Denver Pyle | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Pyle in 1962 | |
| Born | Denver Dell Pyle (1920-05-11)May 11, 1920 Bethune, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | December 25, 1997(1997-12-25) (aged 77) Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forreston Cemetery,Forreston, Texas |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1947–1997 |
| Known for | Uncle Jesse inThe Dukes of Hazzard |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997)[1][2] was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of television roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal ofBriscoe Darling in several episodes ofThe Andy Griffith Show, as Jesse Duke inThe Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, as Mad Jack in theNBC television seriesThe Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and as the main character's father, Buck Webb, inCBS'sThe Doris Day Show. In many of his roles, he portrayed either authority figures, or gruff, demanding father figures, often as comic relief. Perhaps his most memorable film role was that ofTexas RangerFrank Hamer in the movieBonnie and Clyde (1967), as the lawman who relentlessly chased down and finally killed the notorious duo in an ambush.
Pyle was born inBethune, Colorado on May 11, 1920, to farmer Ben H. Pyle and his wife Maude.[3] His brother,Willis, was ananimator known for his work withWalt Disney Animation Studios andUPA.[4][5]
After graduating from high school, Pyle briefly attendedColorado State University,[6] but dropped out to pursue a career as a drummer.[7] Later, he worked the oil fields in Oklahoma and Texas.[8] In 1940, Pyle moved to Los Angeles,[6] where his brother and sister were working. His sister helped him land a job as a page at NBC.[8] When the United States enteredWorld War II, he began working at Lockheed as a riveter.[9]
His military service is unclear, and he possibly enlisted in theU.S. Navy orMerchant Marines, or both.[10][11][12]
After the war, Pyle returned to work at Lockheed and married his first wife, Marilee.[8]
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Through the encouragement of actor friend Sidney Gordon, Pyle landed a part in a play.[9] It did well, so he began to study acting and joined the American Repertory Theater. During this time, after being seen inRing Around Elizabeth at the Glendale Center Theater, he was cast in the filmsThe Guilt of Janet Ames (1947) andThe Man from Colorado (1948).[7] Other bit parts followed, until 1955 when he was cast as outlaw Ben Thompson onThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, after which he became an established actor.[9]
Pyle guest-starred 14 times between 1951 and 1953 on thesyndicated television seriesThe Range Rider withJock Mahoney andDick Jones, and appeared as an outlaw in a 1951 episode of the television seriesThe Lone Ranger titled "Backtrail," then as a deputy in the episode "The Hooded Men" and returned in episode 71 "The Outcast", episode 166 "Woman in the White Mask" and episode 187 "Cross of Santo Domingo". He also appeared in "Frontier Range", a 1951 episode ofThe Gene Autry Show.
In 1953, Pyle appeared onThe Roy Rogers Show (season two, "Loaded Guns") as the wrongly accused killer, ranch hand Tom Larrabee. Also in 1953, Pyle played Emil Hatch in episode 46 ofThe Adventures of Superman entitled "Beware the Wrecker". He had a part in the 1955Audie Murphy filmTo Hell and Back, and appeared twice onNBC's 1955–1956 Westernanthology seriesFrontier (in "Mother of the Brave" and in "The Voyage of Captain Castle").
Pyle was twice cast onCBS'sThe Public Defender in the role of George Hansen, and three times on the religious anthology series,Crossroads onABC. He acted the part of a police detective in the 1956 film noirPlease Murder Me, starringRaymond Burr.
Pyle was cast as Carter in the 1955 episode "Joey's Father" onFury. Three years later, he played an arsonist in the episode "The Fire Watchers" of the same series. In 1956, Pyle appeared as Vance Kiley in the episode called "Quicksand" in the TV Western seriesThe Lone Ranger. That same year, he played "Willie Calhoun", a lovestruck, and soon-to-be murderer, in season 2's "Poor Pearl" onGunsmoke.
He appeared as a professor in the syndicatedMen into Space series' 1959 episode "Moonquake". In an episode ofRipcord, he played a suicidal parachutist. Also in 1959, he returned toGunsmoke, playing the lead character Mike Blocker in the episode "The Bear". He was cast as Big Red in the 1959 episode "Woman in the River" of the detective seriesBourbon Street Beat, starringAndrew Duggan andRichard Long.
