Dennis Weaver

Weaver was born June 4, 1924, in Joplin, Missouri, the son of Walter Leon Weaver and his wife Lenna Leora Prather. His father was of English, Irish, Scottish, Cherokee, and Osage ancestry. Weaver wanted to be an actor from childhood. He lived in Shreveport, Louisiana, for several years and for a short time in Manteca, California. He studied at Joplin Junior College, now Missouri Southern State University, then transferred to the University of Oklahoma at Norman, where he studied drama and was a track star, setting records in several events. During World War II he served as a pilot in the United States Navy, flying Vought F4U Corsair fighter aircraft. After the war, he married Gerry Stowell, with whom he had three children. Under the name Billy D. Weaver, he tried out for the 1948 U.S. Olympic team in the decathlon, finishing sixth behind 17-year-old high school track star Bob Mathias. Ho…