‘Green Acres’ Star Tom Lester Dies at 81

Tom Lester, who is remembered as farmhand Eb Dawson on CBS sitcom Green Acres, died on Monday of complications from Parkinson’s disease in the Nashville home of his fiancée and long-term caregiver Jackie Peters. He was 81 years old.

Born in Laurel, Mississippi in 1938, Lester graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in chemistry, but decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. After appearing in a play with Petticoat Junction star Linda Kaye Henning, Lester was cast in Green Acres in 1965. Linda Kaye’s father, Paul Henning, created and produced the successful trio of rural themed CBS comedies – The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.

Green Acres was an immediate hit, rising as high as No. 6 in the Nielsen household ratings in its second season. And Lester, like most of the actors, appeared in all three shows at one point.

While still a respectable performer, Green Acres in 1971 was a victim of the “rural purge,” when everything on CBS “with a tree,” according to common legend, was canceled in the new era of more realistic comedies like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family.

After Green Acres, Lester made the rounds as a guest-star in series like Love, American, Style; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Little House on the Prairie; and the original Knight Rider. He also appeared in 1974 theatrical Benji. And, in 1990, Lester revived his Eb character in made-for television reunion movie Return to Green Acres, which featured original stars Eddie Albert (Oliver Douglas), Eva Gabor (Lisa Douglas), Pat Buttram (Mr. Haney), Frank Cady (Sam Drucker), Mary Grace Canfield (Ralph Monroe), and Sid Melton (Sid Melton).

Talks of a revival of Green Acres in 2007 never surfaced, nor did a planned Broadway musical in 2012 based on the series.

Lester eventually returned home to Mississippi to work on his family’s farm and later traveled the country as a Christian evangelist. His last credited role was is 2014’s comedy Campin’ Buddies.

Lester is survived by his brother, one great-great-niece and one great-great-nephew.