Personal Info

Birth date

1920-05-11 (105 Years)

Day of death

1997-12-25

Gender

Male

Known for

Acting

Place of birth

Bethune, Colorado, USA

Also known as

Denver Dell Pyle

دِنور پایل

Denver Pyle

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997) was an American film and television actor. He was known for portraying Briscoe Darling Jr. in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, and playing Jesse Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979-85.

Pyle was born in Bethune, Colorado on May 11, 1920 to farmer Ben H. Pyle and his wife Maude; His brother, Willis, was an animator known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios and UPA. After graduating from high school, Pyle briefly attended Colorado State University, but dropped out to enter show business, moving to Los Angeles in 1940. He worked as a drummer and band member until the United States entered World War II, when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Pyle was wounded in action in the Battle of Guadalcanal and received a medical discharge in 1942. Near the end of the war, he served in the United States Merchant Marine.

In 1955, Pyle married Marilee Carpenter, a production assistant at 20th Century Fox. They had sons David and Tony. Marilee and Denver divorced in 1970. In 1983, Pyle married Tippie Johnston. That union lasted until his death.

Pyle died of lung cancer on Christmas 1997. Memorial services were held January 6, 1998, at First Baptist Church in Waxahachie, Texas. He is buried in an unmarked grave at the Forreston Cemetery in Forreston, Texas. His remains are interred beside those of his second wife's parents, J.T. Johnston and Erin Birch Johnston.  CLR

Filmography

Lassie

6.1

Overview:

Lassie is the pet of Jeff Miller, an 11-year-old farm boy. The two become best friends and enjoy family adventures in the American countryside, teaching each other about love, nature and commitment.

Murder, She Wrote

7.5

Overview:

An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.

Wagon Train

6.3

Overview:

The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later replaced upon his death by John McIntire, and Robert Horton as the scout, subsequently replaced by lookalike Robert Fuller a year after Horton had decided to leave the series. The series was inspired by the 1950 film Wagon Master directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Ward Bond, and harkens back to the early widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail starring John Wayne and featuring Bond in his first major screen appearance playing a supporting role. Horton's buckskin outfit as the scout in the first season of the television series resembles Wayne's, who also played the wagon train's scout in the earlier film.

Dallas

6.8

Overview:

The world's first mega-soap, and one of the most popular ever produced, Dallas had it all. Beautiful women, expensive cars, and men playing Monopoly with real buildings. Famous for one of the best cliffhangers in TV history, as the world asked "Who shot J.R.?" A slow-burner to begin with, Dallas hit its stride in the 2nd season, with long storylines and expert character development. Dallas ruled the airwaves in the 1980's.

The Andy Griffith Show

7.6

Overview:

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

5.5

Overview:

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.

Bonanza

7.5

Overview:

The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.

Have Gun, Will Travel

7.4

Overview:

Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from 1957 through 1963. It was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons. It was one of the few television shows to spawn a successful radio version. The radio series debuted November 23, 1958. The television show is presently shown on the Encore-Western channel. Have Gun – Will Travel was created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow and produced by Frank Pierson, Don Ingalls, Robert Sparks, and Julian Claman. There were 225 episodes of the TV series, 24 written by Gene Roddenberry. Other contributors included Bruce Geller, Harry Julian Fink, Don Brinkley and Irving Wallace. Andrew McLaglen directed 101 episodes and 19 were directed by series star Richard Boone.

The Lone Ranger

6.7

Overview:

The Lone Ranger is an American western television series that ran from 1949 to 1957, starring Clayton Moore with Jay Silverheels as Tonto. The live-action series initially featured Gerald Mohr as the episode narrator. Fred Foy served as both narrator and announcer of the radio series from 1948 to its finish and became announcer of the television version when story narration was dropped there. This was by far the highest-rated television program on the ABC network in the early 1950s and its first true "hit".

Perry Mason

7.7

Overview:

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

The Dick Van Dyke Show

7.4

Overview:

The Dick Van Dyke Show centers around the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. The plots generally revolve around problems at work, where Rob got into various comedic jams with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell, Sally Rogers and producer Mel Cooley.

The Waltons

7.1

Overview:

The Waltons live their life in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II.

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

6.579

Overview:

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a television western series loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black-and-white program aired for 229 episodes on ABC from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian in the title role.

The Rifleman

7

Overview:

The Rifleman is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show was filmed in black-and-white, half-hour episodes. "The Rifleman" aired on ABC from September 30, 1958 to April 8, 1963 as a production of Four Star Television. It was one of the first prime time series to have a widowed parent raise a child.

