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Herbert Anderson

Beginning with the war film "The Fighting 69th" in 1940, actor Herbert Anderson began appearing in mostly uncredited roles in Warner Brothers films. In 1941, he landed his breakout role, playing expert gunner Homer Matthews in the comedy-musical "Navy Blues." Following that performance, he went on to appear in scores of films throughout the rest of the decade and into the next. He appeared in "Excuse My Dust," another musical-comedy, in 1951; the biopic "The Benny Goodman Story" in 1956; and the drama "Spring Reunion" in 1957. In 1959, he took on his best known role, playing the father, Henry Mitchell, in the beloved TV series "Dennis the Menace," which was based on Hank Ketchum's comic-strip about a troublemaking young boy. After the show ended in 1963, Anderson appeared in very few films, but became a fixture on television. He played his last role in 1975, in an episode of another classic family program, "The Waltons."