He Traded His Dental Mirror for Hollywood Spotlights

A place in Hollywood is rarely guaranteed for latecomers, but Edgar Buchanan, age 36, was the curious exception to that rule.

(L–R) Jack Kruschen, Edgar Buchanan, and John Wayne in "McLintock" in 1963. Buchanan leaned into his grizzled exterior to play a bevy of colorful roles. Public Domain

Legendary comedian and actor George Burns once said, “The secret of acting is sincerity. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” Good looks and movie charisma don’t hurt either, yet one very successful character actor seemingly possessed neither of those yet managed to carve out a prominent niche for himself over a 35-year career spanning movies and television.

Edgar Buchanan (1903–1979) played a variety of characters in more than 100 movies and television shows from 1939 through 1974. His roles ranged from Old West doctors, judges, and sheriffs to grizzled villains, scheming rascals, and wily cheats. A Missouri native who grew up in Oregon, Buchanan possessed a gravelly voice reminiscent of a rock slide. He often portrayed bewhiskered frontiersmen of dubious character.

The portly actor of average height usually exuded a rustic demeanor in multiple character roles, but that was proof of his acting talent. In reality, Dr. William Edgar Buchanan, Jr. was a licensed dentist and the head of oral surgery at the Eugene, Oregon hospital from 1929 to 1937.

Buchanan’s father was a successful Pacific Northwest dentist who encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps. If Dr. Edgar Buchanan Sr. had gotten his way, Edgar Jr. would have made his professional mark with dental mirrors and scalers, rather than on movie back lots with stage props and film crews.

Fortunately for movie buffs and television viewers, Edgar Jr.’s acting bug was infectious and provided him a lifetime legacy of cinematic success.

Born in 1903 and educated as a dentist, Edgar Buchanan followed his dreams to Hollywood. Public Domain

Like Father, Like Son (Sort of)

Edgar Jr. was an average student in college. To help raise his grades as a pre-med student, he took an elective course in play interpretation. Instantly, he was starstruck. Though he still played the real-life role of aspiring dentist for his father, Edgar Jr. took additional theater courses at the University of Oregon while still a student. He was also active in stock theater productions.

The senior Buchanan warned his son that a career in the theater was to settle for a life of mediocrity and uncertainty. Nevertheless, theater was too enticing for the younger Buchanan.

He continued participating in stage roles after he was accepted into North Pacific Dental College, known today as the Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry. At one point, the budding thespian chose to leave dental school for a teaching position in the university’s drama department. Appalled, his father persuaded him to return to dental school.

Fate intervened when Edgar Jr. met his future wife, Mildred “Millie” Spence, also a dentist. The two married while still in school. Following graduation in 1928, they formed a private family practice in Eugene, Oregon in 1930.

The younger Buchanan continued to grow the family dental practice in the 1930s while simultaneously working as chief of oral surgery at the Eugene Hospital Clinic. He also served as an assistant director in the University of Oregon drama department. But acting was still in his blood. In 1939 the Buchanans’ and their adopted son Buck moved the family dental practice to Pasadena to be closer to Hollywood’s movie studios.

A Star Is Born

Immediately upon arriving in California, Buchanan joined the Pasadena Playhouse. After Hollywood talent scouts watched him in a play there, William Edgar Buchanan, DDS, was signed to a seven-year movie deal under the name Edgar Buchanan. Given that financial security, Buchanan turned the family dental practice over to his wife. Millie Buchanan soon had two careers: dentist and her husband’s talent manager.

At age 36, Buchanan appeared in his first movie role, Columbia Pictures’ “My Son is Guilty” in 1939. Buchanan played a bartender. It was the first of 13 movies and two television shows he appeared in with future movie star Glenn Ford.

Over a storied movie career, Buchanan appeared in films with a Who’s Who of Hollywood stars, including William Holden, Ronald Colman, Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Randolph Scott, John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, James Garner, and Doris Day.

Some of Buchanan’s most memorable movie roles were “Penny Serenade” (1941) and “The Talk of the Town,” (1942) both starring Cary Grant; “Shane,” (1953) and “Ride the High Country” (1962).

From Hollywood to Hooterville

As well-known as he was in Hollywood films, Buchanan is probably best known for portraying a television character who was an affable, lazy gent known for “movin' kind of slow.” Uncle Joe Carson was a popular staple on the 1960s television show, “Petticoat Junction,” based in the fictional town of Hooterville. The show was such a hit that the Uncle Joe character appeared in all 222 episodes over seven years. His character also made appearances on two other 1960s television hits, “Green Acres” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Edgar Buchanan in a 1968 photograph from the TV show "Petticoat Junction." Public Domain

A MeTV website included a Buchanan quote from a 1972 interview with the Boston Globe. There, he shared the secret of his success. “I’m not the kind of actor who portrays a different character in each film by changing his speech and manner,” he said. “I’ve always played myself, whether doing a dramatic or comedy role.” In other words, he typecast himself by being himself.

Despite his film and television success, Buchanan never forgot his dental roots. Aside from the occasional dental role on the big screen, he retained his dental license in California and Oregon as a safety net in case his Hollywood career went bust. On several occasions during his movie career, the dentist-turned Hollywood actor provided dental treatment on the set for his fellow actors, including the time he pulled a tooth for his movie stand-in of 25 years.

Buchanan died April 4, 1979 in Palm Desert, California after complications from a stroke. For a gentleman who didn’t realize his career dreams until his mid-30s, the cinematic legacy he left behind was anything but mediocre or uncertain.

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