Edgar Buchanan

March 20, 1903 (age 76)

Humansville, Polk County, Missouri, United States

In 1929 the Buchanans established a practice together in Eugene, Oregon. Edgar became chief of oral surgery at Eugene Hospital in 1930 and served in that capacity until 1937. Acting was by no means forgotten, and during these years he was active in local theater and joined the University of Oregon's drama department as assistant director. He helped to establish Eugene's Very Little Theatre, and acted with the Portland Civic Theatre and Henry Duffy's Stock Company. In the winters of the late 1930's, Buchanan took time off from dentistry to travel to Pasadena, California, where he acted at the noted Pasadena Playhouse. In the summers he returned north to resume his practice. Buchanan took dentistry seriously, but his heart was on stage. In 1939, Buchanan left Eugene permanently and set up his practice in Altadena, California, so as to be near the Pasadena Playhouse. Its proximity to Hollywood had not been overlooked. During his time at the playhouse, Buchanan appeared in eleven plays. His first role was as a ragged soldier in Maxwell Anderson's Valley Forge. It was Anderson's play Both Your Houses, in which he played a colorful senator, that sealed his future as an actor. During this production he caught the attention of scouts from Columbia Pictures. They invited Buchanan to audition for the director Wesley Ruggles, who was filling roles for his upcoming Western Arizona (1940). Buchanan was cast not in the bit part he had anticipated but in the prominent role of Judge Bogardus. This assignment led to a seven-year contract with Columbia. About this time Dr. William Edgar Buchanan, Jr. , became simply Edgar Buchanan. His unique gravelly voice, subtle facial expressions, and portly build made Buchanan particularly well suited to character roles. Over the next thirty-five years he appeared in more than ninety movies and four television series. By and large, he was cast in Westerns. His characters were often on the wrong side of the law but revealed an appealing quality. Buchanan referred to them as "lovable rogues. " As his new career developed, Buchanan's dental practice dwindled. He turned his office over to his wife and in his new life felt mentally and physically healthier. He did continue to practice, however, treating patients once or twice a year, more often when there was a lull (rare though that was) in his acting. He retained his licenses in both Oregon and California. Buchanan's favorite movie, Texas (1941), was one in which he played a dentist. Not surprisingly, this performance drew high praise from the critics and favorable letters from dentists. Buchanan also received complimentary reviews for another of his favorite films, Penny Serenade (1941). In this movie he played a linotype operator, known as Applejack, who befriends a troubled couple played by Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. Buchanan could be relied upon to give a sound performance, although he thought that he occasionally overdramatized (and consequently valued a good director). The movies, though not always memorable, were entertaining, and some of them were extraordinary, such as The Talk of the Town (1943) and Shane (1953). In the early 1950's, Buchanan moved into television after receiving an offer to play Red Connors, the sidekick to William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy. He did forty episodes of this show, which was especially popular with children. A few years later he was hired as the lead in the television series "Judge Roy Bean. " The television comedy "Petticoat Junction" afforded Buchanan his longest-running role, that of Joe Carson. Uncle Joe, as he was more readily known, was the self-proclaimed manager of the Shady Rest Hotel. Too lazy to do any serious managing, he would spend his time lounging on the front porch or cooking up schemes by which to get rich quickly, then get into trouble trying to put them into effect. Off screen, Buchanan entertained other cast members with his amusing jokes and yarns. Buchanan's last series was "Cade's County" with Glenn Ford, in which he was a deputy to Ford. The show ran for one year in 1971. By this time, Buchanan had made several hundred appearances in local theater, movies, and television. From time to time he heard people say of his acting, "Anybody could do that. " Buchanan took this as a compliment because it meant to him that he had appeared natural in his roles--an objective he worked hard tis seventies, making his last appearance in the movie Benji (1974). o achieve. Under Buchanan's picture in his high school yearbook was the caption "With grace to win and heart to dare. " Buchanan hoped that he had fulfilled this assessment. He continued his acting career into h Buchanan died from a stroke complicated by pneumonia in Palm Desert, California, and was interred in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Edgar Buchanan Edit Profile

Actor dentist

Background

Edgar Buchanan was born on March 20, 1903 William Edgar Buchanan, Jr. , in Humansville, Missouri, the son of William Edgar Buchanan, a teacher, high school principal, and later a dentist, and Rose Kee. When he was seven, he moved west with his parents and four sisters to Eagle Point, Oregon, and later to Ashland.

Education

Edgar spent the first years of his life in Humansville, a town of six hundred people, and attended its school. He graduated from Ashland High School in 1921. Buchanan's father encouraged his son to be a doctor, and Edgar entered the University of Oregon at Portland in the premedical program.

His grades were poor, however, and in an attempt to raise his average he took the suggestion of his sister, a fellow student, to enroll in a course in the interpretation of plays. He enjoyed the class and began to devote more time to drama than to premedical studies. This worried Buchanan's father, who believed his son had ability as an actor but was troubled by the uncertainty of an acting career. He arranged for his son to transfer to North Pacific Dental College, also in Portland.

Edgar had not given up on acting, however. He proceeded to join three theater companies and combined acting with the study of dentistry. He was so good at the former that he was awarded a two-year drama scholarship to Yale. Once again, though, he yielded to his father's wishes, declined the scholarship, and completed dental school.

