Dabbs Greer
Encyclopedia
Robert William "Dabbs" Greer (April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007) was an American
actor
who performed many diverse supporting roles in film
and television
for some fifty years. His distinctive, southern-accented voice fitted well in shows featuring rustic
characters, such as westerns. However, he is probably best remembered as Reverend Alden in Little House on the Prairie
.
, Missouri
, the son of Bernice Irene (née
Dabbs), a speech teacher, and Randall Alexander Greer, a druggist. Greer moved to Anderson as an infant with his family. He was 8 when he began acting in children's theater productions. He attended Drury University
, where he was a member of Theta Kappa Nu
. He moved to Pasadena in 1943. Greer died at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California after a battle with renal failure
and heart disease
. Greer never married and had no survivors.
He made his film debut as an extra in the 1938 movie "Jesse James," which was filmed mainly in Pineville. "They were paying $5 a day – a day! – to local people for being extras. That was really good money in those days, more money than we had seen in a long time," he told the Neosho Daily News in 2002. Greer was recognizable to fans of The Adventures of Superman
, as he appeared in three separate episodes on that show, including the series' inaugural entry, Superman on Earth (1952) where he played the first person to ever be saved by Superman. He was the major guest star, as a man framed for capital murder
in Five Minutes to Doom (1954 – see photo on right), and as an eccentric millionaire
in The Superman Silver Mine (1958). He appeared in many television programs, including the role of the marshal in the two-part "King of the Dakotas" (1955) and as Ray in "Paper Gunman" of the NBC
western
anthology series, Frontier
. In 1957, he appeared in the episode "Revenge" of the syndication
crime drama Sheriff of Cochise
. Greer guest starred in three episodes as Mr. Blandish in the syndicated
romantic comedy
series How to Marry a Millionaire
(1957–1959), with Barbara Eden
and Merry Anders
. He also guest starred about this time on Steve McQueen
's Wanted: Dead or Alive.
Greer starred as Ed Grimes on the 1958 episode "312 Vertical" of Rod Cameron
's syndicated series State Trooper
. He appeared in the 1957 episode "Ambush at Gila Gulch" of ABC
's Tombstone Territory
, the 1957 episode "Rebel Christmas
" of the Tod Andrews
syndicated series Gray Ghost
, a 1959 episode, "Peligroso" of NBC's western series The Restless Gun
, a 1959 episode of the syndicated Man Without a Gun
, and a 1959 episode of the Keenan Wynn
and Bob Mathias
NBC adventure
series The Troubleshooters
, the 1960 episode "The Proud Man" in the role of Willie Medford on the syndicated western
series Two Faces West
, the 1960 episode "Dark Fear" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson
, in the television show The Twilight Zone in 1962 titled "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby", and a 1963 segment of Jack Palance
's ABC circus
drama, The Greatest Show on Earth
. In 1967, Greer appeared in the series finale entitled "Elizabeth's Odyssey" of Barry Sullivan
's NBC western series The Road West
.
The 1960s brought Greer several recurring roles in popular TV series, as track coach Ossie Weiss in Hank, Sheriff Norris "Norrie" Coolidge in The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
, and storekeeper Wilbur Jonas in Gunsmoke
.
Greer had a prominent continuing role in the NBC series Little House on the Prairie
as Reverend Robert Alden from 1974 to 1983. Often cast as a minister, he performed the marriages of Rob and Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show
and of Mike and Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch
, and he tended to the spiritual needs of the townfolk in fictional Rome, Wisconsin
, as Reverend Henry Novotny in Picket Fences
. He also had a guest appearence on an episode of Charles in Charge as Buzz Powell.
In the 1958
film I Want to Live!
he played the San Quentin captain who finished strapping down Barbara Graham
in the gas chamber
prior to her execution and was the last person to speak to her. He had a similar role in the 1999
film The Green Mile
, in which he played the elderly version of Tom Hanks
' Death Row officer Paul Edgecomb.
In the May 9, 1991, episode of L.A. Law
called "On the Toad Again", he played a character who was addicted to a "high" produced by licking the skin secretions of psychoactive toad
s.
Greer had a cameo in 'Con Air' (1997) when he played the Old Man under Truck with John Cusack.
