Whatever Happened to the Cast of ‘Green Acres’? Say Hello to Oliver, Lisa and the Folks of Hooterville

Eddie Albert (Oliver Wendell Douglas)

By the time he had gotten to Green Acres, Edward Albert Heimberger (born April 22, 1906 in Rock Island, Illinois) had had one hell of a career and a life. His first intended vocation was to be in business, graduating from the University of Minnesota to achieve success. The Great Depression, however, derailed those plans. Taking a different direction, he moved to New York City in 1933 and ended up cohosting with Grace Bradt the radio comedy The Honeymooners — Grace and Eddie Show. It enjoyed a three-year run, after which Eddie went to Broadway to star in a number of shows and was offered a film contract by Warner Bros. He made his film debut in 1938’s Brother Rat and starred in dozens of others by the time of his last effort, 1989’s Brenda Starr (he also narrated 1994’s Death Valley Memories).

Even before he made a single film, Eddie toured Mexico in a high-wire act as a clown, but as it would turn out, he was actually there for Army intelligence to photograph German U-boats in the harbors of Mexico. He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1942, but a year later was discharged so that he could become a U.S. Naval Reserve lieutenant. He received a Bronze Star for his efforts to rescue 47 Marines while supervising the rescue of another 30 during World War II.

As unbelievable as it seems, television was in the mix as well. In 1936 he wrote what was deemed the first teleplay for live television, The Love Nest. He guest-starred in about 90 television shows, largely anthologies but episodics as well. In 1953 he hosted his own daytime variety series, The Eddie Albert Show. While short-lived, it did lead to his hosting the prime time Saturday Night Revue in 1954. Flash forward to 1965, and producer Paul Henning approached him with the idea of doing Green Acres.

In an interview with The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York at the time, he said of Green Acres, “Our show is the age-old conflict of city versus country. Eva is just sensational as my wife. The more disparity there is between the city and the country, the better. Wearing a Jean-Louis negligee and feeding the pigs, Eva is funny before she says anything. She’s a sophisticate in the country.”

“Oliver,” he adds, has such a yearning for the country that I want to make my own cheese, grow my own garden vegetables and before moving to the country I had done some farming in our penthouse … had the biggest squash on Park Avenue! Eva hates it, but is very loyal and when we move to the country, she wants to help. My character is a person who wants to live a simple life … Only in the series he drives up to the country home in a Continental and attaches an electric blanket out the window to the car battery.”

The series came to a close following the 1970 to 1971 season, largely because the network decided that it didn’t like the audience watching it and a number of other shows, wanting to appeal to younger people. “It wasn’t that at all,” Eddie told the Star-Gazette. The brass at CBS is more concerned about what their Madison Avenue friends think than what the public thinks. The boys on Madison Avenue always turned their noses at Beverly Hillbillies as though it were Dogpatch illiterates.”

He argued that The Beverly Hillbillies was one of the best-written shows on the air and held Green Acres right up there as well, saying, “There’s more humor in one segment of Beverly Hillbillies than there could ever be in a month of Bob Hope shows. But the brass doesn’t think it’s sophisticated enough.”

Putting the pain of cancellation behind him, Eddie just focused on acting: on Broadway, the big screen and television. In 1974 he took on another series, Switch, costarring Robert Wagner and Sharon Gless, about a retired cop and conman who open a detective agency. That show came to an end in 1978 and Eddie went right back to work in numerous movies, TV movies and yet another series, Falcon Crest, this time playing the character of Carlton Travis in the 1987 to 1988 season. The 1990s saw he and Eva Gabor reunite for the TV movie Return to Green Acres; and Eddie did a couple of more films and TV appearances. As he had done most of his life, he continued to work for various social and environmental causes as well.

Eddie was married once, to Mexican-American actress Margo Marguerita Guadalupe Teresa Estella Bolado Castilla y O’Donnell (no, seriously!) from 1945 until her death 40 years later. They had one son, Edward Albert, Jr., who died of lung cancer in 2006. Eddie himself, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, died of pneumonia on May 26, 2005, at age 99. But what an extraordinary life.

