Dabbs Greer

Robert William "Dabbs" Greer (April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007) was an American character actor in film and television for over 60 years. Greer appeared in nearly 100 film roles and in nearly 600 television episodes of various series. He played Mr. Jonas in Gunsmoke, Coach Ossie Weiss in the sitcom Hank, and Reverend Robert Alden in Little House on the Prairie. Greer's final film role was as the 108-year-old Paul Edgecomb, the character played by Tom Hanks in 1999's The Green Mile.

Early life Greer was born in Fairview, Missouri, the son of Bernice Irene (née Dabbs), a speech teacher, and Randall Alexander Greer, a druggist. When Greer was an infant, the family moved to the larger Anderson, Missouri, southwest. in which he was cast as the first person to be saved by Superman. He was the major guest star as a man framed for murder in "Five Minutes to Doom" (1954) and as an eccentric millionaire in "The Superman Silver Mine" (1958).

Greer made hundreds of appearances in around 200 different television series. He played the role of the marshal in the two-part "King of the Dakotas" (1955) and appeared as Ray in "Paper Gunman" of the NBC Western anthology series Frontier. In the 1956 movie Hot Rod Girl, he played the auto-repair shop owner, Mr. Fry. In 1957, he appeared in the episode "Revenge" on the syndicated crime drama Sheriff of Cochise and as Sanders in the episode "My Horse Ajax" on NBC's children's Western series Fury. About this time, he guest-starred on the syndicated adventure series Whirlybirds and Rescue 8. He also appeared in an episode of Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Greer was cast on the syndicated Western series Pony Express and also guest-starred on three CBS Western series: Wanted: Dead or Alive, Trackdown, and Johnny Ringo. Thereafter, he appeared in the NBC Modern Western series Empire and guest-starred on Stoney Burke.

Greer appeared on ABC's Tombstone Territory (in the 1957 episode "Ambush at Gila Gulch"), and in the 1957 episode "Rebel Christmas" on the Tod Andrews syndicated series The Gray Ghost. He was then cast as Ed Grimes on the 1958 episode "312 Vertical" of the syndicated series State Trooper. He also appeared in It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958). His other appearances in 1959 include the episode "Peligroso" on NBC's Western series The Restless Gun, episodes of Bat Masterson, and the syndicated Man Without a Gun. From 1956 until 1974, Greer had a recurring role as storekeeper Mr. Jonas on the long-running TV series "Gunsmoke". He appeared in 42 episodes of the series. Occasionally, he would play someone other than Mr. Jonas. In one episode, he was Chester's uncle.

1960s In 1960, Greer appeared in the episode "Dark Fear" on the CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. He was cast twice in The Twilight Zone, in the 1962 episode "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby" and the 1963 episode "Valley of the Shadow". Also in 1963, he was cast in a segment on Jack Palance's ABC circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth. He then appeared as a policeman in the first episode of The Fugitive, "Fear in a Desert City". He would return for five more episodes, making him the most frequently cast guest actor of non-recurring roles on the series (tied with Richard Anderson).

The 1960s brought Greer several more recurring roles in popular series, such as track coach Ossie Weiss in Hank, and Sheriff Norris "Norrie" Coolidge in The Ghost & Mrs. Muir. He also made eight appearances on The Rifleman. In 1962, on the ABC/WB Western series Lawman, in an episode titled "The Unmasked", Greer was cast in a fictitious portrayal of Boston Corbett, the Union Army soldier who shot and mortally wounded Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

In 1969, Greer played the minister who married Carol and Mike Brady on the pilot episode of the Brady Bunch.

1970s and 1980s Greer had a recurring role in the NBC series Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1983 as Reverend Alden. Often cast as a minister, he performed the marriages of Rob and Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mike and Carol Brady on the first episode of The Brady Bunch.

Last years (1990s and 2000s) From 1992 to 1996, he tended to the spiritual needs of the townsfolk in fictional Rome, Wisconsin, as Reverend Henry Novotny in Picket Fences. He also had a guest appearance on an episode of Charles in Charge in the role of Buzz Powell.

In the May 9, 1991, episode of L.A. Law, titled "On the Toad Again", Greer played a character addicted to a "high" produced by licking the skin secretions of psychoactive toads. In the 1997 film Con Air, Greer appeared as an old man discovered hiding under a pick-up truck at "Lerner Field".

Greer's final feature film was a prominent role as 108-year-old Paul Edgecomb in The Green Mile (1999) starring Tom Hanks as the younger Edgecomb. Greer's last television performance was in a 2003 episode of Lizzie McGuire.

Most of Greer's approximately 700 movie and television appearances had been in supporting roles,

Death Greer died on April 28, 2007, He is interred in Peace Valley Cemetery in McDonald County, Missouri.

