters being married with children, Dabbs Greer himself never married. He died in 2007 at age 90. He will be missed. What a great actor.
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