{{Short description|American actor and musician (1888–1975)}} {{For|the baseball player|Hank Patterson (baseball)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Hank Patterson | image = Hank Patterson in Lock-Up.jpg | caption = Patterson in ''Lock-Up'' (1961) | birth_name = Elmer Calvin Patterson | birth_date = {{birth date|1888|10|9}} | birth_place = Springville, Alabama, US | death_date = {{death date and age |1975|8|23|1888|10|9}} | death_place = Woodland Hills, California, US | resting_place = Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) | occupation = Actor, musician | years_active = 1939–1975 }} '''Elmer Calvin "Hank" 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 - stableman Hank Miller on ''Gunsmoke'' and farmer Fred Ziffel on both ''Petticoat Junction'' and ''Green Acres''.
==Early life== Patterson was born in Springville, Alabama, one of seven children<ref>[https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M23N-7NY Green D. Patterson family], United States Census of 1910, Taylor, Texas. FamilySearch. Retrieved May 9, 2017.</ref> of Green Davis Patterson, an insurance agent,<ref>[https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11847-19325-85?cc=1325221&wc=M941-G9H:131857276 Green D. Patterson family], United States Census of 1900, Taylor, Texas. FamilySearch. Retrieved May 9, 2017.</ref> and Mary Isabell "Mollie" Newton Patterson.<ref>[https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M35T-J3Z "Elmor C Paterson"], United States Census of 1900. Taylor, Texas. FamilySearch. Retrieved May 10, 2017.</ref> By the 1890s, his family had moved to Taylor, Texas, where he spent most of his boyhood and attended school through eighth grade.<ref name="allmovie1">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/hank-patterson-p55427|title=Hank Patterson - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref><ref name="ancestry1">{{cite web|url=http://interactive.ancestry.com/2442/m-t0627-00375-00745/73747022?backurl=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gst=-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults|title=View Free Records with a Free Account|website=interactive.ancestry.com}}</ref> In 1917, he registered for a World War I draft card in Lubbock County, Texas.<ref>[https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZX2-7FW "Elmer Calvin Patterson"] United States Draft Registration cards, Lubbock County, Texas, 1917-1918. FamilySearch. Retrieved May 10, 2017.</ref>
Patterson had intended to be a serious pianist, but instead became a vaudeville piano player. By the end of the 1920s, he moved to California. He entered the movie business as an actor during the 1930s. His earliest identified screen work was an uncredited appearance in the Roy Rogers' Western film ''The Arizona Kid'' (1939).<ref>Eder, Bruce. [https://www.allmovie.com/artist/hank-patterson-p55427 "Hank Patterson"] biographical profile. AllMovie. Retrieved May 10, 2017.</ref>
==Movies and TV== Patterson found plenty of movie work, mainly playing cantankerous types and blacksmiths, hotel clerks, farmers, shopkeepers, and other townsmen, usually bit roles and character parts<ref name="allmovie1"/> in Republic Pictures Westerns, and then in television Westerns such as ''The Cisco Kid'', ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'', ''The Lone Ranger'', and ''Annie Oakley''. He also had small cameo appearances in a number of sci-fi movies by Bert I. Gordon: ''Beginning of the End'', ''The Amazing Colossal Man'', ''Attack of the Puppet People'', and ''Earth vs. The Spider''.
