Edgar Buchanan: Movies & Box Office

**William Edgar Buchanan II** was born on *March 20, 1903* in the small town of Humansville, Missouri, to Rose (Kee) Buchanan and dentist William Edgar Buchanan Sr. When he was seven his family moved to Eugene, Oregon, where his father ran a dental practice and strongly encouraged his son to follow the same profession. Despite his father's objections, young Edgar pursued theatre studies at the University of Oregon, joined a Portland acting troupe, and helped found the Portland Civic Theatre. He earned a DDS degree from North Pacific College School of Dentistry in 1928, the same year he married his fellow graduate Mildred Marguerite “Millie” Spence, also a dentist. The couple adopted a son, William Edgar “Buck” Buchanan III, and for a brief period managed a dental office together before a pivotal 1939 move to Altadena, California, where Edgar entered the Pasadena Playhouse. Studio scouts discovered his talent, signing him to a seven‑year Hollywood contract and prompting him to abandon dentistry permanently in favor of a flourishing acting career.

From his debut at age 36, Buchanan appeared in over one hundred films, ranging from *Texas* (1941) where he played a dentist, to iconic titles such as *Shane* (1953) and John Wayne’s *McLintock!* (1963). His television work proved equally prolific, with guest spots on classics like *The Rifleman*, *The Twilight Zone*, and *Gunsmoke*. He became a household name as **Uncle Joe Carson**, a role he sustained in every episode of *Petticoat Junction* (222 episodes), as well as recurring appearances on *Green Acres* and *The Beverly Hillbillies*. In the late 1960s he even released a spoken‑word single, “Phantom 309,” on Dot Records. Buchanan’s career spanned the golden age of Westerns, sitcoms, and family films, cementing his reputation as a beloved character actor. He died of a stroke complicated by pneumonia on April 4, 1979, in Palm Desert, California, and was interred at Forest Lawn‑Hollywood Hills.