Biography for
Edgar Buchanan More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

20 March 1903, Humansville, Missouri, USA

Date of Death

4 April 1979, Palm Desert, California, USA (stroke complicated by pneumonia)

Birth Name

William Edgar Buchanan

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

At the age of seven, he and his family moved to Oregon. After studying at the University of Oregon, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a dentist, graduating from North Pacific Dental College. From 1929 to 1937 he was the practiced oral surgery in Eugene, Oregon. He then moved his practice to Altadena, CA. There he joined the Pasadena Community Playhouse, eventually giving up dentistry at the age of 36 to become an actor. He made his film debut in 1939. His chubby face and gravelly voice were featured in over 100 films, but he is perhaps best known for TV roles in "Judge Roy Bean" (1956), "Petticoat Junction" (1963), and "Cade's County" (1971).

IMDb Mini Biography By: James L. Mason

Spouse

Mildred Marguerite Spence

(14 April 1928 - 4 April 1979) (his death) 1 child

Trade Mark

Gravelly Voice

Trivia

Was one of only three co-stars of "Petticoat Junction" (1963) who remained with the series for its entire seven-year run, the others being Linda Henning and Frank Cady.

Was originally a dentist with his own practice. At age 38, he turned the practice over to his wife and began his acting career.

He appeared in a total of 13 different productions with Glenn Ford.

Member of Theta Chi Fraternity (Alpha Sigma Chapter, University of Oregon)

He provided dentistry skills on the set numerous times. One such occasion, he pulled the tooth of his stand-in of 25 years, Jack Henderson.

He met his wife at dentistry school in Toronto, where she also studied to become a dentist.

His friend of many years, Glenn Ford, once told a story of when Edgar was preparing to do some painful dental work on him. The anesthesia consisted of others passing by and allowing the patient, Glenn, to take swallows of whiskey to help ease the pain of the process. About every third drink Glenn took, Edgar took one as well.