Denver Pyle

Denver Pyle
Denver Pyle as Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard
Born	Denver Dell Pyle (1920-05-11)May 11, 1920 Bethune, Kit Carson County Colorado, USA
Died	December 25, 1997(1997-12-25) (aged 77) Burbank, California, USA
Resting place	Forreston Cemetery in Forreston, Ellis County, Texas
Years active	1947-1997
Spouse(s)	Marilee Carpenter (1955-70) (divorced) 2 sons Tippie Johnston (1983-97, his death)

Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997) was an American film and television actor. He perhaps is equally remembered for having portrayed Briscoe Darling on several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and also as Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985.

Biography

Early life

Pyle was born in Bethune in Kit Carson County, Colorado, to farmer Ben H. Pyle (1895–1988) and his wife Maude (1899–1985); After graduating from high school, Pyle briefly attended Colorado State University but dropped out to enter show business.

Pyle was a drummer and band member until the United States entered the Second World War, when he enlisted in the Merchant Marine.

Career

After the war, Pyle embarked on his film career. He starred in several movies and on television during the 1950s and 1960s. He guest starred between 1951 and 1953 fourteen times on the syndicated television series, The Range Rider, with Jock Mahoney and Dick Jones. He had a part in the 1955 Audie Murphy film To Hell and Back He appeared twice on NBC's 1955-1956 western anthology series Frontier, in "Mother of the Brave" and in "The Voyage of Captain Castle". Pyle appeared twice as an unidentified bank robber in Duncan Renaldo's syndicated western series, The Cisco Kid. In 1954, he was cast as a henchman of the outlaw Sam Bass in Jim Davis's syndicated series, Stories of the Century.

Twice Pyle was cast on CBS's The Public Defender in the role of George Hansen, and three times on the religious anthology series, Crossroads on ABC. He acted the part of a police detective in the 1956 film noir Please Murder Me starring Raymond Burr, who played a defense attorney before his starring role in CBS's Perry Mason.

Pyle was cast as Carter in the 1955 episode "Joey's Father" of the NBC children's western series, Fury, starring Peter Graves and Bobby Diamond. Three years later, he played an arsonist in the episode "The Fire Watchers" of the same series.

In 1958, Pyle starred with Judith Evelyn in the episode "Man in the Moon" of the NBC docudrama about the Cold War, Behind Closed Doors, hosted and occasionally starring Bruce Gordon.

Pyle appeared twice each on the CBS western series My Friend Flicka and on NBC's The Restless Gun with John Payne. He guest starred with Grant Withers in the 1959 episode "Tumbleweed Ranger" of Tris Coffin's syndicated western series, 26 Men, billed as true stories of the Arizona Rangers. He appeared seven times on Richard Boone's CBS western, Have Gun - Will Travel, the last time having been in 1960 as the character Croft in "The Puppeteer". Pyle guest starred in 1960 in several other westerns, including the episode "Special Delivery" of the syndicated Pony Express, in "The Man Who Wanted Everything" of ABC's The Man from Blackhawk, and in "Crime Epidemic" of the Pat Conway series, Tombstone Territory. Pyle guest starred in the episode "Trail of the Dead", the story of five missing western prospectors, of Rod Cameron's modern western syndicated series State Trooper. He appeared with Sammy Jackson in the episode "Resurrection" of the syndicated American Civil War drama Gray Ghost.

Pyle was cast as Big Red in the 1959 episode "Woman in the River" of the ABC/Warner Brothers detective series, Bourbon Street Beat, starring Andrew Duggan and Richard Long.

Pyle made several appearances as Briscoe Darling, the gruff patriarch of the Darling clan of musical hillbillies, on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show.

Pyle was cast in a number of Westerns by John Ford, including The Horse Soldiers with William Holden and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He played a Tennessee soldier (called "Thimblerig") in John Wayne's The Alamo (1960). He portrayed Sam Houston in several episodes of CBS's The Adventures of Jim Bowie. He guest starred as a law enforcement officer in Jim Davis' other syndicated series, Rescue 8, and appeared as well in an episode of the ABC sitcom, The Real McCoys, starring Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna.

Pyle was cast in the 1960 episode "Three Wise Men" of ABC's Stagecoach West as an outlaw who promises to turn himself into the authorities if he can spend Christmas with his family. About this time, Pyle appeared in the segment "Lawyer in Petticoats" of William Bendix's 1960 NBC western series, Overland Trail and thereafter in 1961 in "Hand of Vengeance" of the syndicated western series, Two Faces West. Pyle was cast as Jed Corrigan in the 1961 episode "The Tramp" of the NBC family drama series, National Velvet.

