Hank Patterson was born in Springville, Alabama to Green and Mary Newton Patterson. Hank's great-grandfather, James Pearson, was an original settler of St. Clair county, AL as was his mother's great-grandfather, Thomas Newton. Between 1894 & 1897, the family left AL to live in Taylor, Texas where Hank attempted to work as a serious musician only to settle for playing piano in traveling vaudeville shows. He worked his way out to California in the 1920's and here began his film career followed by long runs on two television series Gunsmoke (1955) and Green Acres (1965).