Dick Elliott

Who was Dick Elliott?

Richard "Dick" Elliott was an American character actor who played in over 240 films from the 1930s until the time of his death.

He played many different roles, typically as a somewhat blustery sort, such as a politician. A short, fat man, Elliott played Santa Claus on the Jimmy Durante, Andy Griffith, Red Skelton, and Jack Benny programs. Elliott had a couple of memorable lines in It's a Wonderful Life, in which he scolded James Stewart, who was trying to say goodnight to Donna Reed, advising him to stop hemming and hawing and just go ahead and kiss her.

He also had a few memorable appearances in episodes of the Adventures of Superman television series. He appeared three times as Stanley on the CBS sitcom December Bride and on the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Sugarfoot. He was cast as the prospector Peter Cooper and then as Sheriff Tiny Morris in two segments of CBS's Tales of the Texas Rangers. He appeared twice as Doc Thornton on ABC's The Real McCoys. Elliott is perhaps best known as Mayberry Mayor Pike in early episodes of CBS's The Andy Griffith Show, one of his last screen works. In two of the eleven episodes featuring Elliot as mayor, actress Josie Lloyd portrayed his daughter.