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 1973,<ref>Character reference to Hank Patterson, [http://gunsmokenet.com/GunsmokeTGAW/Marks-Stuff/Gunsmoke/other.htm ". . . and the Other Hard Living Citizen's (''sic'') of Dodge"], gunsmoke.net. Retrieved May 10, 2017.</ref><ref>Siler, Bob (2011). [https://stevesomething.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/homes-of-the-western-stars-the-gunsmoke-tour/ "Homes of the Western Stars – The GUNSMOKE Tour".] Charles Starrett – One Fan's Journey (stevesomething.wordpress.com.), November 17, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2017.</ref> on ''Have Gun-Will Travel'' (11 episodes),<ref name="tvguide1">{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/hank-patterson/credits/152984|title=Hank Patterson - TV Guide|website=TVGuide.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/60152/have-gun-will-travel-the-sixth-and-final-season-vol-2/|title=Have Gun - Will Travel: The Final Season, Volume Two|website=DVD Talk}}</ref> ''Death Valley Days'' (nine episodes), ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' (seven episodes),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classictvhits.com/show.php?id=820|title=Classic TV & Movie Hits - Tales of Wells Fargo|website=Classictvhits.com|date=July 22, 2023 }}</ref>''Maverick'' (four episodes),<ref name="allmovie1"/> ''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'' (sometimes in a recurring role as former Confederate soldier Soda Smith), ''The Restless Gun'', and many others.<ref name="westernclippings1">{{cite web|url=http://www.westernclippings.com/heavies/hankpatterson_charactersheavies.shtml|title=Hank Patterson|first=Donna|last=Magers|website=Westernclippings.com}}</ref> In 1959, Patterson appeared as a sodbuster in an uncredited role on ''Lawman'' ("The Young Toughs").
He made additional TV appearances, including in three episodes of ''The Twilight Zone''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/55427/Hank-Patterson/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124033814/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/55427/Hank-Patterson/biography|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-01-24|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|author=Bruce Eder|date=2016|title=Movies}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://twilightzonewor.fr.yuku.com/topic/1862|title=Favorite Hank Patterson Episode?|website=Twilight Zone Cafe|date=February 14, 2006 }}</ref> as well as ''Perry Mason'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hill |first=Ona L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmX_mIf32TAC&dq=%22Hank+Patterson%22+%22Perry+Mason%22&pg=PA206 |title=Raymond Burr: A Film, Radio and Television Biography |date=2012-02-09 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9137-7 |pages=206 |language=en}}</ref> ''Burke's Law'', ''The Untouchables'', ''Judd for the Defense'', ''My Three Sons'', and in later years ''The Mod Squad'', ''Love, American Style'', and ''Highway Patrol''.
==''Green Acres''== In 1963, Patterson first appeared in what became a recurring role as farmer Fred Ziffel on the 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. On ''Green Acres'', 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 in prime time.<ref name="tvguide1"/>
The association of Patterson's character with Arnold, the pet pig that Fred and his wife Doris treated as a son, ensured Patterson a place in television history. Arnold attended school and 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).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/la-greenacres-photo-photo.html|title=Green Acres|first=Los Angeles|last=Times|website=Los Angeles Times|date=September 16, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maggiore.net/greenacres/gaFAQ.asp|title=Frequently Asked Green Acres Questions|website=Maggiore.net}}</ref>
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."<ref name="westernclippings1"/>
==Personal life== Hank Patterson was married to Daisy Marguerite (Sheeler)<ref name="familysearch1">{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VPC2-98Y|title=FamilySearch: Sign In|website=Familysearch.org|access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref> Patterson, a Kentucky native<ref>{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=+givenname:george~++surname:sheeler~++record_country:%22United+States%22++record_subcountry:%22United+States,Kentucky%22++birth_place:kentucky~++birth_year:1857-1863~|title=FamilySearch|website=Familysearch.org}}</ref> four years younger than Hank whose parents were both of German ancestry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M9HW-4QS|title=FamilySearch: Sign In|website=Familysearch.org|access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref> They are listed together in the U.S. Census for both 1930 and 1940<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XC8S-RXG|title=FamilySearch: Sign In|website=Familysearch.org|access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref> as residing in Los Angeles. In the 1940 census, Hank's occupation is listed as "Actor, Motion Picture Studio & Stage."<ref name="ancestry1"/>
Patterson's great-grandfather, James Pearson, was an original settler of St. Clair County, Alabama, as was his mother's great-grandfather, Thomas Newton. His great-grandfather, Henry S. Patterson, moved to Blount County, Alabama, around 1857 from Murray County, Georgia. Between 1894 and 1897, the family left Alabama to live in Texas.