Filmography Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1950 Dick Tracy Shaky 2 episodes 1950–1954 Fireside Theatre Various characters 14 episodes 1951 Space Patrol Paul Marin Episode: "The Lost City of the Carnacans" 1952 The Doctor Pierson Episode: "No Gods to Serve" The Lone Ranger Toby Durbin Episode: "Through the Wall" 1952–1954 Cavalcade of America Mark Wilson / Johann / John Adams 3 episodes 1952–1955 Big Town Sergeant Jim Ward 4 episodes 1952–1958 Adventures of Superman Episode 1- Played 2 people. Mr. Pebbles and Dan Dobey / Episode 2 - Joe Winters / Episode 3 - Man Saved from Dirigible Fall 3 episodes 1953–1955 Big Town Colonel Venable / Dave / General Charles S. Venable 3 episodes 1954 Waterfront Phil Harvey Episode: "Stand by All Stations" Topper Jack Episode: "Preparations for Europe" The Lone Wolf Sheriff Ketton Episode: "The Wife Story" Climax! Adams Episode: "The After House" Your Favorite Story Unknown character Episode: "The Waltz" 1954–1960 Letter to Loretta Various characters 9 episodes 1954–1965 Lassie Casey Howell / Joe Baker 3 episodes 1955 Father Knows Best Mr. Collins Episode: "Father Delivers the Papers" The Man Behind the Badge Detective Merrick Episode: "The Case of the Capital Crime" The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp Marshal Crawford Episode: "Wyatt Earp Becomes a Marshal" Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Charlie Episode: "A Gift of Life" Frontier Marshal / Ray 2 episodes General Electric Theater Tom Episode: "Prosper's Old Mother" Navy Log Mr. Sayres Episode: "Navy Corpsman" 1955–1956 Science Fiction Theatre Professor Horst Reimers / MacNamara / Arthur Kern 3 episodes Lux Video Theatre Shammy / Maguire 4 episodes 1955–1957 Fireside Theatre Boggs / Germie / Henry Blaine / Jeremy 2 episodes 1956 The Man Called X Josef Episode: "For External Use Only" The Star and the Story Dr. Carlson Episode: "Payment in Kind" NBC Matinee Theater Various characters 2 episodes The Millionaire Stoolie Episode: "The Ed Murdock Story" Alfred Hitchcock Presents Theodore the Milkman / The Sheriff Season 1 Episode 25: "There Was an Old Woman" as Theodore the Milkman Season 1 Episode 33: "The Belfry" as the Sheriff TV Reader's Digest Captain Larsen / Paul Diamond / Dr. Rayborn / Tad Duncan, Sr. / Dr. Petrie 5 episodes Chevron Hall of Stars John Episode: "Family Affair" The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show Dr. J. L. Hendricks / Bert Keith 2 episodes The Joseph Cotten Show Mr. Erwin Episode: "We Who Love Her" Studio 57 Sheriff Barton Episode: "Swing Your Partner, Hector" 1956–1961 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Various characters 6 episodes 1956–1974 Gunsmoke Wilbur Jonas (storekeeper) / Joe Bean / Uncle Wesley 43 episodes 1957 The New Adventures of Charlie Chan Zac West Episode: "The Lost Face" How to Marry a Millionaire Mr. Blandish 3 episodes Broken Arrow Joe Randolph Episode: "Legacy of a Hero" Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal Tom Denby / Pete Maxwell 2 episodes Fury Sanders Episode: "My Horse Ajax" Sheriff of Cochise Charlie Jackson Episode: "Revenge" The West Point Story Tom Nolan 2 episodes Code 3 Louis Johnson / Bill Rockwell 2 episodes The Web Unknown character Episode: "Man with a Choice" The Gray Ghost Cooper Episode: "Rebel Christmas" Tombstone Territory Jim Edwards, Sr. Episode: "Ambush at Gila Gulch" 1957–1958 Whirlybirds Jim Burdette / Dan Malloy 2 episodes Trackdown Mike Kilroy / Sheriff Chet Farrow / Ward Barrett / Ethan Phelps 4 episodes 1958 Official Detective James Episode: "The Cover-Up" The Court of Last Resort Sheriff Cass Baker Episode: "The Joel Sheldon Case" State Trooper Ed Grimes Episode: "312 Vertical" Target Kirby Episode: "Backfire" Westinghouse Studio One Lewis Episode: "Image of Fear" The Restless Gun Roy Stanton Episode: "Peligroso" 1958–1959 Wanted Dead or Alive Bartender / Elder Luke Boone / Tom Wade 3 episodes Walt Disney Presents Will / Fort Supplier 2 episodes 1958–1966 Perry Mason Various characters 8 episodes 1959 Pony Express Sheriff Barnett Episode: "Wrong Rope" Steve Canyon Ben Moore Episode: "The Bomb" Playhouse 90 Clayton Beard Episode: "The Day Before Atlanta" The Thin Man Amboy - Hotel Clerk Episode: "Anonymity Anyone?" The Rough Riders Sheriff Jenkins Episode: "Paradise Gap" Alcoa Theatre Policeman Episode: "Christabel" Man Without a Gun Ben McLaren Episode: "Hangtree Inn" The Troubleshooters Lepage Episode: "The Law and the Profits" Tightrope! Skeet Episode: "Thousand Dollar Bill" Bat Masterson Will Episode: "Wanted: Dead" Law of the Plainsman Wesley Episode: “The Hostiles” Richard Diamond, Private Detective Scooter Jaffee Episode: "The Adjuster" The Rifleman Brett Conway Episode: "Panic" Marcus Trimble