Eva Gabor (Lisa Douglas)

One-third of the Gabor sisters (also including Zsa Zsa and Magda), and the youngest, Eva was born February 11, 1919, in Budapest, Hungarian Republic. Marrying Swedish osteopath, Dr. Eric Drimmer, she was the first of the three to move to the United States. Pursuing acting, she scored small roles in films like Forced Landing (1941, her debut), Pacific Blackout (1941), A Royal Scandel (1945), Song of Surrender (1949), Love Island (1952), Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Gigi (1958), Youngblood Hawke (1964), and providing her voice for such Disney films as The Aristocats (1970), The Rescuers (1977) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). She scored a number of Broadway shows: The Happy Time (1950), Little Glass Clock (1956), Present Laughter (1958), Tiovarich (1963) and You Can’t Take It With You (1983 to 1984). Her TV debut was on Tales of Tomorrow (1951) and she appeared on a few other series prior to being cast as Lisa Douglas on Green Acres.

Back in 1952, Eva was interviewed by The San Francisco Examiner about her success at the time, and made it clear that she didn’t want to talk about her family, which she found a “boring subject.” As she explained, “Being a Gabor hasn’t been a help. I’ve never gained anything from the family association. Everything I have accomplished in the theater, radio and TV has been due to hard, hard work. Furthermore, it isn’t enough to be pretty in this business. That’s why I keep on working to improve myself.”

“I’m never quite certain just where I want to be,” she added regarding her stage work. “I tire of roles, feel that I have outgrown them. When I’m on the road, I want to be back in New York. And when I am in New York, I want to be moving and on tour. One thing I have learned this year while traveling is that audiences outside of New York are more appreciative of stage productions than they are in New York. I’m beginning to make friends all over the United States. When I first came to this country several years ago, I promised myself and others that I would know it from border to border. And I do.”

Flash forward two years and she was discussing her television experience with the Chicago Tribune, stating, “I grew up with television. For two years I had my own show in New York. First it was The Eva Gabor Show and I did interviews, then it was Famous Women in History and I played a different woman each night. In the last year or so I’ve played in 11 TV dramatic shows and made appearances on many, many others. Name any of them, Studio one, Suspense, Kraft Theater, Pond’s, Steve Allen — I’ve been on them all.

“I adore television,” she added, “but it is exacting. There you are under a kind of microscopic glass. The viewer sees thru to the real person, and if you are not 100 percent, he sees that, too. You must be genuine and everything must be exactly right.”

By 1965, Eva was on her third marriage and had definitely gone from struggling, hard-working actress to socialite and glam girl, often being quoted that — despite what Marilyn Monroe might have sung — pearls are a girl’s best friend. Also, when she was signed to play Lisa Douglas on Green Acres, it apparently cost producers a pretty penny. Wrote the Beckley-Post of West Virginia on August 9 of that year, “Eva had the lords of Hooterville over somewhat of a barrel. She was not cast in the role until late June and then would not hear of doing a weekly series without Gene Hibbs, one of Hollywood’s most expensive and expert makeup men, and Peggy Shannon, a hairdresser of equal stature in her field. Put them with the famous dress designer Jean Louis and his gowns, and we have one of television’s most expensive one-woman packages.”

She was delighted, however, by the fact that the show was a hit out of the gate, telling The Journal News, “The latest ratings came out this morning, we are up high. Our show is a success. I tell you that is a very nice feeling. There is nothing like success to keep you from getting bored.”

After Green Acres wrapped up production in 1971, Eva made a few more guest appearances, participated in the Gene Rayburn-hosted Match Game, reunited with Eddie Albert on Broadway in You Can’t Take It with you and in 1990 starred in the reunion movie Return to Green Acres. “Eddie and I had mixed feelings when Return to Green Acres was first brought to us,” she told The Sacramento Bee at the time, “because the original writers/producers are dead, but the new people [Craig Heller and Guy Schulman] did a wonderful script. From there it was a joy working with Eddie; he’s a good friend forever — and most of the original cast. I think Hank Patterson is the only one missing.”