Career

In 1929 the Buchanans established a practice together in Eugene, Oregon. Edgar became chief of oral surgery at Eugene Hospital in 1930 and served in that capacity until 1937. Acting was by no means forgotten, and during these years he was active in local theater and joined the University of Oregon's drama department as assistant director. He helped to establish Eugene's Very Little Theatre, and acted with the Portland Civic Theatre and Henry Duffy's Stock Company. In the winters of the late 1930's, Buchanan took time off from dentistry to travel to Pasadena, California, where he acted at the noted Pasadena Playhouse.

In the summers he returned north to resume his practice. Buchanan took dentistry seriously, but his heart was on stage. In 1939, Buchanan left Eugene permanently and set up his practice in Altadena, California, so as to be near the Pasadena Playhouse. Its proximity to Hollywood had not been overlooked. During his time at the playhouse, Buchanan appeared in eleven plays. His first role was as a ragged soldier in Maxwell Anderson's Valley Forge. It was Anderson's play Both Your Houses, in which he played a colorful senator, that sealed his future as an actor. During this production he caught the attention of scouts from Columbia Pictures.

They invited Buchanan to audition for the director Wesley Ruggles, who was filling roles for his upcoming Western Arizona (1940). Buchanan was cast not in the bit part he had anticipated but in the prominent role of Judge Bogardus. This assignment led to a seven-year contract with Columbia. About this time Dr. William Edgar Buchanan, Jr. , became simply Edgar Buchanan. His unique gravelly voice, subtle facial expressions, and portly build made Buchanan particularly well suited to character roles. Over the next thirty-five years he appeared in more than ninety movies and four television series.

By and large, he was cast in Westerns. His characters were often on the wrong side of the law but revealed an appealing quality. Buchanan referred to them as "lovable rogues. " As his new career developed, Buchanan's dental practice dwindled. He turned his office over to his wife and in his new life felt mentally and physically healthier. He did continue to practice, however, treating patients once or twice a year, more often when there was a lull (rare though that was) in his acting.

He retained his licenses in both Oregon and California. Buchanan's favorite movie, Texas (1941), was one in which he played a dentist. Not surprisingly, this performance drew high praise from the critics and favorable letters from dentists. Buchanan also received complimentary reviews for another of his favorite films, Penny Serenade (1941). In this movie he played a linotype operator, known as Applejack, who befriends a troubled couple played by Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

Buchanan could be relied upon to give a sound performance, although he thought that he occasionally overdramatized (and consequently valued a good director). The movies, though not always memorable, were entertaining, and some of them were extraordinary, such as The Talk of the Town (1943) and Shane (1953). In the early 1950's, Buchanan moved into television after receiving an offer to play Red Connors, the sidekick to William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy. He did forty episodes of this show, which was especially popular with children. A few years later he was hired as the lead in the television series "Judge Roy Bean. "

The television comedy "Petticoat Junction" afforded Buchanan his longest-running role, that of Joe Carson. Uncle Joe, as he was more readily known, was the self-proclaimed manager of the Shady Rest Hotel. Too lazy to do any serious managing, he would spend his time lounging on the front porch or cooking up schemes by which to get rich quickly, then get into trouble trying to put them into effect.

Off screen, Buchanan entertained other cast members with his amusing jokes and yarns. Buchanan's last series was "Cade's County" with Glenn Ford, in which he was a deputy to Ford. The show ran for one year in 1971. By this time, Buchanan had made several hundred appearances in local theater, movies, and television. From time to time he heard people say of his acting, "Anybody could do that. " Buchanan took this as a compliment because it meant to him that he had appeared natural in his roles--an objective he worked hard tis seventies, making his last appearance in the movie Benji (1974). o achieve. Under Buchanan's picture in his high school yearbook was the caption "With grace to win and heart to dare. "

Buchanan hoped that he had fulfilled this assessment. He continued his acting career into h

Buchanan died from a stroke complicated by pneumonia in Palm Desert, California, and was interred in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Achievements

Edgar Buchanan appeared in over 100 films during his lifetime, including "Penny Serenade" (1941, with Cary Grant), "Tombstone, " "The Town Too Tough to Die" (1942), "The Talk of the Town" (1942, with Ronald Colman and Jean Arthur), "The Man from Colorado" (1948), "Cheaper by the Dozen" (1950), "She Couldn't Say No" (1954), "Ride the High Country" (1962, with Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea), "McLintock!" (1963, with John Wayne), "Move Over, Darling" (1963, with Doris Day and James Garner), and "Benji" (1974, his last film). He also made guest appearances in numerous other popular television shows, including "Hopalong Cassidy, " "Judge Roy Bean, " "Perry Mason, " "The Rifleman, " "Cimarron City, " "The Californians, " "Maverick, " "Laramie, " "The Virginian, " "Gunsmoke, " "The Twilight Zone, " "Route 66, " "The Lloyd Bridges Show, " "Cade's County, " and "Leave It To Beaver" (as both "Uncle Billy" and "Captain Jack"). He appeared in all 222 episodes of "Petticoat Junction, " 17 episodes of "Green Acres, " and three episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies. " He died of a stroke complicated by pneumonia.