Will Geer

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Will Geer (born March 9, 1902 in Frankfort, Indiana - died 22 April 1978) was an American actor. Geer's real name was William Auge Ghere. He is best known for his portrayal of the character "Grandpa" Zebulon "Zeb" Walton, in the popular 1970s TV series The Waltons.

Geer was heavily influenced by his grandfather, who taught him the botanical names of the plants in his native Indiana. He started out to become a botanist, studying the subject and obtaining a master's degree from Columbia University. But he eventually succumbed to the allure of acting.

He began his career touring in tent shows and on river boats. He eventually made his way to Broadway, and in 1964 received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for 110 in the Shade.

He was married to the actress Herta Ware, best known for her poignant performance as the wife of Jack Gilford in Cocoon. Geer and Ware had 3 children, including actress Ellen Geer. Although they eventually divorced they remained close. Ware also had a daughter, actress Melora Marshall, by another marriage.

Geer had an early romantic relationship with late noted gay activist Harry Hay.

Geer was also a social activist, touring government work camps in the 1930s with folk singers like Burl Ives and Woody Guthrie. In the 1950s he was blacklisted for refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. During that period, he built the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon, California, which he and Herta Ware helped to found. He combined his acting and botanical careers at the Theatricum, by making sure that every plant mentioned in Shakespeare was grown there.

As Will Geer was dying on April 22, 1978, of a respiratory ailment at the age of 76, his family sang Guthrie's This Land is Your Land on his deathbed, and recited poems by Robert Frost. Geer was cremated, and his ashes buried at the Theatricum Botanicum in the "Shakespeare Garden."

INTERESTING NOTE: In the German dubbing version, the first name of Zeb Walton was altered to Samuel "Sam" Walton because "Zeb" sounded too similar to "Sepp", a Bavarian short form of the name "Joseph", which was considered clichéd.

Filmography