William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 â€" April 4, 1979) was an
American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is
most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction,
Green Acres, and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the
1960s.The son of Dr. and Mrs. William Edgar Buchanan, he was born in
Humansville, Missouri, and moved with his family to Oregon when he was
seven. In 1928, he earned a DDS degree from North Pacific College
School of Dentistry, which later became Oregon Health & Science
University School of Dentistry. His wife Mildred (1907â€"1987) and he,
classmates in dental school, were married in 1928, the year he
graduated. They had one child, a son named Buck. In 1939, they moved
from Eugene, Oregon, to Altadena, California, where they relocated
their dental practice. He joined the Pasadena Playhouse as an actor.
He appeared in his first film in 1939, at the age of 36, after which
he turned his dentistry practice over to his wife. He was a member of
Theta Chi fraternity and a Freemason.Buchanan appeared in more than
100 films, including Texas (1941), in which he played a dentist and
starred with William Holden and Glenn Ford and later in Penny Serenade
(1941) with Cary Grant, Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die (1942),
The Talk of the Town (1942) with Ronald Colman and Jean Arthur, The
Man from Colorado (1949), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), She Couldn't
Say No (1954), Ride the High Country (1962) with Randolph Scott and
Joel McCrea, McLintock! (1963) with John Wayne, Move Over, Darling
(1963) with Doris Day and James Garner, and Benji (1974).Among the
many television series in which he was cast as a guest star were
Cimarron City, The Californians, and The Rifleman. Edgar appeared in
six episodes of The Rifleman, playing Grandpa Fogerty in “The Long
Goodbye†(episode 119) and Doc Burrage in the other five: “The
Pet†(episode 15), “The Second Witness†(episode 23), “The
Trade†(episode 24), “The Deadly Wait†(episode 26), and “The
Angry Man†(episode 31). He portrayed Jed Christianson in the
episode "Duel at Sundown" on Maverick with James Garner and Clint
Eastwood, and was on Leave It to Beaver (as both "Uncle Billy" and
"Captain Jack"), The Twilight Zone, Riverboat (as Wingate Pardee in
the 1960 episode, "Duel on the River"), Gunsmoke, Route 66, Bringing
Up Buddy, Bus Stop, and The Lloyd Bridges Show.
American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is
most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction,
Green Acres, and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the
1960s.The son of Dr. and Mrs. William Edgar Buchanan, he was born in
Humansville, Missouri, and moved with his family to Oregon when he was
seven. In 1928, he earned a DDS degree from North Pacific College
School of Dentistry, which later became Oregon Health & Science
University School of Dentistry. His wife Mildred (1907â€"1987) and he,
classmates in dental school, were married in 1928, the year he
graduated. They had one child, a son named Buck. In 1939, they moved
from Eugene, Oregon, to Altadena, California, where they relocated
their dental practice. He joined the Pasadena Playhouse as an actor.
He appeared in his first film in 1939, at the age of 36, after which
he turned his dentistry practice over to his wife. He was a member of
Theta Chi fraternity and a Freemason.Buchanan appeared in more than
100 films, including Texas (1941), in which he played a dentist and
starred with William Holden and Glenn Ford and later in Penny Serenade
(1941) with Cary Grant, Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die (1942),
The Talk of the Town (1942) with Ronald Colman and Jean Arthur, The
Man from Colorado (1949), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), She Couldn't
Say No (1954), Ride the High Country (1962) with Randolph Scott and
Joel McCrea, McLintock! (1963) with John Wayne, Move Over, Darling
(1963) with Doris Day and James Garner, and Benji (1974).Among the
many television series in which he was cast as a guest star were
Cimarron City, The Californians, and The Rifleman. Edgar appeared in
six episodes of The Rifleman, playing Grandpa Fogerty in “The Long
Goodbye†(episode 119) and Doc Burrage in the other five: “The
Pet†(episode 15), “The Second Witness†(episode 23), “The
Trade†(episode 24), “The Deadly Wait†(episode 26), and “The
Angry Man†(episode 31). He portrayed Jed Christianson in the
episode "Duel at Sundown" on Maverick with James Garner and Clint
Eastwood, and was on Leave It to Beaver (as both "Uncle Billy" and
"Captain Jack"), The Twilight Zone, Riverboat (as Wingate Pardee in
the 1960 episode, "Duel on the River"), Gunsmoke, Route 66, Bringing
Up Buddy, Bus Stop, and The Lloyd Bridges Show.
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