Hank Patterson
Known for: Acting
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."
Filmography
Series
Perry Mason
Jack Gilly
1957
Series
The Andy Griffith Show
Hobo
1960
Series
Bonanza
Blacksmith
1959
Series
The Rifleman
1958
Series
Love, American Style
Farmer
1969
Series
The Twilight Zone
Old Man
1959
Series
The Twilight Zone
Freitag
1959
Series
The Twilight Zone
Mr. Gentry
1959
Series
The Virginian
Old Man
1962
Series
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Series
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
Series
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Slim Baker
1956
Series
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Jonas Mulvey
1956
Series
Cheyenne
Sunset
1955
Series
Petticoat Junction
Fred Ziffell
1963
Series
Rawhide
Simpson
1959
Series
Daniel Boone
Jed Harper (uncredited)
1964
Series
Daniel Boone
Gray
1964
Series
Daniel Boone
Fiddler
1964
Series
Burke's Law
Lukey Slade
1963
Series
Green Acres
Fred Ziffel
1965
Series
Gunsmoke
Jake
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Carl
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Judge
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Crowbait
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Carl Miller
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Hank Miller
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Cowboy
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Hank
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Hank Miller (uncredited)
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Livery Man
1955
Series
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955
Series
The Lone Ranger
Calico
1949
Series
Highway Patrol
1955
Series
Navy Log
1955
Series
Bat Masterson
Prospector
1958
Series
Bat Masterson
Soda Smith
1958
Series
Bat Masterson
Warren T. 'Soda' Smith
1958
Series
Mister Ed
1961
Series
Sea Hunt
1958
Series
The Loner
The Bartender
1965
Series
The Texan
1958
Series
Bronco
1958
Series
Bronco
Railroad Costigan
1958
Series
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
Series
Trackdown
1957
Series
The Abbott and Costello Show
The Tramp
1952
Series
Laredo
1965
Series
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Series
The Mod Squad
1968
Series
The Gene Autry Show
Wagon Driver Idaho
1950
Series
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Mr. Phillips
1959
Series
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1951
Series
The Tall Man
1960
Series
Johnny Ringo
Old Man
1959
Series
Black Saddle
Harvey Morgan
1959
Series
Cimarron Strip
1967
Series
87th Precinct
1961
Series
Riverboat
Rare
1959
Series
Riverboat
Johnny Mullins (uncredited)
1959
Series
City Detective
1953
Series
Lock-Up
1959
Series
The Alaskans
1959
Series
The Legend of Jesse James
Porter
1965
Series
Custer
1967
Series
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
1955
Series
The Westerner
Sample
1960
Series
Buffalo Bill Jr.
1955
Series
Hopalong Cassidy
1952
Series
Miami Undercover
1961
Series
Straightaway
1961
Series
Death Valley Days
Phi Jones
1952
Series
The New Adventures of Spin and Marty
Pete Duggan
1957
Film
Duel in the Sun
Man (uncredited)
1946
Gang Busters
1952
Film
The Absent-Minded Professor
Fisherman Spectator (uncredited)
1961
Film
The Gunfighter
Jake (uncredited)
1950
Film
Tarantula
Josh
1955
Film
No Name on the Bullet
Ed - Chess Player (uncredited)
1959
Film
Don Daredevil Rides Again
Buck Bender
1951
Series
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Film
Abilene Town
Doug Neil
1946
Film
Earth vs. the Spider
Hugo
1958
Film
Attack of the Puppet People
Night Manager
1958
Film
Attack of the Puppet People
Theater Janitor
1958
Film
The First Traveling Saleslady
Courtroom Spectator
1956
Film
Relentless
Bob Pliny (uncredited)
1948
Film
Beginning of the End
Dave
1957
Film
Desperadoes of the West
Hardrock Haggerty
1950
Film
Woman They Almost Lynched
Townsman (uncredited)
1953
Film
The Amazing Colossal Man
Henry
1957
Film
Monster on the Campus
Townsend - Night Watchman
1958
Film
Gunsight Ridge
George Clark (uncredited)
1957
Film
Panhandle
Old Timer (uncredited)
1948
Film
The Arizona Kid
Townsman
1939
Film
Terror in a Texas Town
Brady
1958
Film
Southwest Passage
Barstow
1954
Film
Gunfighters of Abilene
Andy Ferris
1960
Film
Julie
Ellis
1956
Film
The Cowboy and the Indians
Tom
1949
Film
The Saga of Hemp Brown
Gil Henry
1958
Film
No Sad Songs for Me
Night Construction Workman (uncredited)
1950
Film
California Conquest
1952
Film
Three Faces West
Pool Player
1940
Film
Blades of the Musketeers
The Old Fisherman
1950
Film
Sabotage
(uncredited)
1939
Film
Lone Texan
Jack Stone (uncredited)
1959
Film
Under Colorado Skies
Slim
1947
Film
Strange Intruder
Knife Grinder
1956
Film
Bells of San Angelo
Deaf bus passenger
1947
Film
Silver City Bonanza
Postman
1951
Film
Robin Hood Of Texas
Taxi Driver
1947
Film
Robin Hood Of Texas
Guest
1947
Film
Gunmen from Laredo
1959
Film
The Denver Kid
Sergeant Cooper
1948
Film
The Decks Ran Red
Moody
1958
Film
Jack Slade
Old Tom
1953
Film
The Return of Jesse James
Clay County Marshal
1950
Film
Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders
Jed Larson
1953
Film
The James Brothers of Missouri
Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11]
1949
Film
Code of the Silver Sage
Sergeant Woods
1950
Film
Phantom Trails
Jess Morgan
1955
Film
Oklahoma Badlands
Postmaster Fred
1948
Film
Night Time in Nevada
Tramp
1948
Film
Santa Fe Uprising
Deputy Jake
1946
Film
Springtime in the Sierras
Old-Timer
1947
Film
The Storm Rider
Milstead
1957
Film
The El Paso Kid
Jeff Winters
1946