Thomas Lester, ‘Green Acres’ last surviving cast member, dies at 81 of Parkinson’s

Thomas Lester, the actor who famously played Eb Dawson on “Green Acres” from 1965–71, died Monday of complications from Parkinson’s disease.

He was 81.

The actor and evangelist died in the home of his fiancée and long-term caregiver Jackie Peters, according to a local obituary. He died in Nashville, Tenn., reported Deadline.

Lester appeared in every episode of “Green Acres,” as well as two movies, “Gordy” and “Benji,” the Laurel Leader-Call of Mississippi reported.

He was the last surviving regular cast member of Green Acres, the newspaper said.

Before being called to acting, Lester was studying to be a doctor, earning chemistry and biology degrees at the University of Mississippi, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“ ‘You’re crazy. You’ll never be able to do that,’ ” Lester said his friends told him, The Hollywood Reporter said. “ ‘You’re too tall, too skinny, too ugly. You've got a Southern accent and you’ll never make it in the motion picture business. You don’t look like Rock Hudson.’ ”

But he proved them wrong. “Green Acres” was a hit, and Lester’s portrayal is credited with making the show appealing to younger audiences.

“He was the only connection with youth that the show had,” show director Richard L. Bare told the TV Academy’s The Interviews series in 2003, according to Deadline. “They designed it that way – they needed some guy to hook in the younger viewers.”

After “Green Acres” ended in 1971, Lester went on to occasionally appear on television shows such as “Marcus Welby, M.D.” and “Little House on the Prairie,” Deadline said.

The devout evangelist spent his latter years on a farm in Mississippi.

Besides Peters, survivors include his brother Michael and extended family.