The Dish on George Petrie

I became (mildly) interested in George Petrie (1912-1997) after rewatching The Day After during the Covid lockdown. I needed something to cheer me up! And I was curious to see how it held up after 40 years. Petrie plays a beleagured doctor in the telefilm, which I found quaint in its naivete. There aren’t enough hospital staff on earth to deal with the aftermath of a nuclear war, and to be of any use, they’d need recourse to treatments that have not been invented yet, if they ever will. Why even go through the pantomime? But such movies always do:

Scene One: Nuclear Bombs Drop.

Scene Two: Joe Goes to the Doctor. JOE: Gee, what do I do about these nuclear burns, doc?

Anyway, that’s off topic. Petrie proved (mildly) interesting to me because I learned that he had played supporting roles in about 80 episodes of Jackie Gleason’s various variety shows and The Honeymooners. Gleason clearly liked him. He is also notable for having played Eddie Haskell’s father on Leave it to be Beaver, and the Ewing family lawyer Harv in 52 episodes of Dallas (1979-1991).

Petrie started out as a stage actor in the ’30s. Notable Broadway credits include the original production of Cafe Crown (1942), directed by Elia Kazan, in an ensemble that included Morris Carnovsky,Whit Bissel, Sam Jaffee, and Sam Wanamaker. While serving in the army he appeared as a carnival barker in both versions of Moss Hart’sWinged Victory, the Broadway production (1943-44) and the 1944 film, his first screen appearance.

On radio he starred on such shows as Call the Police; Philo Vance; Charlie Wild, Private Detective; and The Adventures of the Falcon in the late ’40s and early ’50s.

In films he generally played small supporting parts, but you can see him in such movies as Gypsy(1962), Hud (1963), Dead Ringer (1964), What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), Raid on Entebbe (1976), Telefon (1977), and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987). The vast majority of his 150 screen credits were in television, guest starring on shows like The Twilight Zone,Cheyenne, The Addams Family, The Munsters,My Three Sons, Mr. Ed, Bonanza, The Virginian,Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Streets of San Francisco, etc. He’s also in TV movies like Murder on Flight 502 (1975), Panic in Echo Park (1977), A Fire in the Sky (1978) and City in Fear (1980). Among his lasty credits were ten appearances in various bit roles on Mad About You.

For more about show business historyconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.