Edgar Buchanan

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Edgar Buchanan (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s. As Uncle Joe, he took over as proprietor of the Shady Rest Hotel following the death of Bea Benaderet, who had played Kate Bradley.

Early life

Edgar Buchanan was born to Rose (Kee) Buchanan and William Edgar Buchanan Sr., DDS in Humansville, Missouri. He moved with his family to Oregon when he was seven. His father had a dental practice in Eugene, Oregon, and encouraged his son to follow suit. Buchanan Senior did not approve of his son's acting ambitions and pushed him to pursue dentistry instead. According to authors Arden and Joan Christen, Edgar's father believed "to choose a career in the theater was to settle for a life of mediocrity and uncertainty". Nevertheless, Edgar took courses in theater at the University of Oregon as a pre-med student, and was part of a Portland acting troupe in graduate school. He was also involved in the founding of the Portland Civic Theatre.

In 1928, Edgar earned his DDS degree from North Pacific College School of Dentistry in Portland, Oregon, which later became Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry. During his time there, he met his future wife, Mildred "Millie" Spence (1907–1987). They married in 1928 - the same year they both g…