Eva was married five times: Eric Valdemar Drimmer from 1937 to 1942; Charles Isaacs from 1943 to 1949; John Elbert Williams, MD, from 1956 to 1957; Richard Brown from 1959 to 1973 and Frank Gard Jameson, Sr. from 1973 to 1983. Following a fall in a bathtub in Mexico, she died on July 4, 1995, from respiratory failure and pneumonia. She was 76.

Tom Lester (Eb Dawson)

Thomas William Lester was born September 23, 1938, in Laurel, Mississippi. A born-again Christian, he felt it was the Lord’s plan that he would become an actor, which is what led him to Hollywood. In the 1960s he started performing at the North Hollywood Playhouse and found himself performing with Linda Kaye Henning, who was playing Betty Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction and whose father, Paul Henning, was the creator of that show as well as Green Acres. As a result, he auditioned for the part of Eb Dawson and was hired. Like others from the show, he also appeared in character on Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies. In 1971, when Green Acres ended, he appeared on some other shows, but found getting hired difficult as he was typecast as Eb.

Of Return to Green Acres, he told the Clarion-Ledger, “Ed hasn’t changed much. He’s basically the same, but now he’s married with six kids and his wife is pregnant with twins. The kids are 15 months to 15 years. I still played it the same. The wonderful thing about Green Acres was we were all very honest with our parts and what we had to say. That’s the reason it worked. It was so off-the-wall, but we played it straight … it was stupid, but we played it real, and that’s what made it funny. It’s crazy, wild stuff.”

At age 68, Tom got married for the first time to his wife, Kaylie. He died on April 20, 2020, from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 81.

Frank Cady (Sam Drucker)

Although there were crossovers between Green Acres, Petticoat Junction and sometimes even The Beverly Hillbillies, the actor who appeared regularly on the first two shows was Frank Randolph Cady as Hooterville General Store owner Sam Drucker. Born on September 8, 1915 in Susanville, California, he studied to be a journalist, but decided instead to work as an announcer and news broadcaster on California radio stations. He joined the United States Air Corps for World War II and after being discharged in 1946, he appeared in a number of Los Angeles plays. His first movie role, 1948’s He Walked by Night, was an uncredited one. Several more followed, though his first credited part was in 1950’s The Great Rupert. From 1951’s Dear Brat to 1964’s 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, he appeared in 18 movies, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954).

He made his TV debut as Doc Williams in 71 episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, followed by guest star spots on a number of shows. Between Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Return to Green Acres he played Sam Drucker 321 times.  Married to Shirley Cady from 1940 until her death in 2008, Frank, the father of two, died at age 96 on June 8, 2012.

Paul Buttram (Eustace Haney)

Mr. Haney was a con man who would usually make you laugh thanks to the distinctive voice of Maxwell Emmett Buttram, born June 19, 1915, in Addison, Alabama. Paul (who claimed his voice never made it through puberty) began his career performing on local radio stations in Chicago before getting his own show on CBS radio. Moving to Hollywood in the 1940s, for a short time he became a sidekick to singing cowboy Roy Rogers. From there he became Gene Autry’s sidekick in over 40 films and 100 episodes of The Gene Autry Show. Green Acres came along in 1965 and over the years he provided his voice to a number of Disney animated films, among them The Fox and the Hound, Robin Hood, The Rescuers and a toon bullet in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. No doubt Back to the Future fans got a kick out of him in the third film of that trilogy, set in the Old West, where he tells Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) that his assumed name, Clint Eastwood, will be known as “the biggest yellow belly in the West.”

He was married twice, to Dorothy McFadden from 1936 to 1946 and Sheila Ryan from 1952 until her death in 1975. He had two children. Paul died of kidney failure at the age of 78 in 1994.

