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See the cast of Green Acres in their early screen roles
You could find them alongside Ronald Reagan and Lucille Ball.
Images: The Everett Collection
Every actor has to start somewhere, but the cast of Green Acres got off to rather notable first starts. They acted alongside future presidents and sitcom icons.
Let's take a look and see how these stars began their career — long before they hit Hooterville. Well, one of them made a screen debut in Hooterville.
1. Eddie Albert
We begin with the star himself, the man known in Hooterville as Oliver Wendell Douglas. Albert (born Heimberger) began on the radio in New York City, co-hosting a radio show called The Honeymooners – Grace and Eddie Show (no relation to the Jackie Gleason sitcom). Soon after, he became most known as Bing Edwards in Brother Rat, a role that began on Broadway and soon expanded to Hollywood adaptation. The 1938 Brother Rat film would be his screen debut, pictured here. His costar? Ronald Reagan!
Image: The Everett Collection
2. Eva Gabor
The Hungarian-born actress and younger sister of Zsa Zsa landed her first screen role in, well, Forced Landing. She's the exotic love interest in the 1941 adventure-romance, pictured here as her character Johanna Van Deuren. Eva was the first Gabor to emigrate to the United States. That glamor carried over to her role as city slicker Lisa Douglas.
Image: The Everett Collection
3. Barbara Pepper
Arnold the pig was the most famous Ziffel on the show. Pepper played the pig's owner, Doris Ziffel, an elderly neighbor to Oliver and Lisa. Roll back the clock a few decades and you can find Pepper making her screen debut in Roman Scandals, seen her as an uncredited dancer. She had good company. Another young up-and-comer named Lucille Ball was alongside her, also making her debut. Yep! Lucy and Doris Ziffel made their first Hollywood appearances together!
Image: The Everett Collection
4. Hank Patterson
What about Mr. Ziffel, you ask? Well, old Fred (Hank Patterson) cut his teeth in Westerns. In 1939 and the early 1940s, Patterson popped up in a few uncredited roles — background bits in oaters like The Arizona Kid and John Wayne's Three Faces West. The former vaudeville piano player earned his first credited role in Abilene Town (1946), seen here.
Image: United Artists
5. Pat Buttram
Sponsored by Alka-Seltzer every Saturday night, National Barn Dance was a country-music radio show based out of Chicago. Yep, the Second City had a country scene. Alabama native Buttram was a key player on the program, which jumped to the big screen in 1944 with film adaptation of the same name. Here he is in a scene from National Barn Dance the movie. Before becoming Mr. Haney on Green Acres, he was also a sidekick to Roy Rogers for a spell.
Image: The Everett Collection
6. Frank Cady
Frank Cady is one of those actors who is hard to picture young. His Sam Drucker character was such a common presence on 1960s television, appearing in the "Hooterville universe" on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and Petticoat Junction. The Stanford graduate began his film career in the late 1940s, following his military service. His first credited role was already a mature role — he played a professor in the 1947 comedy Sarge Goes to College, a film starring Alan Hale Jr. of Gilligan's Island. The following year, he was in Bungalow 13, pictured here.
Image: The Everett Collection
7. Alvy Moore
Jack Alvin Moore appeared in the vast majority of Green Acres episodes as the ditzy local agricultural agent Hank Kimball. The Indiana kid served in the Marines in the Pacific during World War II. No wonder so many of his early film roles throughout the 1950s were soldiers in war flicks. Before that, in 1951, he made his TV debut on Space Patrol, seen here in the episode "A Big Wheel Named Ferris."
Image: Space Patrol
8. Mary Grace Canfield
The Monroe "brothers" were a constant source on the sitcom. Canfield played Ralph, the sister in actuality. In the late 1950s, Canfield took a few small roles on obscure television series such as The Best of Broadway and Robert Montgomery Presents, challenging to find if not lost to time. In 1960, however, she made a memorable turn in Polyanna, the Hayley Mills favorite, seen here.
Image: The Everett Collection
9. Sid Melton
Alf, the other Monroe, showcased Sid Melton's comedic skills. He began his career in low-budget flicks, often as comic relief. His first credited role (As "Sidney") was in Dr. Broadway (1942). His second, Girls in Chains (1943), was a crime tale, pictured here.
Image: The Everett Collection
10. Tom Lester
Lester, an honest-to-goodness farm boy, was perfect for the part of Eb. It is said that Lester beat out 400 other actors for the role of Eb because he actually knew how to milk a cow. No wonder it was his first acting role.
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He will be missed!
With the death of Mary Grace Canfield on February 15, 2014, who portrayed Ralph Monroe, Lester is the only surviving regular cast member of Green Acres.
