"Ol'" Hank Patterson was born Elmer Calvin Patterson in Springville, Alabama on October 9, 1888. He started his career as a road show piano player in 1910, and preformed as an actor in tent shows before moving to Los Angeles in the 1920s. Eventually he broke into vaudeville, and then moved on to film and television.

He joined the cast of Gunsmoke in 1957 as Hank, the stableman, but his real fame came near the end of his life, with Green Acres. In The Hooterville Handbook, A Viewers Guide to Green Acres, by Stephen Cox (St. Martin's Press), the cast of Green Acres fondly recall amusing stories about Patterson. Eddie Albert and Phil Gordon (the dialogue coach on the show for a few seasons) recall the young, beautiful girls the kindly old gent would hire to be his chauffeur; and Gordon describes the special measures the cast and crew would take to accommodate Patterson's deafness (not least of all having Gordon lie on the floor out of camera range to poke the deaf actor with a stick, so he'd know when to say his lines!) Patterson died on August 23, 1975 in the Motion Picture Country Home, where he was recuperating from a stroke. His death was due to complications from pneumonia.

Born Marion Pepper in New York on May 31 1915, Barbara Pepper was a stunning showgirl early in her career. At all of 16 years of age she defied her parents' wishes, changed her name, and joined the line in the last of the great Ziegfeld Follies of 1931-32. Pepper became close friends with fellow chorine Lucille Ball, and the two were chosen by Busby Berkely to be Goldwyn Girls in the movie Roman Scandals. Despite the divergent paths their careers took, Peeper and Lucy remained devoted friends.

In the early 1940's Pepper married Craig Reynolds, and the couple had two sons, Dennis and John. In 1949 Reynolds was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident. Pepper was devastated, and left alone with two children to raise. The actress became severely depressed, developed an alcohol problem, and gained nearly 50 pounds. Her drinking and robust figure made it hard for her to get work, and though she desperately wanted to play the role of Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy, Lucy and Desi Arnaz had already hired known alcoholic William Frawley to play Fred Mertz, and felt they couldn't run the risk of hiring another drinker. Loyal and devoted friend Lucy did give Pepper the opportunity to guest on the show whenever she could, and Pepper can be spotted in several episodes of I Love Lucy. While Pepper never drank on the Green Acres set, her health declined due to her alcoholism, and Jay Sommers considered it wise to replace her with actress Fran Ryan for the 1969 season. Suffering from a heart ailment, Barbara Pepper died in a Panorama City, California hospital on July 19, 1969. She was 57 years old. Fran Ryan continued to play the role Pepper had created until Green Acres was cancelled in 1971.