Hank Patterson died at age 86 on August 23, 1975<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VPH5-NV3|title=FamilySearch: Sign In|website=Familysearch.org|access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref> of bronchial pneumonia. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood. Daisy died, also at age 86, on February 2, 1979.<ref name="familysearch1"/>
Patterson's great-niece is actress Téa Leoni.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120426062446/http://leonionline.com/articles/elle.htm Leoni Online: The Articles - Elle Magazine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Selected filmography== {{Div col}} *''The Arizona Kid'' (1939) - Townsman (uncredited) *''Sabotage'' (1939) - Minor Role (uncredited) *''The Covered Trailer'' (1939) - Townsman (uncredited) *''Three Faces West'' (1940) - Pool Player (uncredited) *''Abilene Town'' (1946) - Doug Neil *''The Scarlet Horseman'' (1946) - Sen. Masters (uncredited) *''I Ring Doorbells'' (1946) - Mr. Bradley *''The El Paso Kid'' (1946) - Jeff Winters *''Conquest of Cheyenne'' (1946) - Rancher (uncredited) *''Wild Beauty'' (1946) - Ed (uncredited) *''Santa Fe Uprising'' (1946) - Deputy Jake *''Gallant Bess'' (1946) - Ranch Hand (uncredited) *''Bells of San Angelo'' (1947) - Deaf Bus Passenger *''Robin Hood of Texas'' (1947) - Taxicab Driver (uncredited) *''Springtime in the Sierras'' (1947) - Old-Timer *''Under Colorado Skies'' (1947) - Slim *''The Tender Years'' (1948) - Zeke (uncredited) *''Relentless'' (1948) - Bob Pliny (uncredited) *''Oklahoma Badlands'' (1948) - Postmaster Fred *''Panhandle'' (1948) - Old Timer (uncredited) *''Night Time in Nevada'' (1948) - Dancing Tramp *''The Denver Kid'' (1948) - Sergeant Cooper *''The Plunderers'' (1948) - Stage Manager (uncredited) *''Belle Starr's Daughter'' (1948) - Townsman (uncredited) *''Red Canyon'' (1949) - Osborne (uncredited) *''Outcasts of the Trail'' (1949) - Hank Barris - Station Agent (uncredited) *''The James Brothers of Missouri'' (1949, Serial) - Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11] *''The Cowboy and the Indians'' (1949) - Tom - Ranch Foreman *''Tell It to the Judge'' (1949) - Sleigh Driver (uncredited) *''Riders in the Sky'' (1949) - Luke - Stagecoach Driver *''Perfect Strangers'' (1950) - Witness in Montage (uncredited) *''Code of the Silver Sage'' (1950) - Sgt. Woods *''No Sad Songs for Me'' (1950) - Night Construction Workman (uncredited) *''Please Believe Me'' (1950) - Sam Smith (uncredited) *''The Gunfighter'' (1950) - Jake (uncredited) *''Desperadoes of the West'' (1950, Serial) - Hardrock Haggerty [Ch. 4, 5] *''The Return of Jesse James'' (1950) - Clay County Marshal *''Al Jennings of Oklahoma'' (1951) - Jeff (uncredited) *''Silver City Bonanza'' (1951) - Postman *''Don Daredevil Rides Again'' (1951, Serial) - Buck Bender *''Indian Uprising'' (1952) - Jake Wilson (uncredited) *''Rose of Cimarron'' (1952) - Hunter on Trail (uncredited) *''California Conquest'' (1952) - Sam Lawrence (uncredited) *''Woman They Almost Lynched'' (1953) - Townsman (uncredited) *''Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders'' (1953, Serial) - Jed Larson [Ch.2-5] *''Jack Slade'' (1953) - Old Tom (uncredited) *''Ride Clear of Diablo'' (1954) - Wagon Driver (uncredited) *''Southwest Passage'' (1954) - Barstow (uncredited) *''Many Rivers to Cross'' (1955) - Second Innkeeper (uncredited) *''Murder Is My Beat'' (1955) - Medical Examiner (uncredited) *''Tarantula!'' (1955) - Josh *''Last of the Desperados'' (1955) - Hank - Wagon Driver (uncredited) *''The