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

• 1997The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! — Uncle Jesse Duke
• Cybill — Denver Pyle (uncredited)
• What a Cartoon! — Podunk Possum (voice)
• 1994Father and Scout — George Rosebrock
• 1994Maverick — Old Gambler on Riverboat
• 1987Delta Fever — Walt
• L.A. Law — Harold Nordoff
• 1986Return to Mayberry — Briscoe Darling
• Murder, She Wrote — Eben Connors
• 1983Mercur: The Town that Can't Stay Dead — Narrator
• The Dukes — Uncle Jesse (voice)
• 1981Legend of the Wild — Narrator (Voice)
• The Dukes of Hazzard — Jesse Duke
• Dallas — Blackie Callahan
• 1978How Bugs Bunny Won the West — Narrator
• 1978Legend of the Northwest — Abner
• 1978Once Upon a Starry Night — Mad Jack
• 1978Return from Witch Mountain — Uncle Bene
• Grizzly Adams — Mad Jack
• How the West Was Won — Sgt. Tripp
• The Love Boat — Eric Springer
• 1976Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson — The Indian Agent (McLaughlin)
• 1976Guardian of the Wilderness — Galen Clark
• 1976Hawmps! — Col. Seymour Hawkins
• 1976The Adventures of Frontier Fremont — Old mountain man
• 1976The Last of Mrs. Lincoln — Senator Austin
• 1976Welcome to L.A. — Carl Barber
• 1975Death Among Friends — Morgan
• 1975Escape to Witch Mountain — Uncle Bene
• 1975The Boy Who Talked to Badgers — Ben as an Adult
• 1975Winterhawk — Arkansas
• 1974Hog Wild — Dr. Larson
• 1974Murder or Mercy — Amos Champion
• Petrocelli — Andrew Warburton
• 1974The Legend of Hillbilly John — Grandpappy John
• The Manhunter — Sam Dickerson
• Barnaby Jones — Stayley Kircher
• 1973Cahill: United States Marshal — Denver
• 1973Hitched — Ben Barnstable
• Kung Fu — Dr. Joseph Colton
• The Streets of San Francisco — Carl Armstrong
• The Waltons — Cousin Homer Lee Baldwin
• Cannon — Sheriff Hogsett
• 1971Mean Justice — Tom Rawling
• 1971Something Big — Junior Frisbee
• 19685 Card Stud — Sig Evers
• 1968Bandolero! — Muncie Carter
• The Doris Day Show — Buck Webb, Director
• 1967Bonnie and Clyde — Frank Hamer
• Cimarron Strip — Charley Austin
• Hondo — Judge Amos Blunt
• 1967Tammy and the Millionaire — Grandpa Mordecai Tarleton
• The Guns of Will Sonnett — Sam Cochran
• The High Chaparral — General Warren
• 1967Welcome to Hard Times — Alfie - Stage Driver
• 1966Gunpoint — Cap
• 1966Incident at Phantom Hill — 1st Hunter
• 1965Mara of the Wilderness — Kelly
• 1965Shenandoah — Pastor Bjoerling
• Tammy — Mordecai Tarleton
• 1965The Great Race — Sheriff
• 1965The Rounders — Bull
• 1964Black Like Me — Man in pick-up truck
• 1964Cheyenne Autumn — Sen. Henry (uncredited)
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. — Titus Purcell
• 1964Mail Order Bride — Preacher Pope
• Arrest and Trial — Jack Felton
• Channing — Sam Riddle
• Mr. Novak — Brill
• Temple Houston — Phineas Fallon
• 1963Terrified — Sheriff Dixon