Most of his work was in supporting roles, but Greer told the Albany, N.Y., Times Union in 2000: "Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who performed many diverse supporting roles in film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
for some fifty years. His distinctive, southern-accented voice fitted well in shows featuring rustic
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
characters, such as westerns. However, he is probably best remembered as Reverend Alden in Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
.
Personal life
Greer was born in FairviewFairview, Missouri
Fairview is a city in Newton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 383 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Fairview is located at ....
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, the son of Bernice Irene (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Dabbs), a speech teacher, and Randall Alexander Greer, a druggist. Greer moved to Anderson as an infant with his family. He was 8 when he began acting in children's theater productions. He attended Drury University
Drury University
Drury University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Missouri.The university enrolls about 1,550 undergraduates, over 2,000 adult part-time undergraduates and around 400 graduate students in six master's programs...
, where he was a member of Theta Kappa Nu
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the largest men's secret general fraternities in North America, having initiated more than 280,000 members and held chapters at more than 300 universities. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and was founded by Warren A. Cole, while he was a...
. He moved to Pasadena in 1943. Greer died at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California after a battle with renal failure
Renal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
and heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
. Greer never married and had no survivors.
Career
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
, as he appeared in three separate episodes on that show, including the series' inaugural entry, Superman on Earth (1952) where he played the first person to ever be saved by Superman. He was the major guest star, as a man framed for capital murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
in Five Minutes to Doom (1954 – see photo on right), and as an eccentric millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
in The Superman Silver Mine (1958). He appeared in many television programs, including the role of the marshal in the two-part "King of the Dakotas" (1955) and as Ray in "Paper Gunman" of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
anthology series, Frontier
Frontier (1955 TV series)
This program should not be confused with Frontiers , the British program Frontier , Frontier Justice , Frontier Circus, or Frontier Doctor....
. In 1957, he appeared in the episode "Revenge" of the syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
crime drama Sheriff of Cochise
Sheriff of Cochise
Sheriff of Cochise , renamed U.S. Marshal , is a 58-episode syndicated western-themed crime drama set in Arizona and starring John Bromfield as law enforcement officer Frank Morgan. In the first two seasons, Morgan was sheriff of Cochise County...
. Greer guest starred in three episodes as Mr. Blandish in the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
series How to Marry a Millionaire
How to Marry a Millionaire (TV series)
How to Marry a Millionaire is an American sitcom that aired in syndication from 1957 to 1959. The series was based on the 1953 film of the same name which starred Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall.-Synopsis:...
(1957–1959), with Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early years:...
and Merry Anders
Merry Anders
Merry Anders is an American actress who has appeared in a number of television programs and films since the 1950s. In 1954, she succeeded Ann Todd as Stuart Erwin's daughter in the final season of his TV series, The Stu Erwin Show.In the 1955-1956 season, she joined Janis Paige in the 26-week CBS...
. He also guest starred about this time on Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
's Wanted: Dead or Alive.
Greer starred as Ed Grimes on the 1958 episode "312 Vertical" of Rod Cameron
Rod Cameron
Rod Cameron was a Canadian-born movie actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in horror, war, action and science fiction movies, but is best remembered for his many Westerns....
's syndicated series State Trooper
State Trooper (TV series)
State Trooper is a half-hour television crime drama set in the 1950s American West, starring Rod Cameron as Rod Blake, an officer of the Nevada State Troopers. The series aired 104 episodes in syndication from September 25, 1956, to June 25, 1959...
. He appeared in the 1957 episode "Ambush at Gila Gulch" of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Tombstone Territory
Tombstone Territory
Tombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959...
, the 1957 episode "Rebel Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
" of the Tod Andrews
Tod Andrews
Tod Andrews was an American actor on the stage, screen, and television. Born in New York, he was raised in California. He studied acting and journalism at Washington State College.-Career:...
syndicated series Gray Ghost
Gray Ghost (TV series)
The Gray Ghost is an American historical series which aired in syndication from October 10, 1957, to July 3, 1958. It depicts the true story of Major John Singleton Mosby, a Virginia officer in the Confederate Army, whose cunning and stealth earned him the nickname "Gray Ghost".-Synopsis:The Gray...
, a 1959 episode, "Peligroso" of NBC's western series The Restless Gun
The Restless Gun
The Restless Gun is a western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is an idealistic person who prefers peaceful resolutions of conflict...
