Through the encouragement of actor friend Sidney Gordon, Pyle landed a part in a play. It did well, so he began to study acting and joined the American Repertory Theater. During this time, after being seen in
Ring Around Elizabeth at the Glendale Center Theater, he was cast in the films
The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947) and
The Man from Colorado (1948). Other bit parts followed, until 1955 when he was cast as outlaw Ben Thompson on
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, after which he became an established actor.
Limited roles Pyle guest-starred 14 times between 1951 and 1953 on the
syndicated television series
The Range Rider with
Jock Mahoney and
Dick Jones, and appeared as an outlaw in a 1951 episode of the television series
The Lone Ranger titled "Backtrail," then as a deputy in the episode "The Hooded Men" and returned in episode 71 "The Outcast", episode 166 "Woman in the White Mask" and episode 187 "Cross of Santo Domingo". He also appeared in "Frontier Range", a 1951 episode of
The Gene Autry Show. In 1953, Pyle appeared on
The Roy Rogers Show (season two, "Loaded Guns") as the wrongly accused killer, ranch hand Tom Larrabee. Also in 1953, Pyle played Emil Hatch in episode 46 of
The Adventures of Superman entitled "Beware the Wrecker". He had a part in the 1955
Audie Murphy film
To Hell and Back, and appeared twice on
NBC's 1955–1956 Western
anthology series Frontier (in "Mother of the Brave" and in "The Voyage of Captain Castle"). Pyle was twice cast on
CBS's
The Public Defender in the role of George Hansen, and three times on the religious anthology series,
Crossroads on
ABC. He acted the part of a police detective in the 1956 film noir
Please Murder Me, starring
Raymond Burr. Pyle was cast as Carter in the 1955 episode "Joey's Father" on
Fury. Three years later, he played an arsonist in the episode "The Fire Watchers" of the same series. In 1956, Pyle appeared as Vance Kiley in the episode called "Quicksand" in the TV Western series
The Lone Ranger. That same year, he played "Willie Calhoun", a lovestruck, and soon-to-be murderer, in season 2's "Poor Pearl" on
Gunsmoke. He appeared as a professor in the syndicated
Men into Space series' 1959 episode "Moonquake". In an episode of
Ripcord, he played a suicidal parachutist. Also in 1959, he returned to
Gunsmoke, playing the lead character Mike Blocker in the episode "The Bear". He was cast as Big Red in the 1959 episode "Woman in the River" of the detective series
Bourbon Street Beat, starring
Andrew Duggan and
Richard Long. Pyle appeared twice each on the CBS Western series
My Friend Flicka and NBC's
The Restless Gun with
John Payne. He guest-starred with
Grant Withers in the 1959 episode "Tumbleweed Ranger" of
Tris Coffin's syndicated Western series
26 Men, billed as true stories of the
Arizona Rangers. He appeared seven times on
Richard Boone's CBS Western
Have Gun – Will Travel; his final appearance was on the show in 1960 as the character Croft in "The Puppeteer". He guest-starred in 1960 in several other Westerns, including
Pony Express,
The Man from Blackhawk, and
Tombstone Territory. He made several appearances as Briscoe Darling, on
The Andy Griffith Show. Pyle was cast in a number of
Western movies by
John Ford, including
The Horse Soldiers with
William Holden and
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He played a Tennessee soldier (called Thimblerig) in
John Wayne's
The Alamo (1960). He portrayed
Sam Houston in several episodes of CBS's
The Adventures of Jim Bowie. He guest-starred as a law-enforcement officer in Jim Davis' other syndicated series,
Rescue 8, and also appeared in an episode of the ABC sitcom,
The Real McCoys with
Walter Brennan. Pyle was cast in the 1960 episode "Three Wise Men" of ABC's
Stagecoach West as an outlaw who promises to turn himself into the authorities if he can spend
Christmas with his family. About this time, Pyle appeared in the segment "Lawyer in Petticoats" of
William Bendix's 1960 NBC Western series
Overland Trail with
Doug McClure, and thereafter in 1961 in "Hand of Vengeance" in the syndicated Western series
Two Faces West. Pyle was cast as Jed Corrigan in the 1961 episode "The Tramp" of the NBC family drama series
National Velvet. In 1961, Pyle made the first of eight separate appearances on
Bonanza, in the third season episode "Springtime". He also appeared in the fourth season episodes "A Hot Day for a Hanging" (1962), "The Boss" (1963), and "Little Man - Ten Feet Tall" (1963); the fifth season's "Bullet for a Bride" (1964), the tenth season's "The Passing of a King" (1968), the twelfth season's "The Wagon" (1970), and finally in "Riot" (1972) in the fourteenth season. Pyle guest-starred twice on the CBS series