Pyle appeared twice each on the CBS Western seriesMy Friend Flicka and NBC'sThe Restless Gun withJohn Payne. He guest-starred withGrant Withers in the 1959 episode "Tumbleweed Ranger" ofTris Coffin's syndicated Western series26 Men, billed as true stories of theArizona Rangers. He appeared seven times onRichard Boone's CBS WesternHave Gun – Will Travel; his final appearance was on the show in 1960 as the character Croft in "The Puppeteer". He guest-starred in 1960 in several other Westerns, includingPony Express,The Man from Blackhawk, andTombstone Territory. He made several appearances as Briscoe Darling, onThe Andy Griffith Show.
Pyle was cast in a number ofWestern movies byJohn Ford, includingThe Horse Soldiers withWilliam Holden andThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He played a Tennessee soldier (called Thimblerig) inJohn Wayne'sThe Alamo (1960). He portrayedSam Houston in several episodes of CBS'sThe Adventures of Jim Bowie. He guest-starred as a law-enforcement officer in Jim Davis' other syndicated series,Rescue 8, and also appeared in an episode of the ABC sitcom,The Real McCoys withWalter Brennan.
Pyle was cast in the 1960 episode "Three Wise Men" of ABC'sStagecoach West as an outlaw who promises to turn himself into the authorities if he can spendChristmas with his family. About this time, Pyle appeared in the segment "Lawyer in Petticoats" ofWilliam Bendix's 1960 NBC Western seriesOverland Trail withDoug McClure, and thereafter in 1961 in "Hand of Vengeance" in the syndicated Western seriesTwo Faces West.[13] Pyle was cast as Jed Corrigan in the 1961 episode "The Tramp" of the NBC family drama seriesNational Velvet.
In 1961, Pyle made the first of eight separate appearances onBonanza, in the third season episode "Springtime".[14] He also appeared in the fourth season episodes "A Hot Day for a Hanging" (1962),[15] "The Boss" (1963),[16] and "Little Man - Ten Feet Tall" (1963);[17] the fifth season's "Bullet for a Bride" (1964),[18] the tenth season's "The Passing of a King" (1968),[19] the twelfth season's "The Wagon" (1970),[20] and finally in "Riot" (1972) in the fourteenth season.[21]
Pyle guest-starred twice on the CBS seriesRoute 66 withMartin Milner andGeorge Maharis, first in 1961 in the episode "The Newborn" and again in 1962 in "A Long Piece of Mischief". He appeared as the father of the doomed family in the dystopian episode "Black Leather Jackets" ofThe Twilight Zone.
In 1963, Pyle guest-starred onThe Dick Van Dyke Show as Uncle George in the episode "Uncle George".
He appeared twice inCheyenne, starringClint Walker. He played Sergeant Tripp in the episode "The Enemy" of theJames Arness ABC seriesHow the West Was Won. Pyle also had guest-starring roles onThe Rifleman.
He also is known for portraying both the suspect and the murder victim on the last originalPerry Mason TV episode, "The Case of the Final Fadeout", in 1966. He was one of 11 actors to hit the Perry Mason trifecta, portraying a victim, a defendant, and the actual murderer (in previous episodes) on the series, which he did in five appearances. Among his other appearances, he played defendant Robert Crane in "The Case of the Deadly Double" in 1958, Tom Quincy in "The Case of the Ominous Outcast" in 1960, Tilden Stuart in "The Case of the Jealous Journalist", Emery Fillmore in "The Case of the Renegade Refugee" (both in 1961), and Frank Honer in "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" in 1963.
Pyle portrayed the vengefulTexas RangerFrank Hamer in the 1967 movieBonnie and Clyde. He also appeared in an episode ofThe High Chaparral as a general who had lost his son.
In 1968, he appeared as Titus Purcell, patriarch of a family of homesteaders, in the episode "The Price of Tomatoes" in the sitcomGomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Working for the first time withJim Nabors playingGomer Pyle, spun-off fromThe Andy Griffith Show, he used a screen persona similar to Briscoe Darling Jr. In 1968, he also directed "The Great Diamond Mines" onDeath Valley Days.