Great Locomotive Chase'' (1956) - Turner - Friendly Jailer (uncredited) *''The Lone Ranger'' (1956) - Old Man Kimberley (uncredited) *''The First Traveling Saleslady'' (1956) - First Cowhand in Courtroom (uncredited) *''Strange Intruder'' (1956) - Knife Sharpener (uncredited) *''Julie'' (1956) - Ellis *''The Storm Rider'' (1957) - Tom Milstead *''Beginning of the End'' (1957) - Dave *''God Is My Partner'' (1957) - John Biddle (uncredited) *''Man of a Thousand Faces'' (1957) - Scotty, Stage Door Man (uncredited) *''Gunsight Ridge'' (1957) - George Clark (uncredited) *''The Amazing Colossal Man'' (1957) - Henry *''Escape from Red Rock'' (1957) - Sheriff Grover *''Day of the Badman'' (1958) - George Foley (uncredited) *''Attack of the Puppet People'' (1958) - Janitor *''The Restless Gun'' (1958) - as Jonah in Episode "A Pressing Engagement" *''The Restless Gun'' (1958) - as Milt in Episode "Sheriff Billy" *''Tombstone Territory'' (1058) - Episode "Desert Survival" *''Terror in a Texas Town'' (1958) - Brady (uncredited) *''Earth vs. the Spider'' (1958) - Hugo the Janitor *''The Saga of Hemp Brown'' (1958) - Gil Henry (uncredited) *''The Decks Ran Red'' (1958) - Mr. Moody *''Monster on the Campus'' (1958) - Townsend - Night Watchman (uncredited) *''Tales of Wells Fargo'' (1959 episode Lola Montez) - Larson *''No Name on the Bullet'' (1959) - Ed - Chess Player (uncredited) *''Lone Texan'' (1959) - Jack Stone (uncredited) *''Gunmen from Laredo'' (1959) - Stableman (uncredited) *''Gunfighters of Abilene'' (1960) - Andy Ferris (uncredited) *''The Absent-Minded Professor'' (1961) - Fisherman Spectator (uncredited) *''Tammy Tell Me True'' (1961) - Rural Character (uncredited) *''Straightaway'' (1961 episode "The Tin Caesar") – Parker *''The Virginian'' (1964 episode "Smile of a Dragon") - Old Man *''A Covenant with Death'' (1967) - Old Man (uncredited) {{div col end}}
==Selected Television== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |- !scope="col"|Year !scope="col"|Title !scope="col"|Role ! ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1953 | ''Death Valley Days'' | Sandy Edwards | | Season 1, Episode 12, "Swamper Ike" |- | 1954 | ''Death Valley Days'' | Dobie | | Season 2, Episode 14, "Husband Pro-Tem" |- | 1956 | ''Highway Patrol'' | Frank Handley | | Season 1, Episode 33, "Dead Patrolman" |- | 1958|| ''Bat Masterson'' | Prospector / Warren T. "Soda" Smith | | Season 1, Episode 12, "Trail Pirate" 1960 "Have Gun, Will Travel" (American TV Series) Rafe Adams Season 3 Episode 23 "The Lady on the Wall" | 1961|| ''Rawhide'' | Simpson | | Season 3, Episode 30, "Incident of the Wager on Payday" |- | 1962 | ''My Three Sons'' | Quinby Lewis | | Season 2, Episode 35, "Hippopotamus' Foot" |- | 1963-1966 | ''Petticoat Junction'' | Fred Ziffel | | 11 episodes |- | 1964 | ''Twilight Zone'' | Old Man | | Season 5, Episode 34, "Come Wander With Me" |- | 1965-1971 | ''Green Acres'' | Fred Ziffel | | 84 episodes |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb name|666230}} * {{Tcmdb name | 148653%7C65330 }} * {{Find a Grave}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Hank}} Category:1888 births Category:1975 deaths Category:People from Springville, Alabama Category:American male television actors Category:20th-century American male pianists Category:American vaudeville performers Category:American male film actors Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Male actors from Alabama Category:Western (genre) television actors Category:Male Western (genre) film actors Category:Actors from St. Clair County, Alabama