Oliver Wendell Douglas
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Oliver Wendell Douglas was the main character in the 1960s
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''
Green Acres ''Green Acres'' is an American television sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first broadcast on ...
''. Portrayed by
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
veteran
Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...
, Oliver Wendell Douglas was a
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
attorney acting out his long-harbored dream of moving to the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
and operating a
farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
rather than practicing "big city"
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
. In addition to starring in ''Green Acres'', Oliver made several guest appearances on the in-universe show ''
Petticoat Junction ''Petticoat Junction'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley; her three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and B ...
.''


Character biography

Oliver Wendell Douglas was a
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
attorney who had long harbored a dream of moving to the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
and operating a
farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
rather than practicing "big city"
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
. His wife,
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
, a glamorous Hungarian
immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
(played by
Eva Gabor Eva Gabor ( ; February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-American actress, businesswoman, singer, and socialite. She voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the animated Disney Classics, ''The Aristocats'' (1970), ''The Rescuers'' (1977), ...
), had absolutely no desire to leave sophisticated New York City for a backward,
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
area. His idea was also met with resistance from his mother, Eunice (
Eleanor Audley Eleanor Audley ( Zellman; November 19, 1905 – November 25, 1991) was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mother, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom ''Green Acres'' (1965–1969), ...
), who sided with Lisa against leaving New York City for the hinterlands. However, once they actually arrived at their newly purchased farm (a run-down nightmare whose farmhouse was little more than a dilapidated shack), it was Lisa who immediately fit into
Hooterville Hooterville is a fictional agricultural community that is the setting for the American situation comedies ''Petticoat Junction'' (1963–70) and ''Green Acres'' (1965–1971), two rural-oriented television series created or produced by Paul Henning ...
and its weird collection of zany characters, not Oliver. Instead, he was usually presented as the only sane character in an insane world. Oliver simply doesn't fit into a place where everyone took for granted that a "talking"
pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
,
Arnold Ziffel Arnold Ziffel was the porcine character featured in '' Green Acres'', an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1965 to 1971. The show is about a fictional lawyer, Oliver Wendell Douglas, and his wife, Lisa – city-dwellers who move t ...
, was his owners' "son"; where one of the two housing contractor "brothers" was a woman; where the farmhand he hired, young Eb Dawson, would refer to him and Lisa as his "parents"; and where local confidence man
Mr. Haney ''Green Acres'' is an American television sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first broadcast on ...
, from whom he had bought the farm, was always getting the upper hand. Of course, Oliver had quirks as well, such as driving his
tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
wearing the same three-piece suits that he had formerly worn to practice law. He also addressing nearly everyone in Hooterville as Mr. or Mrs., even though the residents used a first-name basis (although they reciprocated by referring to Oliver as "Mr. Douglas"). Oliver had a high opinion of farmers, and often made speeches in which he referred to "crops shooting up out of the ground" (
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
, in her Hungarian accent, would repeat the sentiment as "crops shoosting out of the ground"). During these speeches on the idealistic nature of rural life,
patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...
music (Yankee Doodle to be exact) would often play; other characters frequently searched for the source of the music. He is such a fanatic farmer wannabe in the pilot episode that during a flashback while on a bombing mission in a
P-38 The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...
, he annoys his squadron commander with comments about how tomatoes are turned into ketchup. A later episode shows Oliver was a Captain in USAF Reserves when the Hooterville townsfolk try to have him fly a broken down
Curtiss JN-4 The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for th ...
from World War I. Despite Oliver's love of farming, he was either too blinded by pride or too stubborn to admit that he was totally incompetent as a farmer. His denial led him to labor on in vain, year after year, when it was obvious to everyone else that he would be far more successful back in his New York law practice. Although he was a horrible farmer and once only made $16 dollars of profit for the entire year, the Douglases never had to worry about money. for example, they never had trouble replacing the numerous dishes that Lisa would break. This once caused the other residents to believe that Oliver was making and selling alcohol, and that he was involved with the mob. The show featured numerous
running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...
s, such as Oliver usually "losing" in one way or another to the Hooterville yokels. In one episode Mr. Haney, Lisa, and Hank Kimball think they've discovered a "Milk-making" Machine. Oliver has to tell them (tongue-in-cheek) that not only are the chemicals so expensive that milk prices would soar, but that one of the ingredients in this new milk also causes temporary baldness! Another episode shows Oliver as a "successful" lawyer when he manages to convince the US Army ''not'' to draft Arnold Ziffel the Pig. At the end of the episode, Oliver has a new client to keep from being drafted – "Ralph Monroe"! Another running gag in later seasons of the show involved Oliver often being unable to finish something he starts to say due to being rudely interrupted by other characters.


Character creation

In the 1950 radio sitcom on which ''Green Acres'' was originally based, the character was a banker named John Granby and portrayed by
Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfiste ...
. Granby, in turn, was based on Gordon's character on ''
My Favorite Husband ''My Favorite Husband'' is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, starring Lucille Ball, evolved into the groundbreaking television sitcom ''I Love Lucy''. The series was based on the novels ...
''. In a notable difference between the radio and television versions, Granby had a teenage daughter, which the Douglases did not.Dunning, John. (1976). ''Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925-1976''. Prentice-Hall, Inc. . P. 244. The character's basic premise of a white-collar city man with a passion for farming but no talent for it remained unchanged. The character's name was inspired by famed
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and possibly also by then-Supreme Court justice
William Orville Douglas William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong Progressivism, progressive and Civil libertarianism, civ ...
.


See also

*
Hooterville Hooterville is a fictional agricultural community that is the setting for the American situation comedies ''Petticoat Junction'' (1963–70) and ''Green Acres'' (1965–1971), two rural-oriented television series created or produced by Paul Henning ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Oliver Wendell Green Acres characters Fictional American lawyers Fictional farmers Fictional characters from New York City Petticoat Junction characters Television characters introduced in 1965