Dr. Kildare

5.5

Overview:

The story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession, deal with the problems of his patients, and win the respect of the senior doctor in his specialty, internal medicine.

Ben Casey

5.6

Overview:

Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph Ransohoff was a medical consultant for the show and may have influenced the personality of the title character.

The Twilight Zone

8.447

Overview:

A series of unrelated stories containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, and/or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist.

The Adventures of Jim Bowie

4.5

Overview:

The Adventures of Jim Bowie is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book Tempered Blade, by Monte Barrett. The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas, where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by the Bowie Knife, his ever-present weapon. He designed it in the first episode, The Birth of the Blade.

Cannon

6.5

Overview:

Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976. The primary protagonist is the title character, private detective Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. He also appeared on two episodes of Barnaby Jones. Cannon is the first Quinn Martin-produced series to be aired on a network other than ABC. A "revival" television film, The Return of Frank Cannon, was aired on November 1, 1980. In total, there were 124 episodes.

Route 66

6.3

Overview:

After discovering that his late father has gone through most of the family fortune, Tod Stiles hits the title trans-America highway in his Corvette in search of adventure with friend Buz Murdock, a survivor of New York's mean streets. The two work odd jobs as they meet and interact with colorful characters and find themselves plunged into one situation after another, some of them romantic, some of them very dangerous. Later, Linc Case, a Vietnam war hero trying to find himself, takes over as Tod's travel companion.

Thriller

6.417

Overview:

Thriller is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons on NBC. The show featured host Boris Karloff introducing a mix of self-contained, macabre weird-horror and morbid, hitchockian crime stories, in some of which he also starred.

Maverick

6.8

Overview:

The Maverick boys - Bret, Bart, Beau and Brent - are a clan of well-dressed dandies, gamblers who'd much rather make their money playing cards than messing up their fine clothing with actual work. Sly and clever, none of the Mavericks are much for acts of derring do, but they can be courageous when the situation calls for it. Most often, however, they live by their wits and considerable charm.

Barnaby Jones

6.9

Overview:

Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. The show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement. William Conrad guest starred as Frank Cannon of Cannon on the first episode of Barnaby Jones, "Requiem for a Son" and the two series had a two-part crossover episode in 1975, "The Deadly Conspiracy".

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

7.15

Overview:

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy Griffith Show on May 18, 1964. The show ran for five seasons and a total of 150 episodes. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008. The series was created by Aaron Ruben, who also produced the show with Sheldon Leonard and Ronald Jacobs. Filmed and set in California, it stars Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, a naive but good-natured gas-station attendant from the town of Mayberry, North Carolina, who enlists in the United States Marine Corps. Frank Sutton plays Gomer's high-octane, short-fused Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter, and Ronnie Schell plays Gomer's friend Gilbert "Duke" Slater. Allan Melvin played in the recurring role of Gunnery Sergeant Carter's rival, Sergeant Charley Hacker. The series never discussed nor addressed the then-current Vietnam War, instead focusing on the relationship between Gomer and Sergeant Carter. The show retained high ratings throughout its run.

The Dukes of Hazzard

7.344

Overview:

Cousins Bo and Luke Duke and their car "General Lee", assisted by Cousin Daisy and Uncle Jesse, have a running battle with the authorities of Hazzard County (Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane), plus a string of ne'er-do-wells often backed by the scheming Hogg.

Rawhide

7.2

Overview:

The tale of trail boss Gil Favor and his trusty foreman Rowdy Yates as they drives cattle across the old west. Along the way they meet up with adventure and drama.

Bat Masterson

6.1

Overview:

Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black-and-white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961. The series was produced by Ziv Television Productions, the company responsible for such hit series as Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol.

The Guns of Will Sonnett

6.2

Overview:

The Guns of Will Sonnett is a Western television series

L.A. Law

7.1

Overview:

L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights, homophobia, sexual harassment, AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. The show was popular with audiences and critics, and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run, four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series.

What a Cartoon!

7

Overview:

Various original cartoons by some of today's top animators.