• The Great Adventure — Gen. Mills
• The Lieutenant — Maj. Matthew Morrissey
• Empire — Tom Rawling
• 1962Geronimo — Senator Conrad
• 1962The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance — Amos Carruthers
• The Virginian — Pico Brown
• Ben Casey — Dallas Hopewell
• Cain's Hundred — Chief Amos Trask
• Dr. Kildare — R. E. Lenger
• Kraft Mystery Theatre — Captain Lister
• The Dick Van Dyke Show — Uncle George
• Checkmate — Terry Adams
• 1960Home from the Hill — Mr. Bradley
• National Velvet — Jed Corrigan
• Route 66 — Father Prior, Joe Wylie
• Stagecoach West — Hewitt
• 1960The Alamo — Thimblerig (the Gambler)
• The Andy Griffith Show — Briscoe Darling
• The Aquanauts — Captain Leo Stohl
• The Tall Man — Marshal Dave Leggert
• Thriller — Ortho Wheeler
• Bonanza — Price Buchanan, Claude Roman, Sheriff Ed, Marcus Caldwell, Theodore 'Ted' Hackett, Sheriff Tom Stedman, Warden
• Bourbon Street Beat
• 1959Cast a Long Shadow — Preacher Harrison
• 1959Good Day for a Hanging — Deputy Ed Moore
• 1959King of the Wild Stallions — MacGuire's Henchman
• Law of the Plainsman — Burke Carew
• Men Into Space
• Rawhide — John Wesley 'Daddy' Quade
• Riverboat — Jim Bledsoe
• The Deputy — Akins, Frank Barton
• The Detectives — Bill Darien
• 1959The Horse Soldiers — Jackie Jo
• The Twilight Zone — Stu Tillman
• Wichita Town
• Bat Masterson — Dan Morgan, Walsh (uncredited)
• Behind Closed Doors — Roger Woodson
• 1958Bitter Heritage — Sam Wheeler
• Bronco — Norton Gillespie, Nelson, Petrie Munger
• 1958China Doll — Col. Wiley
• 1958Fort Massacre — Collins
• Jefferson Drum — Bart Resdake
• Lawman — Glen Folsom, Sam Brackett
• Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer — Braddock
• 1958The Left Handed Gun — Ollinger
• 1958The Party Crashers — Mr. Bickford
• The Rifleman
• The Texan — Sheriff, Chip Andrews, Houston Blackston, Joe Lufton
• 26 Men
• Casey Jones — Frank Reeder
• 1957Destination 60,000 — Mickey Hill
• 1957Domino Kid — Bill Dragger
• 1957Gun Duel in Durango — Ranger Captain
• Have Gun, Will Travel — Pete Hollister, Clay Sommers, McKay, Advent
• 1957Jet Pilot — Mr. Simpson
• Maverick — Jerry O'Brien
• Perry Mason — Robert Crane, Jackson Sidemark, Tom Quincy, Tilden Stuart, Emery Fillmore, Frank Honer
• 1957The Lonely Man — Brad, Red Bluff Sheriff
• The Real McCoys
• The Restless Gun — Sheriff Jay
• Tombstone Territory
• Wagon Train — Bragg
• 19567th Cavalry — Dixon
• Broken Arrow — Fred Graf
• Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre — John Baker, Marshal Quimby, Sheriff, Sheriff Tom, Seth Robson, Joe Sully, Nat Sledge
• 1956I Killed Wild Bill Hickok — Jim Bailey
• 1956Please Murder Me — Det. Lt. Bradley
• State Trooper — Mark Schmedler
• The Adventures of Jim Bowie
• 1956The Naked Hills — Bert Killian / Narrator
• 1956Yaqui Drums — Lefty Barr
• Buffalo Bill Jr.
