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. At the age of eight, he began acting in children's theater productions. He attended Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, where he was a member of Theta Kappa Nu.
Career
Early career (1930s and 1940s) Greer's film debut was as an extra in the 1939 film Jesse James, which was filmed mainly around Pineville, Missouri.
After moving to Pasadena, California in 1943, he became an administrator and acting instructor at the Pasadena Playhouse.
1950s Greer appeared in three episodes of Adventures of Superman, including the inaugural entry, "Superman on Earth" (1952), 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 The 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, but he told the Albany Times Union in an interview in 2000, that "every character actor, in their little sphere, is the lead."
Death Greer died on April 28, 2007, at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena from kidney failure and heart disease. He is interred in Peace Valley Cemetery in McDonald County, Missouri.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1949Reign of Terror Bridge Guard Uncredited 1950The Damned Don't Cry ReporterTrial Without Jury Jack, Police Radio Room DispatcherDevil's Doorway Spud KeithCalifornia Passage Dealer 1951Storm Warning Courtroom CopCall Me Mister Corporal Aide to ColonelFather's Little Dividend Green Taxicab's DriverThe Lady from Texas BailiffThe Unknown Man Ambulance Intern DriverTwo Tickets to Broadway Soldier in NightclubWeek-End with Father Minor RoleUnder the Gun Stoner 1952Room for One More ScoutmasterDeadline – U.S.A. Day ReporterYoung Man with Ideas Telephone ManDiplomatic Courier Intelligence ClerkScarlet Angel Man Robbed by RoxyWe're Not Married! Beauty Contest SpectatorSally and Saint Anne Mr. ParkerMonkey Business CabbieMy Man and I Court ClerkBecause You're Mine SergeantBecause of You Mexican Shop OwnerMillion Dollar Mermaid Movie Set EngineerThe Bad and the Beautiful Studio Lighting TechnicianAbove and Beyond Steve HaddockShe Couldn't Say No Dick Jordan 1953Trouble Along the Way Father PetersonHouse of Wax Sergeant Jim ShaneJulius Caesar Citizen of Rome UncreditedRemains to Be Seen JuliusDream Wife Night Elevator OperatorA Slight Case of Larceny Eddie - 1st Gas ManAffair with a Stranger Happy MurrayMister Scoutmaster Fireman UncreditedMission Over Korea PilotHalf a Hero George PaysonChina Venture GaluppoTake the High Ground! Shorty Uncredited 1954Riot in Cell Block 11 SchuylerBitter Creek SheriffRose Marie Charity Dance Cashier UncreditedLucky Me Eddie SzczepanskiThe Desperado U.S. Marshal Jim LangleyLiving It Up Head Boy Ranger UncreditedPrivate Hell 36 Sam Marvin, Bartender 1955Seven Angry Men DoctorHit the Deck Eddie UncreditedStranger on Horseback Hotel ClerkAn Annapolis Story Commander HalleckThe Seven Little Foys TutorFoxfire Bus DriverThe Scarlet Coat Captain BrewsterThe McConnell Story Pilot InstructorAt Gunpoint Preacher at Funeral 1956Meet Me in Las Vegas Mr. Smith-JohnsonD-Day the Sixth of June Corporal AtkinsonThe First Texan Delegate PotterAway All Boats Lieutenant Commander HarrisonThe Young Guns FredTension at Table Rock DoctorHot Rod Girl Henry FryeInvasion of the Body Snatchers Mac LomaxHot Cars Detective Davenport 1957Chain of Evidence Dr. AinsleyThe Spirit of St. Louis Goldsborough UncreditedAll Mine to Give ClendenningJohnny Tremain Nat LorneThe Vampire Dr. Will BeaumontPawnee John BrewsterMy Man Godfrey Lieutenant O'ConnorYoung and Dangerous Mr. John ClintonBaby Face Nelson FBI Agent Charles Bonner 1958It! The Terror from Beyond Space Eric RoyceI Want to Live! San Quentin Captain 1959Lone Texan Doc JansenDay of the Outlaw Doc Langer, VeterinarianEdge of Eternity Gas Station AttendantLast Train from Gun Hill Deputy Andy Uncredited 1960Cash McCall Bronson 1963Wives and Lovers Sardi's WaiterPalm Springs Weekend Boys' Club LeaderShowdown Express Man 1964Roustabout Arthur Nielsen 1965Shenandoah Abernathy 1970The Cheyenne Social Club Jedediah W. Willowby 1972Rage Dr. Thompson 1973White Lightning Pa McKlusky 1977Evil Town Lyle Phelps 1981Chu Chu and the Philly Flash Wally 1988Two Moon Junction Kyle 1989Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat Otto 1990Pacific Heights Mr. Thayer 1992House IV Dad 1994Little Giants Wilbur 1997Con Air Man Under Truck 1999The Green Mile Old Paul Edgecomb Final film role
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