Thomas William "Tom" Lester (born September 23, 1938) is an American actor and evangelist. He is best known for his role as Eb Dawson, farmhand to Oliver Wendell Douglas (played by Eddie Albert) on the television series Green Acres, and he appeared in two feature animal films Gordy and Benji.

Biographie

Lester was born in Laurel, Mississippi. A young boy in 1948, he became a Born-again Christian and became involved in the Baptist church. At that time, he said he thought the Lord's plan for his life would deliver him to Hollywood, California, to embark on an acting career. He discussed his plans and his dream of becoming an actor with his parents.

After he graduated from Laurel High School, he attended the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, where he received a B.S. degree in Chemistry and Biology. He also briefly attended graduate school at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, but acting became his main interest. After college, he taught school in Purcell, Oklahoma, but he left for Los Angeles, California. In his early 20s, he attended the First Baptist Church of Beverly Hills, California.

After Green Acres, Lester was typecast. He returned home to his parents in Laurel, Mississippi. On May 26, 2005, his Green Acres series' star and close friend Eddie Albert died. Lester was the only one of the four surviving Green Acres stars not to attend the funeral (the ones who did attend were Frank Cady, Sid Melton, and Mary Grace Canfield), even though Albert had once said that Lester was his best and closest friend on the show, and that they had kept in touch.