The same man married both the Bradys and the Petries

Dabbs Greer actually married two generations of Bradys.

Dabbs Greer is one of the ultimate "Oh! Oh! I KNOW that guy!" actors. You have undoubtedly seen him at some point. The Missouri native appeared in more than 200 television series, from Dick Tracy in 1950 to Lizzy McGuire in 2003.

In between, Greer played a judge, a doctor, an attorney, a merchant — and that's just Bonanza we're talking about! You might know him best as Mr. Jonas, a shopkeeper on Gunsmoke, a part he played in a few dozen episodes. He was also a councilman in Mayberry and a moonshiner on Charlie's Angels, just to name a couple of memorable roles. On the big screen, late in life, he was Old Paul Edgecomb in The Green Mile.

But Greer was particularly good at playing a priest, a pastor. He was the Reverend Robert Alden on 70-plus episodes of Little House on the Prairie — and he married two iconic sitcom couples.

In 1962, as Chaplain Berger, Greer oversaw the hilariously disastrous wedding between Laura and Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) and Rob (Dick Van Dyke) recall their muddled attempt at getting hitched in a flashback. 

Seven years later, Greer was once again bringing two lovebirds together. In "The Honeymoon," the pilot episode and series premiere of The Brady Bunch, he played the "Minister" who united Mike and Carol in matrimony. Thanks for that, Dabbs!

And he was not done with the Bradys! When the Bradys returned in 1990 with a sequel series simply titled The Bradys, Greer was again the Minister! Only this time, he was overseeing the union of Bobby and Tracy! 

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35 Comments

ETristanBooth 14 months ago
He was on 4 episodes of Dick Van Dyke, 4 episodes of Andy Griffith, 2 Twilight Zones, and 2 Outer Limits -- four of my favorite series.
2AMtv 14 months ago
The pilot episode of The Fugitive. He played one of the two detectives that run into Richard Kimball.
dbuelter 15 months ago
He also married Mary Ingalls to Adam.
svenfan1959 15 months ago
Here's another more recent role he played--the older Paul Edgecombe in The Green Mile.
jonethree 15 months ago
And he was the first person Superman( George Reeves ) ever saved
GloryGrace 15 months ago
He also joined together Laura Ingalls and Almonzo Wilder.
ETristanBooth GloryGrace 14 months ago
Actually, Mr. & Mrs. Ingalls are visiting Mary & Adam, and Laura & Almonzo go there to tell everyone that the wedding is on again. When they decide to marry there, the local minister marries them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2xsjrgxyqo
mojomoonjo 15 months ago
I am a long time Dabs Greer fan! He is pretty much everywhere I looked, so had to find out his name!
Avie 15 months ago
At the end of his career, Greer played the old -- very, VERY old -- version of Tom Hanks's character in 1999's "The Green Mile," made nearly immortal by the supernatural intervention of Michael Clarke Duncan's death row inmate, John Coffey.

Yes, quite a career there, Mr Greer.
PreciousPup 15 months ago
He was in the cast of the NBC sitcom "Hank." 1965-66. One of those "gimmick" comedies of the era where every episode was essentially the same thing over and over. The premise was that Hank, a campus lunch wagon operator, was stealing a college education by sitting in on classes (I know, just awful!) and, every time he was caught, an athletic escape occurred. Which caught the eye of the coach of every sport, Dabs Greer, who kept trying to recruit this guy.
I watched it every week and it was not destination TV. But the reason I watched was that Dabs Greer was a cousin to my high school drama coach and she talked about him all the time when that show was on.
So, I've kinda followed him since. Great character actor. In everything. Not that I'm suggesting they should, but MeTV could do an entire Dabs Greer weekend without repeating anything.
mojomoonjo PreciousPup 15 months ago
For certain!
mojomoonjo PreciousPup 15 months ago
For certain!
patgarrett1957 15 months ago
He was also on TAGS in the episode "Barney Fife, Realtor" as the man whom--with his wife--wanted to buy Andy's house. Andy was going to buy the Williams' house. Then Opie and Howie Williams started blabbing about everything in need of repair in both houses. And as the article says, yes, it was "Oh I know him...he's...REV. ALDEN!" Also Mr. McBeevee ended up on "Little House on the Prairie" as Mr. Hanson.

I always think it's funny when multiple actors from an older show end up together in a newer one. In a recent episode of Perry Mason, Neil Hamilton plays a wealthy mine owner and Yvonne Craig played his step-daughter. And everyone here knows that they later were Commissioner Gordon and his daughter, Barbara (BatGirl).
Moverfan patgarrett1957 10 months ago
It's fun to do it the other way, too (find actors from newer shows in the older ones). Hogan's Heroes is good for that--I've seen William Christopher (M*A*S*H) as an American, German and British soldier, the guy who played Mr. Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show as a German officer (which my explain a bit about Carlin's problems), James B. Sikking and Barbara Babcock (Hill Street Blues)--he was a German officer, she was with the underground, Noam Pitlik, who ended up working behind the scenes on Barney Miller, Gavin McLeod (Mary Tyler Moore/Love Boat)...and, oh yeah, that English guy...you know, the one who was the original host of Family Feud...he was on there, too!
tootsieg 15 months ago
Dabs Greer is all over MeTV especially the Westerns and Detective shows. Another great character actor.
CoreyC 15 months ago
Dabbs Greer final role was in The Green Mile as the elderly retired warden played by Tom Hanks.
Purple0456 15 months ago
Dabbs Greer outlasted many of the stars. He popped up everywhere always doing a fine acting job. I especially liked him in the Rifleman series. Good guy or bad guy he was always memorable.
Glad to know he lived to a rip old age
Carla
MrsPhilHarris 15 months ago
Dabs Greer was all over the place. He was on Perry Mason a lot.
Runeshaper 15 months ago
Definitely have seen Dabbs Greer in tons of shows. GREAT actor!
Big3Fan 15 months ago
Superman saved him from the electric chair.
CaptainDunsel Big3Fan 15 months ago
He was also both Good Guy Mr. Pebbles and Bad Guy Dan Dobey in a dual role for the later episode "The Superman Silver Mine"
Big3Fan CaptainDunsel 15 months ago
He was also uncredited as a man saved from a dirigible fall on the first episode of AoS.
daDoctah 15 months ago
The Petries were later married again by Russell Collins as "Judge Krata". When you're making the long list of the "Oh! Oh! I KNOW that guy!" actors, Collins has to be near the top, with his IMDb resume showing mostly a ton of one-time guest appearances of fifties and sixties TV (the series actually outlived him).
LoveMETV22 daDoctah 15 months ago
True. It looks like Russell Collins appeared in some of the series that MeTV broadcasts.
LoveMETV22 15 months ago
Yes Dabbs Greer was one of those "Oh! Oh! I KNOW that guy!" actors." According to the IMDb bio on him he is listed with 321 credits as an actor. I always think of " Little House on the Prairie" when I see him in other roles. A few of the appearances he had made listed him as uncredited, however he was very recognizable to say the least.
RobertM 15 months ago
He played ordained ministers so often, you'd almost think that he really was one.
DeniseC061612 24 months ago
He may not have played a pastor/minister on The Rifleman, but he was a regular guest star on it. All of his roles on there and other westerns are fan favorites 👏
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