Pyle had a guest-starring role in 1973 onThe Streets of San Francisco. In 1975,Walt Disney Productions released a film based on the novelEscape to Witch Mountain. In this film, Tony and Tia were played byIke Eisenmann andKim Richards, Lucas Deranian byDonald Pleasence, and the children's Uncle Bené by Pyle. In 1976, he appeared onBarnaby Jones in an episode titled "Stalking Horse". He appeared as a mayor residing in the town of Purgatory in the first-season episode ofKung Fu, titled "Ancient Warrior". He also appeared in second-season episode "Crossties" as a doctor. In 1985 (season 9, episode 8), Pyle made a guest appearance onThe Love Boat.
Pyle played the titular role in a theatrical film entitledGuardian of the Wilderness (1976) aboutGalen Clark, the true story of an explorer who persuadedAbraham Lincoln to have theYosemite area set aside from commercial development, the original forerunner of the Americannational parks system.[22] Clark was prompted by his decision to do all he could to preserve the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias from being destroyed by loggers, along with the surrounding land.[23] Pyle was thetop-billed lead in this theatrical motion picture shot on location.John Dehner portrayed legendary naturalistJohn Muir andFord Rainey played President Lincoln. The movie is also known by its alternate titleMountain Man.
One of Pyle's more endearing roles was that of Briscoe Darling Jr., onThe Andy Griffith Show (1960–1966). Pyle played the patriarch of the Darling family, a group of sons (all portrayed byThe Dillards), and one daughter, Charlene, portrayed byMaggie Peterson. He appeared in seven episodes, six written by the comedy-writing team of Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.
During the 1965–1966 television season he portrayed the recurring role of Grandpa Tarleton inTammy.[24]
He played Buck Webb (Doris Day's television series father) during the first two seasons of CBS'sThe Doris Day Show (1968–1970).[9] In real life, Pyle was only two years older than Day. Pyle said in 1968 that he based his acting in that role on his father's personality.[25]
Pyle played the role of Mad Jack in 36 episodes of the NBC seriesThe Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977–1978).[26]
His best-known and longest-running television role was that ofUncle Jesse Duke in the CBS seriesThe Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985) (146 episodes).[27]
In his later life, Pyle played mostly cameo television roles and retired from full-time acting. His last film role was in the 1994 filmMaverick. His final acting role was as Jesse Duke in the 1997 CBS made-for-television movieThe Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!.[28]
Pyle sponsored Uncle Jesse's Fishing Tournament inLamar County, Texas.[29] In ten years of operation, the tournament raised more than $160,000 to support children's programs there.[30] First established in 1988, the tournament is still going strong and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2017. It continues to support the children's charities of Lamar County.[31]
Pyle has a star in the Motion Pictures section of theHollywood Walk of Fame at 7083 Hollywood Boulevard. It was dedicated on December 12, 1997.[32]
In 1991, the Texas Senate passed a resolution honoring Pyle and his wife for their work with Special Olympics and the Denver Pyle's Children's Charities.[33]
Within a few years of his final episode onThe Andy Griffith Show, "The Darling Fortune", Pyle began investing in oil, buying oil wells thought to be near the end of their working lifetimes cheaply at a time when theprice of oil was $2.15 per barrel. By 1981, after new technologies allowed the remaining oil to be more economically recovered from the wells and the1973 oil crisis triggered a rise in prices to over $46 a barrel, he was very wealthy, having made much more money from oil than his total earnings in over 30 years as an actor. He said that he continued to work as an actor because "I look at it this way, acting provides the cash flow I need for oil speculation, and besides that I like acting. It's fun."[34]