• Cheyenne — Cyrus Burton, John Hanson, Nate Weyland
• Crossroads — Ockschmitt, Lou 'Dial' Harrington
• Frontier — Eben, Frank
• Fury — Carter
• Gunsmoke — Willie Calhoun, Hank Shinn, Mike Blocker, Gus, Haggen, Aaron, Pa, Caleb, Claudius, Clab Chummer, Caleb Nash, Henry Rand, Judge Blent, Cyrus Himes
• My Friend Flicka — Alec
• 1955Rage at Dawn — Clint Reno
• 1955Run for Cover — Harvey
• 1955Ten Wanted Men
• The 20th Century Fox Hour — Lester, Charley
• The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp — Ben Thompson, Hoss Mackey, Oliver Tittle, Dobie Jenner
• The Millionaire — Arthur Darner
• 1955To Hell and Back — Thompson
• 1955Top Gun — Hank Spencer (uncredited)
• Annie Oakley — Dr. Barnes, Tom Malloy
• 1954Drum Beat — Fairchild (uncredited)
• 1954Johnny Guitar — Posseman (uncredited)
• Lassie — Mr. Madden
• Public Defender — Tom Gayley, George Hansen
• 1954Ride Clear of Diablo — Reverend Moorehead
• 1954The Boy from Oklahoma — Bagley
• 1954The Command — Infantryman (uncredited)
• The Lone Wolf — Kargar
• The Wonderful World of Disney — Mr. Royal (uncredited), Dr. Larson, Amos Briggs (uncredited), Ben as an Adult (voice), Uncle Bene, Clay Tanner
• 1954The Yellow Mountain — (uncredited)
• 1953A Perilous Journey — Bartender
• 1953Column South — Confederate Spy in Yankee Uniform (uncredited)
• 1953Fort Vengeance — Rider Warning About Wagon Train (uncredited)
• 1953Goldtown Ghost Riders — Bernie Malloy (uncredited)
• 1953Gunsmoke — Greasy (uncredited)
• I'm the Law
• Letter to Loretta — Henry
• 1953Rebel City — Greeley
• 1953Texas Bad Man — Tench
• 1953The Lone Hand — Regulator (uncredited)
• 1953Topeka — Jonas Bailey
• 1953Vigilante Terror — Henchman Sperry
• You Are There — Chairman Savage, Cotta, Capt. Canfield, William Bayard Hale, William Newell, Col. Tench Tilghman, Dan DeQuille
• Adventures of Superman — Emile Hatch
• 1952Canyon Ambush — Tom Carlton-Replaced (credit only)
• 1952Desert Passage — Allen
• 1952Fargo — Carey
• Hopalong Cassidy
• 1952Man from the Black Hills — Glenn Hartley
• 1952Mutiny — Gunner / Mutineer (uncredited)
• 1952Oklahoma Annie — Skip
• 1952The Maverick — Bud Karnes
• 1951Drums in the Deep South — Union Soldier Breaking Window (uncredited)
• 1951Hills of Utah — Bowie French
• 1951Million Dollar Pursuit — Nick Algren
• 1951Rough Riders of Durango — Henchman Lacey
• The Adventures of Kit Carson — Edmund Denning, Flip Kilson, Hackett
• The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok — Henchman (uncredited)
• The Roy Rogers Show — Henchman Nash, Bad Boy Wiley, Zeke Miller, Tom Larrabee
• 1950Captain China — Steve
• 1950Customs Agent — Al
• 1950Dynamite Pass — Henchman
• 1950Federal Agent at Large — 'Jumpy' Jordan
• 1950Singing Guns — Richards Henchman
• The Cisco Kid — Professor Jerry Roark, Bank Robber
• 1950The Flying Saucer — Turner
• The Gene Autry Show — Frank Blake, Burr Ramsey, Dodge Hartman, First Henchman, Rawhide Vest, Curt Wayne, Professor Sharp, Sheriff, Cleanshaven Deputy-Henchman, Jim, the Sheriff, Edward Hadley
• 1950The Old Frontier — Henchman George
• 1949El Paso — Vigilante (uncredited)
• 1949Flame of Youth — Lytz
• 1949Hellfire — Rex
• 1949Red Canyon — Hutch
• 1949Rim of the Canyon — Cash Collins (uncredited)
• 1949Streets of San Francisco — Ed Quinn
• 1949The Big Wheel — Track Intern
• The Lone Ranger — Deputy French, Colby, Stack, Deputy Allen, Grayson, Arley McQueen, Vance Kiley
• 1949Too Late for Tears — Young Man at Union Station (uncredited)
• 1948Marshal of Amarillo — The Night Clerk
• 1948The Man from Colorado — Easy Jarrett, Easy Jarrett (uncredited)
• 1948Train to Alcatraz — Hutch Hutchins
• 1947Devil Ship — Carl
• 1947The Guilt of Janet Ames — Man in Opening Scene (uncredited)
• 1947Where the North Begins — Jim Rockwell

Appearances as themselves (2)

• 1992John Wayne's 'The Alamo' — Self
• 1979When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion — Self