, a 1959 episode of the syndicated Man Without a Gun
Man Without a Gun
Man Without a Gun is a western television series produced by 20th Century Fox television and presented in first-run syndication in the United States from 1957 to 1959...
, and a 1959 episode of the Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
and Bob Mathias
Bob Mathias
Robert Bruce "Bob" Mathias was an American decathlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist, actor and United States Congressman representing the state of California.-Early life and athletic career:...
NBC adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
series The Troubleshooters
The Troubleshooters (1959 TV series)
The Troubleshooters is a 26-segment half-hour adventure series starring Keenan Wynn as Kodiak and Bob Mathias as Frank Dugan, which aired new episodes on NBC Television from September 11, 1959, to April 10, 1960. Based on unusual events at international construction sites, the program was...
, the 1960 episode "The Proud Man" in the role of Willie Medford on the syndicated western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series Two Faces West
Two Faces West
Two Faces West is a 39-episode half-hour syndicated television western series set in Gunnison in southwestern Colorado, which aired from October 17, 1960, to July 31, 1961. It stars Scottish native Charles Bateman in the dual roles of twin brothers, Rick January, M.D., and Marshal Ben January...
, the 1960 episode "Dark Fear" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from September 21, 1959 to April 3, 1961 with rebroadcasts continuing until June 12, 1961...
, in the television show The Twilight Zone in 1962 titled "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby", and a 1963 segment of Jack Palance
Jack Palance
Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...
's ABC circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
drama, The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth (TV series)
The Greatest Show on Earth is an American drama series starring Jack Palance about the American circus, which aired on ABC from September 17, 1963, to April 28, 1964...
. In 1967, Greer appeared in the series finale entitled "Elizabeth's Odyssey" of Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
's NBC western series The Road West
The Road West
The Road West is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from September 12, 1966 to May 1, 1967 for twenty-nine episodes with rebroadcasts continuing until August 28. The hour-long series, sponsored by Kraft Foods, aired in the 9 p.m...
.
The 1960s brought Greer several recurring roles in popular TV series, as track coach Ossie Weiss in Hank, Sheriff Norris "Norrie" Coolidge in The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV series)
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir is a situation comedy based on the 1947 film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which was based on the 1945 novel by R.A. Dick. It starred Hope Lange as Carolyn Muir, a young widow who rents Gull Cottage, near the fictional fishing village of Schooner Bay, Maine along with her two...
, and storekeeper Wilbur Jonas in Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
.
Greer had a prominent continuing role in the NBC series Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
as Reverend Robert Alden from 1974 to 1983. Often cast as a minister, he performed the marriages of Rob and Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
and of Mike and Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, and he tended to the spiritual needs of the townfolk in fictional Rome, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, as Reverend Henry Novotny in Picket Fences
Picket Fences
Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States...
. He also had a guest appearence on an episode of Charles in Charge as Buzz Powell.
In the 1958
1958 in film
The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946....
film I Want to Live!
I Want to Live!
I Want to Live! is a 1958 film noir produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise which tells the heavily fictionalized story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It stars Susan Hayward as Graham, and also features Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore...
he played the San Quentin captain who finished strapping down Barbara Graham
Barbara Graham
Barbara Graham was an American criminal and convicted murderess. She was executed in the gas chamber on the same day as two convicted accomplices, Jack Santo and Emmett Perkins. Nicknamed "Bloody Babs" by the press, Graham was the third woman in California to die by gas.-Early life:Graham was born...
in the gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
prior to her execution and was the last person to speak to her. He had a similar role in the 1999
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
film The Green Mile
The Green Mile (film)
The Green Mile is a 1999 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont and adapted by him from the 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name...
, in which he played the elderly version of Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
' Death Row officer Paul Edgecomb.
In the May 9, 1991, episode of L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
called "On the Toad Again", he played a character who was addicted to a "high" produced by licking the skin secretions of psychoactive toad
Psychoactive toad
Psychoactive toad is a name used for toads from which psychoactive substances from the family of bufotoxins can be derived. The skin and poison of Bufo alvarius contain 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin. Other species contain only bufotenin. 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin both belong to the family of...
s.
Greer had a cameo in 'Con Air' (1997) when he played the Old Man under Truck with John Cusack.
Most of his work was in supporting roles, but Greer told the Albany, N.Y., Times Union in 2000: "Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead."