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Feb, 2016
Uni Alum and Petticoat Junction star Mike Minor passes at 75
[Posted February 21, 2016] Best remembered as the pilot Steve Elliott on the 1960s sitcom Petticoat Junction, Uni alumnus Mike Minor passed away on January 28, 2016 in New York City, from cancer. He was 75.
Pictured above: Mike Minor in the 1960s.
Believed to be a graduate in the Uni Class of 1959, Minor was a trained singer and had two albums released in 1966, but joined the cast of “Petticoat Junction” in the fall for the 1966 season, the fourth of seven in the series. Handsome and commanding at 6-feet, 2-inches, Minor’s character was wed to Betty Jo Bradley, played by Linda Kaye Henning, during the next (1967) season. The two began dating during production and were wed in real life in 1968! Minor was an integral part of the show for its final four seasons.
Minor also appeared on many other series in a television career that stretched well into the 1980s, including “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “My Three Sons,” “CHiPs,” “Vega$” and others. He was also a familiar figure on daytime soap operas such as “Edge of Night,” “As the World Turns,” “Another World” and “All My Children.”
His marriage to Henning was his second and lasted until 1973. He married again in 1981 and is survived by his wife Marilyn, two brothers, two sisters, his son John and three grandchildren. Our condolences to the family and friends of another beloved member of the Uni family.