Daniel Upshaw Biggers (January 18, 1931 – December 5, 2011) was an American college official and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

best known for his role as Frank "Doc" Robb on the television series '' In the Heat of the Night''.

Life and career

Biggers was born in

Newton County, Georgia Newton County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 112,483. The county seat is Covington. Newton County is included in the ''Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, ...

in 1931. He was an English instructor at

Toccoa Toccoa is a city in far Northeast Georgia near the border with South Carolina. It is the county seat of Stephens County, Georgia, United States, located about from Athens and about northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,133 as of the 2020 ...

High School in the late 1950s. In 1963 he became headmaster of Thornwood (Darlington Lower School) in Rome, Georgia."Actor and director of Historic Berry, Dan Biggers has died,"
'' Rome News-Tribune'', December 6, 2011. Beginning in 1967, he was dean of students at Berry College. Before that, he was on the staff of the Dean of Men at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and escorted Charlayne Hunter (now a correspondent for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

) to class when she integrated the University of Georgia in 1960. From 1976 until his retirement in 1996, he was the director of Oak Hill and the Martha Berry Museum. He was also on the board of directors of the Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau for 13 years and helped develop the Northwest Georgia Travel Association. In 1983 he was awarded the Phoenix Award for conservation and preservation by the Society of American Travel Writers. Biggers' acting career began with the Rome Little Theatre, where he won several acting awards. His first television appearance was in ''Maid in America'' in 1962 and his last in '' Elizabethtown'' in 2005. His breakout role was in ''

The Slugger's Wife ''The Slugger's Wife'' is a 1985 romantic comedy film about a baseball star who falls for a singer. Written by Neil Simon, directed by Hal Ashby and produced by Ray Stark, the film stars Michael O'Keefe, Rebecca De Mornay, and Randy Quaid. It w ...

'' in 1985. He played "Doc" Robb on ''In the Heat of the Night'' for eight years. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the

Rome International Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

and also by the Georgia Screen Actors Guild. In 1997, Biggers portrayed Harry Cram in the Clint Eastwood-directed screenplay of

John Berendt John Berendt (born December 5, 1939) is an American author, known for writing the best-selling non-fiction book ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Biography Ber ...

's best-selling book ''

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published in 1994 and follows the story of an antiques dealer on trial for the murder of a male prostitute. Subtitled ''A Savannah S ...

''.

Death

Biggers died in Rome, Georgia, in the morning of December 5, 2011.Tony Potts
"Rome Actor, Dan Biggers, Dies,"
''Coosa Valley News'', December 5, 2011.

References

External links

* 1931 births 2011 deaths People from Toccoa, Georgia American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Newton County, Georgia {{US-screen-actor-1930s-stub