Alvy Moore (Hank Kimball)

Playing Hooterville’s county agricultural agent, Jack Alvin “Alvy” Moore was born on December 5, 1921, in Vincennes, Indiana. He served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, after which he became an actor and studied at the Pasadena Playhouse. Eventually, he took over for the departing David Wayne as Ensign Pulver, alongside Henry Fonda, in the Broadway production of Mister Roberts and the 14-month tour that followed. He appeared in 65 movies between 1952’s Okinawa and 1989’s The Horror Show, 23 of which were uncredited. He made a number of guest-star appearances before and after Green Acres and was a part of 1990’s Return to Green Acres. He was married to Carolyn Moore from 1950 until his death in 1997 from heart failure on May 4 at the age of 75. He is the father of three children.

Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel)

He was born Eler Calvin “Hank” Patterson on October 9, 1888 in Springville, Alabama. A pianist turned actor, he was largely a character actor in dozens of movies and TV shows between 1939’s The Arizona Kid and 1967’s A Covenant with Death. He had recurring roles on Gunsmoke (33 episodes), Have Gun, Will Travel (11 episodes), Death Valley Days (nine episodes), Tales of Wells Fargo (seven episodes), Maverick and Cheyenne (four episodes each) and Wagon Train and Daniel Boone (three episodes each). Hank originated the role of farmer Fred Ziffel on Petticoat Junction and brought him over to Green Acres. Fred and his wife Doris looked upon Arnold the pig as their son.

Hank was married to Daisy Marguerite Sheeler Patterson. He died on August 23, 1975 of bronchial pneumonia at age 86.

Barbara Pepper (Doris Ziffel #1)/Fran Ryan (Doris Ziffel #2)

Born Marion Pepper on May 31, 1915, in New York City, she started her career in the 1930s at age 16 in the musical stock company Goldwyn Girls, where she met and became friends with Lucille Ball. She appeared in small roles in 43 films between 1937 and 1943, including It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and My Fair Lady (1964). As was common among the Green Acres cast, she actually originated her role of Doris Ziffel on Petticoat Junction and carried her over. Her last appearance on Green Acres was in 1968 due to health issues. Married to Craig Reynolds from 1943 until his death in 1949, she herself died of coronary thrombosis at age 54 on July 18, 1969.

When Barbara left the show, Fran Mary Ryan (born November 29, 1916, in Los Angeles) took over the role of Dorris Ziffel from 1969 to 1971. She started acting at age 6 at the Henry Duffy Theatre in Oakland, California. Fran was part of the USO in World War II and would go on to act in film and TV, appearing in 32 movies between 1965’s Mickey One and 1993’s Suture. She was usually a guest star on television, though she had recurring roles on The Doris Day Show (1968), Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973 to 1974), Gunsmoke (1972 to 1975), Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1977), Days of Our Lives (1976 to 1979), No Soap, Radio (1982), The Wizard (1986 to 1987) and The Dave Thomas Comedy Show (1990). Her final role was on a 1993 episode of The Commish. She died on January 15, 2000, at age 83.

Arnold Ziffel (aka Arnold the Pig)

Not much to say, except for the fact that on Green Acres, Arnold Ziffel was as much a character as anyone else … though he didn’t speak much.

Mary Grace Canfield (Ralph Monroe)

She was born September 3, 1924, in Rochester, New York. Between 1952 and 1964 she pretty much worked in regional theater, though there were a couple of very short stints on Broadway in The Waltz of the Toreadors and The Frogs of Spring. She had some uncredited roles in a handful of films, but was credited in Half a House (1975), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), South of Reno (1988) and Young Goodman Brown (1993). TV guest-starring roles include The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, Love, American Style; Alice and The Jackie Thomas Show. She played Ralph in 41 episodes of Green Acres and reprised the role in 1990’s Return to Green Acres. She was married to Charles Carey and, then, John Bischoff from 1984 until her death in 2014 from lung cancer at age 89. She has two children.

Sid Melton (Alf Monroe)

Sidney Meltzer was born May 22, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. He began his career on the stage, touring in a 1938 production of See My Lawyer. His first movie was 1942’s Blondie Goes to College and his last 1999’s … And Call Me in the Morning. In between, there were a couple of dozen others. He had short recurring roles in It’s Always Jan and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Sid appeared in 26 episodes of Green Acres. He died of pneumonia at age 94 on November 2, 2011.