Frank Ferguson

Few actors can boast a career of over 100 roles, but incomparable character actor Frank Ferguson sports nearly 300 unique performances. Born on Christmas Day in the final week of the 19th century, Ferguson didn't break into show business until approaching middle age. He more than made up for lost time, however, and tore through the '40s starring in as many as 18 small roles per year. He met with major success in '48 as the proprietor of a museum of horrors in the comedy classic "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein." Ferguson likewise portrayed countless memorable characters in the '50s, including the ranch hand Gus Broeberg in the famous TV western "My Friend Flicka." With his natural versatility and the burgeoning popularity of television as an entertainment medium, Ferguson had found a new home. He famously played "Lassie"'s veterinarian on several episodes of the canine adventure series, and embodied the even-tempered Eli Carson on over a hundred episodes (and a feature-length follow-up) of the primetime soap "Peyton's Place." A voracious performer even into his 70s, Ferguson guest-starred on family frontier series"Little House on the Prairie," the crime drama "McMillan & Wife," and two episodes of the farm comedy "Green Acres," before succumbing to cancer at 78.