Route 66 with
Martin Milner and
George Maharis, first in 1961 in the episode "The Newborn" and again in 1962 in "A Long Piece of Mischief". He appeared as the father of the doomed family in the dystopian episode "
Black Leather Jackets" of
The Twilight Zone. In 1963, Pyle guest-starred on
The Dick Van Dyke Show as Uncle George in the episode "Uncle George". He appeared twice in
Cheyenne, starring
Clint Walker. He played Sergeant Tripp in the episode "The Enemy" of the
James Arness ABC series
How the West Was Won. Pyle also had guest-starring roles on
The Rifleman. He also is known for portraying both the suspect and the murder victim on the last original
Perry Mason TV episode, "The Case of the Final Fadeout", in 1966. He was one of 11 actors to hit the Perry Mason trifecta, portraying a victim, a defendant, and the actual murderer (in previous episodes) on the series, which he did in five appearances. Among his other appearances, he played defendant Robert Crane in "The Case of the Deadly Double" in 1958, Tom Quincy in "The Case of the Ominous Outcast" in 1960, Tilden Stuart in "The Case of the Jealous Journalist", Emery Fillmore in "The Case of the Renegade Refugee" (both in 1961), and Frank Honer in "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" in 1963. Pyle portrayed the vengeful
Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the 1967 movie
Bonnie and Clyde. He also appeared in an episode of
The High Chaparral as a general who had lost his son. In 1968, he appeared as Titus Purcell, patriarch of a family of homesteaders, in the episode "The Price of Tomatoes" in the sitcom
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Working for the first time with
Jim Nabors playing
Gomer Pyle, spun-off from
The Andy Griffith Show, he used a screen persona similar to Briscoe Darling Jr. In 1968, he also directed "The Great Diamond Mines" on
Death Valley Days. Pyle had a guest-starring role in 1973 on
The Streets of San Francisco. In 1975,
Walt Disney Productions released a film based on the novel
Escape to Witch Mountain. In this film, Tony and Tia were played by
Ike Eisenmann and
Kim Richards, Lucas Deranian by
Donald Pleasence, and the children's Uncle Bené by Pyle. In 1976, he appeared on
Barnaby Jones in an episode titled "Stalking Horse". He appeared as a mayor residing in the town of Purgatory in the first-season episode of
Kung Fu, titled "Ancient Warrior". He also appeared in second-season episode "Crossties" as a doctor. In 1985 (season 9, episode 8), Pyle made a guest appearance on
The Love Boat.
Leading role Pyle played the titular role in a theatrical film entitled
Guardian of the Wilderness (1976) about
Galen Clark, the true story of an explorer who persuaded
Abraham Lincoln to have the
Yosemite area set aside from commercial development, the original forerunner of the American
national parks system. Clark was prompted by his decision to do all he could to preserve the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias from being destroyed by loggers, along with the surrounding land. Pyle was the
top-billed lead in this theatrical motion picture shot on location.
John Dehner portrayed legendary naturalist
John Muir and
Ford Rainey played President Lincoln. The movie is also known by its alternate title
Mountain Man.
Continuing roles One of Pyle's more endearing roles was that of Briscoe Darling Jr., on
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1966). Pyle played the patriarch of the Darling family, a group of sons (all portrayed by
The Dillards), and one daughter, Charlene, portrayed by
Maggie Peterson. He appeared in seven episodes, six written by the comedy-writing team of Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. During the 1965–1966 television season he portrayed the recurring role of Grandpa Tarleton in
Tammy. He played Buck Webb (
Doris Day's television series father) during the first two seasons of CBS's
The Doris Day Show (1968–1970). In real life, Pyle was only two years older than Day. Pyle said in 1968 that he based his acting in that role on his father's personality. Pyle played the role of Mad Jack in 36 episodes of the NBC series
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977–1978). His best-known and longest-running television role was that of
Uncle Jesse Duke in the CBS series
The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985) (146 episodes).
Later years In his later life, Pyle played mostly cameo television roles and retired from full-time acting. His last film role was in the 1994 film
Maverick. His final acting role was as Jesse Duke in the 1997 CBS made-for-television movie
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!. ==Charitable efforts==