Normally, when I sit down to write this blog, I take a look at the date “historically” as my first step. If nothing pops out as “interesting” or “curious,” I then move on to birth and death dates for the day. And then, if no one sparks a fascination for me, I begin searching for some other story happening somewhere in our Universe.
The lists I peruse, from histories to birthdays to death days, are quite long, sometimes with hundreds of entries for each.
I suppose one could write forever and ever with all this material. But some days seem a little more difficult than others. Regardless, this is the formula I use most mornings when writing and sharing with you.
But today, I decided to try something a little different. I made up my mind to randomly select someone with a birthday in the “teens” of the 1900s. I poked my finger on 1917, and there was Robert “Dabbs” Greer. He was listed as an American actor. His name did not ring a bell with me, but there was my choice.
Then, of course, I go knocking on Google’s door.
I learned that Robert William Greer was born on today’s date, April 2, 1917, in the town of Fairview, Missouri. Fairview is not a big place by any means. In fact, these days just about 383 people are living in that place. I imagine everyone knew that Mrs. Greer had a little baby boy that day.
Yes, Robert was the son of Bernice Irene (née Dabbs), a speech teacher, and Randall Alexander Greer, a druggist.
And our little Robert started acting when he was just eight years old.
When he grew up, he went to Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. From there, he moved to Pasadena, California, and started teaching in a playhouse.
His real acting career started in 1949. Here’s how it went, according to Greer himself: “In 1949, I was teaching an acting class at the Pasadena Playhouse. I got a job as a gatekeeper in Anthony Mann’s “The Reign of Terror.” It was so much fun. In the role, I was eating a chicken leg, and the director and I got along so well that I found acting jobs afterward just kept coming my way. Not long after, that work became so lucrative that I no longer needed to teach. So I gave up the one and became an actor, full time.”
Of course, you all recognize who this is because I posted a picture of his face. He appeared in more than 100 movies and was all over TV all the time, appearing in 600 television episodes of various series. I first remember him as the preacher on Little House On The Prairie. But he was also Mr. Jonas in Gunsmoke. And a regular “guest actor” on Perry Mason, Superman, and The Twilight Zone. And more.
I think I loved him the most in The Green Mile. There, as you know, he played the 108-year-old version of Tom Hanks. The old dude with the old mouse. My heart loved that bit.
As I read about him, I learned he was a genuinely nice guy. A gentle man. A kind spirit. Humble.
He stayed on this planet for 90 years. Greer, who had moved to Pasadena, California, in 1943, died on April 28, 2007, at Pasadena’s Huntington Hospital. He had kidney failure and heart disease. Oddly, he isn’t buried there. Instead, Dabbs is interred in Peace Valley Cemetery in McDonald County, Missouri.
The article never said how he got his nickname, “Dabbs.” But that is his mother’s maiden name, so I imagine the connection is there.
But. Here is the thing. I loved this actor from afar. I always enjoyed seeing him on film. He just had one of those “sweet” faces. He seemed like a person I’d like to meet.
So when I picked his name randomly, without knowing who I would be writing about, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the choice. I like Dabbs Greer without knowing him. And. I liked finding him this morning without knowing who he was, either.
And there it is, in our big, big Universe. A little Dabb will do ya.
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“It’s hard to believe in coincidence, but it’s even harder to believe in anything else.”
― John Green, Will Grayson, Will Grayson
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“I have noticed that even those who assert that everything is predestined and that we can change nothing about it still look both ways before they cross the street.”
― Stephen Hawking
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“How can the world in all its chaos come up with so many coincidences, so many similarities?”
― Amy Tan
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The finding of the 108 year old nice guy. Randomly.