Pyle guest starred twice on the CBS series "Route 66" with Martin Milner and George Maharis, first in 1961 in the episode "The Newborn" and again in 1962 in "A Long Piece Of Mischief".

One of Pyle's early roles was as a villain in an Adventures of Superman television episode called "Beware the Wrecker". He also appeared on the episode Black Leather Jackets" of CBS's The Twilight Zone, in which he played the father.

He appeared in the 1963-1964 season in ABC's drama about college life, Channing. He portrayed the character Brill in the 1964 unusually-title episode, "Johnny Ride the Pony: One, Two, Three", of the NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, starring James Franciscus. Pyle frequently appeared on Gunsmoke (14 times) and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater (7), and Frontier Justice (twice), all on CBS. He appeared in seven episodes as Ben Thompson (and twice as other characters) on the ABC western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, with Hugh O'Brian. He also appeared in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show as a feisty uncle of Rob Petrie.

Pyle played the frontier character Deadwood Dick in the 1966 episode "The Resurrection of Deadwood Dick" on the syndicated anthology series Death Valley Days.

He also is known for portraying both the suspect and the murder victim on the last original Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Final Fadeout." He was the only actor to play a victim, a suspect and the actual murderer (in previous episodes) on the series in six appearances. Among his other appearances he played defendant Robert Crane in "The Case of the Deadly Double" in 1958, murderer Tilden Stuart in "The Case of the Jealous Journalist" and murderer Emery Fillmore in "The Case of the Renegade Refugee" (both in 1961), and murderer Frank Honer in "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" in 1963.

Pyle portrayed Grandpa Tarleton in all twenty-six episodes of Tammy in the 1965-1966 season. Pyle portrayed Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the 1967 movie, Bonnie and Clyde. He also appeared on an episode of The High Chaparral, as a general who lost his son.

Pyle's best-known and longest-running television role was that of Uncle Jesse Duke in the CBS series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985) (146 episodes). He had a guest starring role in 1973 on The Streets of San Francisco. In 1975, Walt Disney Productions released a film based on the novel, Escape to Witch Mountain. In this film Tony and Tia were played by Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards, Lucas Deranian by Donald Pleasence, and the children's Uncle Bené by Denver Pyle. He appeared as a judge residing in the town of Purgatory in the first season episode of Kung Fu titled "Ancient Warrior".

In addition, Pyle played the role of Mad Jack in thirty-six episodes of the NBC series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977–1978). He played Buck Webb (Doris Day's television series father) during the first two seasons of CBS's The Doris Day Show (1968–1970). He did some writing and directing for the short-lived half-hour western Dirty Sally starring Jeanette Nolan, which ran on CBS in the first half of 1974. He also played a small role on The Waltons as a relative to the Baldwin sisters.

He appeared twice in Cheyenne starring Clint Walker. He played Sgt. Tripp in the episode "The Enemy" of the James Arness ABC series, How the West Was Won.

In his later life, Pyle played mostly cameo television roles and retired from full-time acting. His last cinematic movie role was alongside Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner in the 1994 film Maverick, in which he portrays a cheating cardplayer who jumps off a riverboat to keep his dignity. His last known acting role was a reprisal of Jesse Duke in the 1997 CBS made-for-TV movie The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!.

Personal life

In 1955, Pyle married Marilee Carpenter (1924–2010), a Twentieth Century Fox production assistant. They had sons, David and Tony in 1956 and 1957, respectively. According to her obituary, "Marilee advised and assisted Denver throughout his fifty-year career in motion pictures and television—uninterrupted even by their divorce in 1970—until his death in 1997."

In 1983, Pyle married Tippie Johnston. That union lasted until his death.

Death

Pyle died of lung cancer on Christmas Day in 1997. He is buried in an unmarked grave at the Forreston Cemetery in Forreston in Ellis County south of Waxahachie, Texas, where he owned property. His remains are interred beside those of his second wife's parents, J. T. Johnston (1914-1993) and Erin Birch Johnston (1913-1989).

External links

• Denver Pyle at the Internet Movie Database
• Denver Pyle memorial photo montage on YouTube
• Denver Pyle at Find a Grave