Acting

1997The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! as Uncle Jesse Duke

1995What a Cartoon! (1 Episode) as Podunk Possum (voice)

1995Cybill (1 Episode) as Unknown

1994Father and Scout as George Rosebrock

1994Maverick as Old Gambler on Riverboat

1992John Wayne's 'The Alamo' as Self

1987Delta Fever as Walt

1986L.A. Law (1 Episode) as Harold Nordoff

1986Return to Mayberry as Briscoe Darling

1984Murder, She Wrote (1 Episode) as Eben Connors

1983The Dukes (20 Episodes) as Uncle Jesse (voice)

1983Mercur: The Town that Can't Stay Dead as Narrator

1981Legend of the Wild as Narrator (Voice)

1979When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion as Self

1979The Dukes of Hazzard (147 Episodes) as Jesse Duke

1978Once Upon a Starry Night as Mad Jack

1978How Bugs Bunny Won the West as Narrator

1978Dallas (2 Episodes) as Blackie Callahan

1978Return from Witch Mountain as Uncle Bene

1978Legend of the Northwest as Unknown

1977Grizzly Adams (37 Episodes) as Unknown

1977How the West Was Won (1 Episode) as Sgt. Tripp

1976Guardian of the Wilderness as Galen Clark

1976Welcome to L.A. as Carl Barber

1976The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Senator Austin

1976Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson as The Indian Agent (McLaughlin)

1976Hawmps! as Col. Seymour Hawkins

1976The Adventures of Frontier Fremont as Old mountain man

1975Winterhawk as Arkansas

1975The Boy Who Talked to Badgers as Ben as an Adult

1975Escape to Witch Mountain as Uncle Bene

1975Karen (13 Episodes) as Unknown

1974Petrocelli (1 Episode) as Unknown

1974The Manhunter (1 Episode) as Unknown

1974Murder or Mercy as Amos Champion

1974The Legend of Hillbilly John as Grandpappy John

1974Hog Wild as Dr. Larson

1973Cahill: United States Marshal as Denver

1973Barnaby Jones (1 Episode) as Stayley Kircher

1972Kung Fu (2 Episodes) as Dr. Joseph Colton

1972The Streets of San Francisco (1 Episode) as Unknown

1972The Waltons (1 Episode) as Unknown

1971Something Big as Junior Frisbee

1971Cannon (1 Episode) as Unknown

1971Hitched as Ben Barnstable

1971Mean Justice as Tom Rawling

1968The Doris Day Show (80 Episodes) as Buck Webb

19685 Card Stud as Sig Evers

1968Bandolero! as Muncie Carter

1967The High Chaparral (1 Episode) as General Warren

1967Hondo (1 Episode) as Unknown

1967The Guns of Will Sonnett (1 Episode) as Unknown

1967Cimarron Strip (1 Episode) as Unknown

1967Bonnie and Clyde as Frank Hamer

1967Tammy and the Millionaire as Grandpa Mordecai Tarleton

1967Welcome to Hard Times as Alfie - Stage Driver

1966Incident at Phantom Hill as 1st Hunter

1966Gunpoint as Cap

1965Mara of the Wilderness as Kelly

1965Tammy (26 Episodes) as Mordecai Tarleton

1965The Great Race as Sheriff

1965Shenandoah as Pastor Bjoerling

1965The Rounders as Bull

1964Cheyenne Autumn as Sen. Henry (uncredited)

1964Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1 Episode) as Titus Purcell

1964Mail Order Bride as Preacher Pope

1964Black Like Me as Man in pick-up truck

1963The Great Adventure (1 Episode) as Gen. Mills

1963Mr. Novak (1 Episode) as Brill

1963Channing (1 Episode) as Sam Riddle

1963The Lieutenant (1 Episode) as Unknown

1963Terrified as Sheriff Dixon

1962Empire (1 Episode) as Tom Rawling

1962The Virginian (1 Episode) as Pico Brown

1962Geronimo as Senator Conrad

1962The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance as Amos Carruthers

1961The Dick Van Dyke Show (1 Episode) as Uncle George

1961Ben Casey (1 Episode) as Unknown

1961Dr. Kildare (1 Episode) as R. E. Lenger

1961Cain's Hundred (1 Episode) as Chief Amos Trask

1960The Alamo as Thimblerig (the Gambler)

1960Route 66 (2 Episodes) as Unknown

1960Stagecoach West (1 Episode) as Unknown

1960The Andy Griffith Show (6 Episodes) as Briscoe Darling

1960National Velvet (1 Episode) as Unknown

1960The Aquanauts (1 Episode) as Captain Leo Stohl

1960Thriller (1 Episode) as Ortho Wheeler

1960The Tall Man (1 Episode) as Marshal Dave Leggert

1960Home from the Hill as Mr. Bradley

1959The Detectives (1 Episode) as Unknown

1959Bourbon Street Beat (1 Episode) as Unknown

1959The Twilight Zone (1 Episode) as Stu Tillman

1959Law of the Plainsman (1 Episode) as Burke Carew

1959Men Into Space (1 Episode) as Unknown

1959Wichita Town (1 Episode) as Unknown

1959Riverboat (1 Episode) as Jim Bledsoe

1959The Deputy (1 Episode) as Akins

1959Bonanza (1, 1, 1, 1 Episode) as Price Buchanan, Claude Roman, Sheriff Ed, Marcus Caldwell

