Editing Denver Pyle (section)

==Career==
{{more citations needed|section|date=March 2017}}
After the war, Pyle embarked on his film and television career. He played many bit parts on television series and movies before starring in several movies and on television during the 1950s and '60s.

===Limited roles===
Pyle guest-starred 14 times between 1951 and 1953 on the [[Broadcast syndication|syndicated]] television series ''[[The Range Rider]]'' with [[Jock Mahoney]] and [[Dick Jones (actor)|Dick Jones]], and appeared as an outlaw in a 1951 episode of the television series ''[[The Lone Ranger (TV series)|The Lone Ranger]]'' titled "Backtrail," then as a deputy in the episode "The Hooded Men"  and returned in episode 71 "The Outcast", episode 166 "Woman in the White Mask" and episode 187 "Cross of Santo Domingo". He also appeared in "Frontier Range", a 1951 episode of ''[[The Gene Autry Show]]''.

In 1953, Pyle appeared on ''[[The Roy Rogers Show]]'' (season two, "Loaded Guns") as the wrongly accused killer, ranch hand Tom Larrabee. Also in 1953, Pyle played Emil Hatch in episode 46 of ''[[Adventures of Superman (TV series)|The Adventures of Superman]]'' entitled "Beware the Wrecker". He had a part in the 1955 [[Audie Murphy]] film ''[[To Hell and Back (film)|To Hell and Back]]'', and appeared twice on [[NBC]]'s 1955–1956 Western [[anthology series]] ''[[Frontier (1955 TV series)|Frontier]]'' (in "Mother of the Brave" and in "The Voyage of Captain Castle").

Pyle was twice cast on [[CBS]]'s ''[[The Public Defender (TV series)|The Public Defender]]'' in the role of George Hansen, and three times on the religious anthology series, ''[[Crossroads (1955 TV series)|Crossroads]]'' on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. He acted the part of a police detective in the 1956 film noir ''[[Please Murder Me]]'', starring [[Raymond Burr]].

Pyle was cast as Carter in the 1955 episode "Joey's Father" on ''[[Fury (American TV series)|Fury]]''. Three years later, he played an arsonist in the episode "The Fire Watchers" of the same series. In 1956, Pyle appeared as Vance Kiley in the episode called "Quicksand" in the TV Western series ''[[The Lone Ranger (TV series)|The Lone Ranger]]''. That same year, he played "Willie Calhoun", a lovestruck, and soon-to-be murderer, in season 2's "Poor Pearl" on ''[[Gunsmoke]]''.

He appeared as a professor in the syndicated ''[[Men into Space]]'' series' 1959 episode "Moonquake". In an episode of ''[[Ripcord (TV series)|Ripcord]]'', he played a suicidal parachutist. Also in 1959, he returned to ''Gunsmoke'', playing the lead character Mike Blocker in the episode "The Bear".

Pyle appeared twice each on the CBS Western series ''[[My Friend Flicka (TV series)|My Friend Flicka]]'' and NBC's ''[[The Restless Gun]]'' with [[John Payne (actor)|John Payne]]. He guest-starred with [[Grant Withers]] in the 1959 episode "Tumbleweed Ranger" of [[Tris Coffin]]'s syndicated Western series ''[[26 Men]]'', billed as true stories of the [[Arizona Rangers]]. He appeared seven times on [[Richard Boone]]'s CBS Western ''[[Have Gun – Will Travel]]''; his final appearance was on the show in 1960 as the character Croft in "The Puppeteer".

He guest-starred in 1960 in several other Westerns, including ''[[Pony Express (TV series)|Pony Express]]'', ''[[The Man from Blackhawk]]'', and ''[[Tombstone Territory]]''. He was cast as Big Red in the 1959 episode "Woman in the River" of the detective series ''[[Bourbon Street Beat]]'', starring [[Andrew Duggan]] and [[Richard Long (actor)|Richard Long]]. He made several appearances as Briscoe Darling, on ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]''.

Pyle was cast in a number of [[western (genre)|Western]] movies by [[John Ford]], including ''[[The Horse Soldiers]]'' with [[William Holden]] and ''[[The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance]]''. He played a Tennessee soldier (called Thimblerig) in [[John Wayne]]'s ''[[The Alamo (1960 film)|The Alamo]]'' (1960). He portrayed [[Sam Houston]] in several episodes of CBS's ''[[The Adventures of Jim Bowie]]''. He guest-starred as a law-enforcement officer in Jim Davis' other syndicated series, ''[[Rescue 8]]'', and also appeared in an episode of the ABC sitcom, ''[[The Real McCoys]]'' with [[Walter Brennan]].

Pyle was cast in the 1960 episode "Three Wise Men" of ABC's ''[[Stagecoach West (TV series)|Stagecoach West]]'' as an outlaw who promises to turn himself into the authorities if he can spend [[Christmas]] with his family. About this time, Pyle appeared in the segment "Lawyer in Petticoats" of [[William Bendix]]'s 1960 NBC Western series ''[[Overland Trail (TV series)|Overland Trail]]'' with [[Doug McClure]], and thereafter in 1961 in "Hand of Vengeance" in the syndicated Western series ''[[Two Faces West]]''. Pyle was cast as Jed Corrigan in the 1961 episode "The Tramp" of the NBC family drama series ''[[National Velvet (TV series)|National Velvet]]''.

