Daniel Upshaw Biggers (January 18, 1931–December 5, 2011) was an American college official and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

best known for his role as Dr. Frank Robb on the television series '' In the Heat of the Night''.

Life and career

Biggers was born in

Newton County, Georgia Newton County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 112,483. The county seat is Covington. Newton County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell MSA ...

in 1931. He was an English instructor at Toccoa High School in the late 1950s. In 1963, he became headmaster of Thornwood (Darlington Lower School) in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

."Actor and director of Historic Berry, Dan Biggers has died,"
'' Rome News-Tribune'', December 6, 2011. Beginning in 1967, he was dean of students at

Berry College Berry College is a private university in the Mount Berry community adjacent to Rome, Georgia. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Berry College was founded on values based on Christian principles in 1 ...

. A student uprising overtook the campus security team during his tenure as Dean of Students. Prior to Darlington School he had been on the staff of Dean Tate, Dean of Men at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

and escorted Charlayne Hunter (now a correspondent for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

) to class when she integrated the University of Georgia in 1960. From 1976 until his retirement in 1996, he was the director of Oak Hill and the Martha Berry Museum. He was also on the board of directors of the Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau for 13 years and helped develop the Northwest Georgia Travel Association. In 1983, he was awarded the Phoenix Award for conservation and preservation by the Society of American Travel Writers. Biggers' acting career began with the Rome Little Theatre, where he won several acting awards. His first television appearance was in ''Maid in America'' in 1962 and his last in '' Elizabethtown'' in 2005. His breakout role was in '' The Slugger's Wife'' in 1985. He played "Doc" Robb on ''In the Heat of the Night'' for eight years. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the

Rome International Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...

and also by the Georgia Screen Actors Guild. In 1997, Biggers portrayed Harry Cram in the

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

-directed screenplay of

John Berendt John Berendt (born December 5, 1939) is an American author, known for writing the best-selling non-fiction book '' Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, and '' The Ci ...

's best-selling book ''

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published on January 10, 1994, and follows the story of Jim Williams, an antiques dealer on trial for the killing of Danny Hansf ...

''.

Death

Biggers died in Rome, Georgia, in the morning of December 5, 2011.Tony Potts
"Rome Actor, Dan Biggers, Dies,"
''Coosa Valley News'', December 5, 2011.

References

External links

* 1931 births 2011 deaths People from Toccoa, Georgia American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Newton County, Georgia {{US-screen-actor-1930s-stub