Jack Dodson (May 16, 1931 – September 16, 1994) Born John S. Dodson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was an American television actor best remembered for the milquetoast character Howard Sprague in The Andy Griffith Show and its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. From 1959 until his death in 1994, Dodson was married to television art director Mary Dodson.
Andy Griffith hired Dodson for the Howard Sprague role after seeing him in 1964 on Broadway in Hughie. Dodson also appeared in episodes of My Friend Flicka, The Virginian, Maude, Barney Miller, Archie Bunker's Place, Newhart, Mr. Belvedere, Matlock, Mama's Family, and St. Elsewhere. He also had a recurring role as Mickey Malph, Ralph Malph's optometrist dad on Happy Days. A guest appearance on Barney Miller (in the two-part episode "Homicide," Season 7) had Dodson in a twist on his Mayberry role- as a mild-mannered, blood-thirsty killer. In 1967 he appeared in the episode "A Mighty Hunter Before the Lord" of NBC's The Road West, which aired opposite The Andy Griffith Show. Dodson also appeared as a airplane passenger caught up in murder-plot in a 1972 episode of "Hawaii 5-0."
Dodson also appeared in two Sam Peckinpah films, The Getaway and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. He also had a small role in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot which starred Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges.
In 1985, Dodson returned to Broadway in the revival of You Can't Take It With You. The actor reprised Howard Sprague in the 1986 NBC-TV movie, Return to Mayberry, as well as in a 1990 episode of It's Garry Shandling's Show, "The Day Howard Moved In". He died in Los Angeles, California, from heart failure, aged 63.
Famous quotes containing the word jack:
“He’s about as sensitive to a woman’s needs as Jack The Ripper.”
—Blake Edwards (b. 1922)