Will Hare

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American actor

title: "Will Hare" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1916-births", "1997-deaths", "male-actors-from-west-virginia", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "people-from-elkins,-west-virginia", "20th-century-american-male-actors"] description: "American actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Hare" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Will Hare
image	Will Hare in Suspense (My Old Man's Badge).jpg
caption	Hare in the TV series Suspense (1950)
birth_name	Will T Hare
birth_date
birth_place	Elkins, West Virginia, U.S.
death_date
death_place	New York City, New York, U.S.
occupation	Actor
years_active	1931–1997
::

Will T Hare (March 30, 1916 – August 31, 1997) was an American actor who appeared on television and films, often playing elderly figures and father/grandpa roles. He is perhaps best known for his role as Otis "Old Man" Peabody in Back to the Future (1985).

Early life

Hare was born in Elkins, West Virginia, the son of Frances Laetitia (née Satterfield) and George Thomas Hare.

Career

Hare had appeared on stage, screen, and television since he was 15. Becoming a veteran of stage for over a half of a century, Hare's film debut was Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956) and his final theatrical appearance was Me and Veronica in 1992. Hare's other distinctive film credits include roles in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), The Rose (1979), The Electric Horseman (1979), Enter the Ninja (1981), Eyes of Fire (1983), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), The Aviator (1985), Back to the Future (1985, as gun-toting farmer "Old Man Peabody"), Vendetta (1986) and Grim Prairie Tales (1990). Hare was also an active member of the Screen Actor's Guild for several years and also of the Actors Studio, where he died of a heart attack on August 31, 1997, during a rehearsal.

Hare also appeared in the cover art for the Chessmaster franchise of videogames created by The Software Toolworks as the iconic title character.

Partial filmography

The Greatest Gift (1954-1955) — Harold Matthews
The Wrong Man (1956) - Raymond McKaba (uncredited)
Without Each Other (1962) - Father
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) - Junk Man
Black Oak Conspiracy (1977) - Doc Roades
Heaven Can Wait (1978) - Team Doctor
Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979) - (uncredited)
The Rose (1979) - Mr. Leonard
The Electric Horseman (1979) - Gus
Enter the Ninja (1981) - Dollars
Pennies from Heaven (1981) - Father Everson
Eyes of Fire (1983) - Calvin
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) - Grandpa
The Aviator (1985) - Old Man
Back to the Future (1985) - Pa Peabody
Vendetta (1986) - Judge Waters
Grim Prairie Tales (1990) - Lee
Me and Veronica (1993) - Red
Mob Queen (1998) - Father Doyle (final film role; posthumous release)

References

"United States Social Security Death Index Will T Hare".
[http://www.filmreference.com/film/16/Will-Hare.html Will Hare Biography (1916-1997)]
[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/16/arts/will-hare-81-a-founder-of-actors-studio.html "Will Hare, 81, a Founder of Actors Studio"] ''The New York Times'' (September 16, 1997)
[https://kotaku.com/the-life-and-death-of-pc-gamings-most-famous-cover-st-5939503 The Life, and Death, of PC Gaming's Most Famous Cover Star] ''Kotaku'' (August 31, 2012)

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