1959Cast a Long Shadow as Preacher Harrison

1959The Horse Soldiers as Jackie Jo

1959King of the Wild Stallions as MacGuire's Henchman

1959Rawhide (1 Episode) as John Wesley 'Daddy' Quade

1959Good Day for a Hanging as Deputy Ed Moore

1958Bat Masterson (1, 1 Episode) as Dan Morgan, Walsh (uncredited)

1958Lawman (1 Episode) as Unknown

1958Behind Closed Doors (1 Episode) as Roger Woodson

1958The Rifleman (5 Episodes) as Unknown

1958The Texan (1, 1, 1, 1 Episode) as Unknown, Sheriff, Chip Andrews, Houston Blackston

1958Bronco (3 Episodes) as Unknown

1958The Party Crashers as Mr. Bickford

1958Bitter Heritage as Sam Wheeler

1958China Doll as Col. Wiley

1958Fort Massacre as Collins

1958The Left Handed Gun as Ollinger

1958Jefferson Drum (1 Episode) as Bart Resdake

1958Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (1 Episode) as Braddock

195726 Men (2 Episodes) as Unknown

1957Jet Pilot as Mr. Simpson

1957Casey Jones (1 Episode) as Frank Reeder

1957Domino Kid as Bill Dragger

1957Maverick (1 Episode) as Unknown

1957Perry Mason (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Episode) as Robert Crane, Jackson Sidemark, Tom Quincy, Tilden Stuart, Emery Fillmore, Frank Honer

1957Wagon Train (1 Episode) as Bragg

1957Have Gun, Will Travel (3, 1, 1, 1, 1 Episode) as Unknown, Pete Hollister, Clay Sommers, McKay, Advent

1957The Lonely Man as Brad, Red Bluff Sheriff

1957Destination 60,000 as Mickey Hill

1957Gun Duel In Durango as Ranger Captain

19567th Cavalry as Dixon

1956Yaqui Drums as Lefty Barr

1956Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Episode) as John Baker, Marshal Quimby, Sheriff, Sheriff Tom, Seth Robson, Marshal Joe Sully, Nat Sledge

1956State Trooper (1 Episode) as Mark Schmedler

1956Broken Arrow (1 Episode) as Fred Graf

1956The Adventures of Jim Bowie (2 Episodes) as Unknown

1956The Naked Hills as Bert Killian / Narrator

1956I Killed Wild Bill Hickok as Jim Bailey

1956Please Murder Me as Det. Lt. Bradley

1955Top Gun as Hank Spencer (uncredited)

1955Fury (1 Episode) as Carter

1955The 20th Century Fox Hour (1, 1 Episode) as Lester, Charley

1955My Friend Flicka (1 Episode) as Alec

1955Frontier (2 Episodes) as Unknown

1955To Hell and Back as Thompson

1955Cheyenne (1, 1, 1 Episode) as Unknown, Cyrus Burton, John Hanson

1955Gunsmoke (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Episode) as Willie Calhoun, Hank Shinn, Mike Blocker, Gus, Haggen, Aaron, Pa, Caleb, Claudius, Clab Chummer, Caleb Nash, Dr. Henry S. Rand, Judge Blent, Cyrus Himes

1955The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (4, 5, 1 Episode) as Unknown, Ben Thompson, Hoss Mackey

1955Run for Cover as Harvey (uncredited)

1955Rage at Dawn as Clint Reno

1955Buffalo Bill Jr. (2 Episodes) as Unknown

1955Ten Wanted Men as Unknown

1955The Millionaire (1 Episode) as Arthur Darner

1954The Yellow Mountain as (uncredited)

1954Drum Beat as Fairchild (uncredited)

1954The Wonderful World of Disney (1, 2, 1, 2 Episode) as Mr. Royal (uncredited), Dr. Larson, Amos Briggs (uncredited), Ben as an Adult (voice)

1954Lassie (1 Episode) as Unknown

1954Johnny Guitar as Posseman (uncredited)

1954The Lone Wolf (1 Episode) as Kargar