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Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997) was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985). Pyle was born in Bethune in Kit Carson County, Colorado, to farmer Ben H. Pyle (1895–1988) and his wife Maude (1899–1985); After graduating from high school, Pyle attended college but dropped out to enter show business. He was a drummer and band member until the United States entered the Second World War, when he enlisted in the Merchant Marine. Pyle would later claim to be a U.S. Navy veteran who had been... MORE

Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997) was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985). Pyle was born in Bethune in Kit Carson County, Colorado, to farmer Ben H. Pyle (1895–1988) and his wife Maude (1899–1985); After graduating from high school, Pyle attended college but dropped out to enter show business. He was a drummer and band member until the United States entered the Second World War, when he enlisted in the Merchant Marine. Pyle would later claim to be a U.S. Navy veteran who had been wounded at Guadalcanal. In 1991 the National Personnel Records Center reported there was no evidence he had served in the Navy. After the war, Pyle embarked on his film career. He starred in several movies and on television during the 1950s and 1960s. He had a part in the 1955 Audie Murphy film To Hell and Back and guest starred twice on NBC's 1955-1956 western anthology series Frontier, in "Mother of the Brave" and in "The Voyage of Captain Castle". He appeared twice on CBS's The Public Defender in the role of George Hansen, and three times on the religious anthology series, Crossroads on ABC. Pyle LESS