Pyle guest-starred twice on the CBS series ''[[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]'' with [[Martin Milner]] and [[George Maharis]], first in 1961 in the episode "The Newborn" and again in 1962 in "A Long Piece of Mischief". He appeared as the father of the doomed family in the dystopian episode "[[Black Leather Jackets]]" of ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''.

In 1963, Pyle guest-starred on ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'' as Uncle George in the episode "Uncle George".

He appeared twice in ''[[Cheyenne (TV series)|Cheyenne]]'', starring [[Clint Walker]]. He played Sergeant Tripp in the episode "The Enemy" of the [[James Arness]] ABC series ''[[How the West Was Won (TV series)|How the West Was Won]]''. Pyle also had guest-starring roles on ''[[The Rifleman]]''.

He also is known for portraying both the suspect and the murder victim on the last original ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' TV episode, "The Case of the Final Fadeout", in 1966. He was one of 11 actors to hit the Perry Mason trifecta, portraying a victim, a defendant, and the actual murderer (in previous episodes) on the series, which he did in five appearances. Among his other appearances, he played defendant Robert Crane in "The Case of the Deadly Double" in 1958, Tom Quincy in "The Case of the Ominous Outcast" in 1960,  Tilden Stuart in "The Case of the Jealous Journalist", Emery Fillmore in "The Case of the Renegade Refugee" (both in 1961), and Frank Honer in "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" in 1963.

Pyle portrayed Grandpa Tarleton in all 26 episodes of ''[[Tammy (TV series)|Tammy]]'' in the 1965–1966 season. Pyle portrayed the vengeful [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]] [[Frank Hamer]] in the 1967 movie ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]''. He also appeared in an episode of ''[[The High Chaparral]]'' as a general who had lost his son.

In 1968, he appeared as Titus Purcell, patriarch of a family of homesteaders, in the episode "The Price of Tomatoes" in the sitcom ''[[Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.]]'' Working for the first time with [[Jim Nabors]] playing [[Gomer Pyle]], spun-off from ''The Andy Griffith Show'', he used a screen persona similar to Briscoe Darling Jr. In 1968, he also directed "The Great Diamond Mines" on ''Death Valley Days''.

Pyle had a guest-starring role in 1973 on ''[[The Streets of San Francisco]]''. In 1975, [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney Productions]] released a film based on the novel ''[[Escape to Witch Mountain (1975 film)|Escape to Witch Mountain]]''. In this film, Tony and Tia were played by [[Ike Eisenmann]] and [[Kim Richards]], Lucas Deranian by [[Donald Pleasence]], and the children's Uncle Bené by Pyle. In 1976, he appeared on ''Barnaby Jones'' in an episode titled "Stalking Horse". He appeared as a mayor residing in the town of Purgatory in the first-season episode of ''[[Kung Fu (1972 TV series)|Kung Fu]]'', titled "Ancient Warrior". He also appeared in second-season episode "Crossties" as a doctor. In 1985 (season 9, episode 8), Pyle made a guest appearance on ''[[The Love Boat]]''.

===Leading role===
Pyle played the titular role in a theatrical film entitled ''[[Guardian of the Wilderness]]'' (1976) about [[Galen Clark]], the true story of an explorer who persuaded [[Abraham Lincoln]] to have the [[Yosemite]] area set aside from commercial development, the original forerunner of the American [[National Park Service|national parks system]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/yose/historyculture/galen-clark.htm|title=Galen Clark - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service)}}</ref> Clark was prompted by his decision to do all he could to preserve the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias from being destroyed by loggers, along with the surrounding  land.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/mgrove.pdf |title = Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias |publisher=[[National Park Service]]}}</ref> Pyle was the [[Billing (performing arts)|top-billed]] lead in this theatrical motion picture shot on location. [[John Dehner]] portrayed legendary naturalist [[John Muir]] and [[Ford Rainey]] played President Lincoln. The movie is also known by its alternate title ''Mountain Man''.

===Continuing roles===
One of Pyle's more endearing roles was that of Briscoe Darling Jr., on ''The Andy Griffith Show'' (1960–1966). Pyle played the patriarch of the Darling family, a group of sons (all portrayed by [[The Dillards]]), and one daughter, Charlene, portrayed by [[Maggie Peterson]]. He appeared in seven episodes, six written by the comedy-writing team of Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.

Pyle played the role of Mad Jack in 36 episodes of the NBC series ''The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams'' (1977–1978). He played Buck Webb ([[Doris Day]]'s television series father) during the first two seasons of CBS's ''The Doris Day Show'' (1968–1970).  In real life, Pyle was only two years older than Day.  Pyle said in 1968 that he based his acting in that role on his father's personality.<ref>{{cite news|title=Denver Pyle Chose Acting Over Law|newspaper=The Times Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4097759/the_times_record/|agency=The Times-Record|date=September 7, 1968|location=New York, Troy|page=28|via = [[Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]|access-date = January 21, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Pyle's best-known and longest-running television role was that of [[The Dukes of Hazzard#Jesse|Uncle Jesse]] Duke in the CBS series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' (1979–1985) (146 episodes).

===Later years===
In his later life, Pyle played mostly cameo television roles and retired from full-time acting. His last film role was in the 1994 film ''[[Maverick (film)|Maverick]]''. His last known acting role was as Jesse Duke in the 1997 CBS made-for-television movie ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!]]''.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}