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!
34 Comments
Yes, quite a career there, Mr Greer.
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.
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).
Glad to know he lived to a rip old age
Carla