Acting · Springville, Alabama, USA · Born October 9, 1888
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."
TVLove, American Style
1969
as Farmer
TVThe Mod Squad
1968
TVThe Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
TVCimarron Strip
1967
TVCuster
1967
TVThe Loner
1965
as The Bartender
TVLaredo
1965
TVGreen Acres
1965
as Fred Ziffel
TVThe Legend of Jesse James
1965
as Porter
TVDaniel Boone
1964
as Jed Harper (uncredited)
TVPetticoat Junction
1963
as Fred Ziffell
TVBurke's Law
1963
as Lukey Slade
TVThe Beverly Hillbillies
1962
TVThe Virginian
1962
as Old Man
TVStraightaway
1961
TV87th Precinct
1961
TVMiami Undercover
1961
MovieThe Absent-Minded Professor
1961
as Fisherman Spectator (uncredited)
TVMister Ed
1961
TVThe Andy Griffith Show
1960
as Hobo
TVThe Westerner
1960
as Sample
TVThe Tall Man
1960
MovieGunfighters of Abilene
1960
as Andy Ferris
TVThe Alaskans
1959
TVThe Twilight Zone
1959
as Old Man
TVJohnny Ringo
1959
as Old Man
TVLock-Up
1959
TVThe DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Mr. Phillips
TVRiverboat
1959
as Rare
TVBonanza
1959
as Blacksmith
MovieLone Texan
1959
as Jack Stone (uncredited)
MovieGunmen from Laredo
1959
MovieNo Name on the Bullet
1959
as Ed - Chess Player (uncredited)
TVBlack Saddle
1959
as Harvey Morgan
TVRawhide
1959
as Simpson
MovieMonster on the Campus
1958
as Townsend - Night Watchman
MovieThe Decks Ran Red
1958
as Moody
TVBat Masterson
1958
as Prospector
TVWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
TVThe Rifleman
1958
TVThe Texan
1958
TVBronco
1958
MovieThe Saga of Hemp Brown
1958
as Gil Henry
MovieTerror in a Texas Town
1958
as Brady
MovieEarth vs. the Spider
1958
as Hugo
MovieAttack of the Puppet People
1958
as Night Manager
TVSea Hunt
1958
TVThe New Adventures of Spin and Marty
1957
as Pete Duggan
MovieThe Amazing Colossal Man
1957
as Henry
TVTrackdown
1957
TVPerry Mason
1957
as Jack Gilly
TVHave Gun, Will Travel
1957
MovieGunsight Ridge
1957
as George Clark (uncredited)
MovieBeginning of the End
1957
as Dave
MovieThe Storm Rider
1957
as Milstead
MovieJulie
1956
as Ellis
TVDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Slim Baker
MovieStrange Intruder
1956
as Knife Grinder
MovieThe First Traveling Saleslady
1956
as Courtroom Spectator
MovieTarantula
1955
as Josh
TVHighway Patrol
1955
TVSergeant Preston of the Yukon
1955
TVNavy Log
1955
TVCheyenne
1955
as Sunset
TVGunsmoke
1955
as Jake
TVThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955
MoviePhantom Trails
1955
as Jess Morgan
TVBuffalo Bill Jr.
1955
MovieSouthwest Passage
1954
as Barstow
MovieJack Slade
1953
as Old Tom
TVCity Detective
1953
MovieCanadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders
1953
as Jed Larson
MovieWoman They Almost Lynched
1953
as Townsman (uncredited)
TVThe Abbott and Costello Show
1952
as The Tramp
TVDeath Valley Days
1952
as Phi Jones
TVHopalong Cassidy
1952
MovieCalifornia Conquest
1952
Gang Busters
1952
TVSchlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
TVThe Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1951
MovieDon Daredevil Rides Again
1951
as Buck Bender
MovieSilver City Bonanza
1951
as Postman
MovieBlades of the Musketeers
1950
as The Old Fisherman
MovieDesperadoes of the West
1950
as Hardrock Haggerty
MovieThe Return of Jesse James
1950
as Clay County Marshal
TVThe Gene Autry Show
1950
as Wagon Driver Idaho
MovieThe Gunfighter
1950
as Jake (uncredited)
MovieNo Sad Songs for Me
1950
as Night Construction Workman (uncredited)
MovieCode of the Silver Sage
1950
as Sergeant Woods
MovieThe Cowboy and the Indians
1949
as Tom
TVThe Lone Ranger
1949
as Calico
MovieThe James Brothers of Missouri
1949
as Duffy [Ch. 4] / Duffy [11]
MovieThe Denver Kid
1948
as Sergeant Cooper
MovieNight Time in Nevada
1948
as Tramp
MovieRelentless
1948
as Bob Pliny (uncredited)
MoviePanhandle
1948
as Old Timer (uncredited)
MovieOklahoma Badlands
1948
as Postmaster Fred
MovieUnder Colorado Skies
1947
as Slim
MovieSpringtime in the Sierras
1947
as Old-Timer
MovieRobin Hood Of Texas
1947
as Guest
MovieBells of San Angelo
1947
as Deaf bus passenger
MovieDuel in the Sun
1946
as Man (uncredited)
MovieSanta Fe Uprising
1946
as Deputy Jake
MovieThe El Paso Kid
1946
as Jeff Winters
MovieAbilene Town
1946
as Doug Neil
MovieThree Faces West
1940
as Pool Player
MovieSabotage
1939
as (uncredited)
MovieThe Arizona Kid
1939
as Townsman
