The Mayor of Mayberry was also the first to play both Chester on Gunsmoke and Eb on Green Acres

It takes talent to play a deputy, a mayor, a farmhand and an elf.

Parley Baer started his professional career training animals at Jungleland USA. No wonder the animals listened to him. The fellow had a distinctive, commanding voice. His vocal talents would pay off in bigger ways once he moved from amusement parks to showbiz. You can find him all over classic television playing authoritative types, from city commissioner Arthur J. Henson on The Addams Family to Mayor Roy Stoner on The Andy Griffith Show.

Before becoming a familiar face on the boob tube, Baer landed a few landmark roles on radio. The 1950 radio program Granby's Green Acres was indeed a predecessor to the popular '60s sitcom. Gale Gordon (The Lucy Show) and Bea Benaderet (Petticoat Junction) portrayed the married city slickers who give farming a go. Though, they were named Granby not Douglas, obviously.

The leads might have had different names, but one character carried over to the TV adaptation — Eb, the farmhand. Baer voiced that comedic country bumpkin. To boot, in the first episode, Howard McNear portrayed Mr. Kimball. McNear and Baer were frequent colleagues, not to mention lifelong friends. You know McNear best as Floyd the Barber in Mayberry. The two started out together in Dodge City.

In 1952, both McNear and Baer joined the cast of a new Western program dubbed Gunsmoke. This earlier radio version featured the same familiar characters. McNear voiced Doc Adams. Baer pioneered the role of Chester, later played by Dennis Weaver. He even came up with the character's original full name, Chester Wesley Proudfoot, reportedly off the top of his head in an ad-lib. (The name was later changed to Goode.)

When McNear passed away in 1969, Baer performed the eulogy at the funeral.

Baer himself lived another three-plus decades. In that time, he worked another notable voice-over gig that is familiar to millions. Baer was Ernie Keebler, a.k.a. the Keebler Elf. Yep, one man could play Dodge City deputy, Mayberry mayor, Green Acres farmhand and baker of delicious cookies. Now that's talent.



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8 Comments

Xsquid 23 months ago
Saw him several days ago on wagon train.
art 54 months ago
He also was in the film "Last of the Dogmen" as the retired railroadman, retelling the capture of the little indian boy who turned out to be the old chief of the tribe.
SteveThames 56 months ago
Recognized the face , did it know the name; is there a 60’s show he wasn’t on? Always seemed to play the mayor/ politician type
waccooga 56 months ago
I met him once many years ago. He was ring-mastering for Circus Vargas and had a day off, but, was watching the show. My Mom was taking me to the bathroom and we saw him. She was the kind of person who would stop and talk to anyone, so, we got to have a nice chat with him. Very nice and friendly.
MarkEd 56 months ago
Parley Baer also appeared on The Rifleman, as a wealthy but land grubbing rancher, who comes up with a plan to kidnap young Mark McCain, in order to steal the McCain ranch. Lucas kills him in the end of course.
MikeBugal 56 months ago
The headline is misleading. Parley played a character named Ebb on the radio show but that character bore little resemblance to the character on the TV show. He NEVER appeared as the character that he portrayed on TV. "Granby's Green Acres" was a very short lived show... it only lasted 6 episodes. It was the source that Paul Henning and Jay Sommers drew upon for the basic concept, but most elements were retooled and recast.
Lantern 56 months ago
Parley Baer memorably played the bigoted advertising client in that Bewitched Christmas episode about young Tabitha switching skin color with her friend.
ELEANOR 56 months ago
Also appeared on many Perry Mason episodes.
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