- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRobert William Greer
- Nickname
- Bill
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Dabbs Greer was a very familiar face in films and especially on TV. He was a sort of "everyman" in his roles and played merchants, preachers, businessmen, and other "pillars of the community" types as well as assorted villains. With his plain looking face, wavy hair and mellow, distinctive voice he was a solid supporting actor.
He was born on April 2, 1917, in Fairview, Missouri, to Randall Alexander Greer and Bernice Irene Dabbs. Reared in Anderson, Missouri, he was the only child of a pharmacist father and a speech therapist mother. His first acting experience was on stage in a children's theatre production when he was eight years old. He attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, where he earned a BA and headed the drama department and Little Theatre in Mountain Grove, Missouri, from 1940-43. He then moved on to the famed Pasadena Playhouse in California as actor, instructor and administrator from 1943-50. He made his film debut in Reign of Terror (1949) (aka "The Black Book") in an uncredited bit part and went on to appear in many parts during the next 50 years. He is probably best remembered for his role as Rev. Alden on Little House on the Prairie (1974) but he was also a regular on the TV series Gunsmoke (1955) as a merchant, Mr. Jonas; Hank (1965) as Coach Ossie Weiss and Picket Fences (1992) as Rev. Henry Novotny. He also appeared in made-for-TV movies and guest-starred on such series as Adventures of Superman (1952); The Rifleman (1958); Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958); Trackdown (1957); Perry Mason (1957); Bonanza (1959); The Fugitive (1963) and The Brady Bunch (1969). He died in 2007, aged 90. He never married, had no children, and left no immediate relatives.- IMDb Mini Biography By: John Macaluso - Greer's last feature film role in a long and successful career was in the hit movie, The Green Mile (although he played at least five more roles in TV productions over the next four years). He shared the starring role with Tom Hanks--Hanks as the younger version, Greer as the much older version--of lead character, Paul Edgecomb. Greer's character narrates throughout the entire film. It is from Greer's p.o.v. and memory flashbacks that the entire tale unfolds. He was 82 years old.- IMDb Mini Biography By: TBone Malone
- ParentsRandall Alexander GreerBernice Irene Dabbs
- Frequently played reverends, doctors and police officers.
- He played the first person saved by Superman in the very first episode of the Adventures of Superman (1952) television series. His role was uncredited. He was brought back to appear in a major role as an innocent man about to go to the electric chair in the first episode of the second season. He appeared for a third time in one of the final episodes of the series.
- "Married" two of the most well-known couples on television. On The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) he played the army chaplain who married Rob and Laura Petrie, and on The Brady Bunch (1969) he played the minister who married Mike and Carol Brady.
- He made his film debut as an extra in the 1938 movie "Jesse James," which was filmed mainly in Pineville. "They were paying $5 a day a day to local people for being extras. That was really good money in those days, more money than we had seen in a long time," he told the Neosho Daily News in 2002.
- Twice portrayed characters who worked on death row, in I Want to Live! (1958) and The Green Mile (1999).
- In the 1940s, he was an instructor at the famous Pasadena Playhouse and was also their Dean of Men.
- Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content