Denver Pyle (May 11, 1920 - December 25, 1997)

Had he been born a decade earlier, character actor Denver Pyle might well have joined the ranks of western-movie comedy sidekicks. Instead, Pyle, a Colorado farm boy, opted for studying law, working his way through school by playing drums in a dance band. Suddenly one day, Pyle became disenchanted with law and returned to his family farm with no idea what he wanted to do with his life. Working in the oil fields of Oklahoma, he moved on to the shrimp boats of Galveston, Texas. A short stint as a page at NBC radio studios in 1940 didn't immediately lead to a showbiz career as it has for so many others; instead, Pyle was inspired to perform by a mute oilfield coworker who was able to convey his thought with body language. Studying under such masters as Michael Chekhov and Maria Ouspenskaya, Pyle was able to achieve small movie and TV roles. He worked frequently on the western series of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry; not yet bearded and grizzled, Pyle was often seen as deputies, farmers, and cattle rustlers. When his hair turned prematurely grey in his early 30s, Pyle graduated to banker, sheriff, and judge roles in theatrical westerns. He also was a regular on two TV series, "Code 3" in 1956 and "Tammy" in 1966. On television he played Briscoe Darling, the head of the Darling clan, on "The Andy Griffith Show." But his real breakthrough role didn't happen until 1967, when Pyle was cast as the Texas Ranger in "Bonnie and Clyde" who is kidnapped and humilated by the robbers and then shows up at the end of the film to supervise the bloody machine-gun deaths of Bonnie and Clyde. From this point forward, Denver Pyle's roles were vastly improved - and his screen image was softened and humanized by a full, bushy beard. Returning to TV, Pyle played the Doris Day's father on "The Doris Day Show" ; was Mad Jack, the costar/narrator of "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams"; and spent six years as Uncle Jesse Duke on "The Dukes of Hazzard". Looking stockier but otherwise unchanged, Denver Pyle was briefly seen in the 1994 hit "Maverick", playing an elegantly dishonest cardsharp who jauntily doffs his hat as he's dumped off of a riverboat. Denver Pyle died of lung cancer in 1997 at age 77.