In 1955, Pyle married Marilee Carpenter, a production assistant at20th Century Fox. They had sons David and Tony. Marilee and Denver divorced in 1970. On November 5, 1983, Pyle married Tippie X. Johnston in Los Angeles County, California. That union lasted until his death.[35]
Pyle died oflung cancer on Christmas Day 1997. Memorial services were held January 6, 1998, at First Baptist Church inWaxahachie, Texas.[30] He is buried in an unmarked grave at the Forreston Cemetery inForreston, Texas. His remains are interred beside those of his second wife's parents, James Thomas Johnston and Erin Maurine (née Birch) Johnston.[36]
Pyle appeared in every episode ofTammy,The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams,The Dukes of Hazzard, andThe Dukes. Additionally, he directed ten episodes ofDeath Valley Days, ten episodes ofThe Doris Day Show, and twelve episodes ofThe Dukes of Hazzard.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Death Valley Days (8 episodes) | Art Crowley | S1E12, "Swamper Ike" |
| 1954 | The Adventures of Superman | Hatch | S2E20, "Beware the Wrecker" |
| 1955–1958 | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (10 episodes) | Ben Thompson | 7 episodes |
| 1959 | Rev. Oliver Tittle | S4E17, "A Good Man" | |
| 1960 | Dobie Jenner | S5E19, "A Murderer’s Return" | |
| Hoss Mackey | S6E10, "The Too Perfect Crime" | ||
| 1956 | The Millionaire | Arthur Darner | S2E21, "The Arthur Darner Story" |
| Gunsmoke (14 episodes) | Willie Calhoun | S2E13, "Poor Pearl" | |
| 1957 | Hank Shinn | S2E38, "Liar From Blackhawk" | |
| Have Gun – Will Travel (7 episodes) | Clay Sommers | S1E11, "The Colonel and the Lady" | |
| The Restless Gun (2 episodes) | Sheriff Jay | S1E4, "Rink" | |
| 1959 | Jeb | S2E27, "The Pawn" | |
| Gunsmoke (14 episodes) | Mike Blocker | S4E25, "The Bear" | |
| Bat Masterson (2 episodes) | Dan Morgan | S1E21, "Marked Deck" | |
| The Rifleman (5 episodes) | Henry Tumble | S2E2, "Bloodlines" | |
| Seth Mitchell | S2E11, "The Legacy" | ||
| 1960 | Harold Tenner | S2E36, "The Hangman" | |
| 1961 | George Tanner | S3E28, "The Clarence Bibs Story" | |
| Frank Hazlitt | S4E6, "The Decision" | ||
| 1960 | Perry Mason (6 episodes) | Tom Quincy | S3E24, "The Case of the Ominous Outcast" |
| The Tall Man | Marshal Dave Leggert | S1E1, "Garrett and the Kid" | |
| Have Gun Will Travel (7 episodes) | Colonel Celine | S3E37, "Ransom" | |
| Advent | S4E6, "The Calf" | ||
| General George ‘Pawnee’ Croft | S4E15, "The Puppeteer" | ||
| 1961 | Bonanza (8 episodes) | Theodore 'Ted' Hackett | S3E2, "Springtime" |
| 1962 | Sheriff Tom Stedman | S4E4, "A Hot Day for a Hanging" | |
| 1963 | Sheriff Ed | 2 episodes | |
| 1964 | Marcus Caldwell | S5E20, "Bullet for a Bride" | |
| 1968 | Claude Roman | S10E5, "The Passing of a King" | |
| 1970 | Price Buchanan | S12E4, "The Wagon" | |
| 1972 | Warden | S14E4, "Riot" | |
| 1963 | The Dick Van Dyke Show | Uncle George | S3E8, "Uncle George" |
| 1963–66 | The Andy Griffith Show | Briscoe Darling | 6 episodes |
| 1965–66 | Tammy | Grandpa Mordecai Tarleton | All 26 episodes |
| 1965 | Gunsmoke (14 episodes) | Cousin Claudius | S10E17, "Deputy Festus" |
| 1966 | Caleb Nash | S12E2, "The Goldtakers" | |
| 1967 | Dr. Henry S. Rand | S12E17, "Mad Dog" | |
| 1968–1970 | The Doris Day Show | Buck Webb | Credited in 53 episodes, but only appeared in 48 |
| 1977–1978 | The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams | Mad Jack | All 37 episodes |
| 1979–1985 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Uncle Jesse Duke | All 146 episodes |
| 1980 | Enos | 2 episodes | |
| 1983 | The Dukes | All 20 episodes (voice) | |
| 1986 | Return to Mayberry | Briscoe Darling | made-for-television movie |
| 1997 | The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! | Uncle Jesse Duke |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
