Scott Wilson

Scott Wilson (born William Delano Wilson; March 29, 1942 – October 6, 2018) was an American actor. He had more than 50 film credits, including In the Heat of the Night, In Cold Blood, The Great Gatsby, Dead Man Walking, Pearl Harbor, and Junebug. In 1980, Wilson received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his role in William Peter Blatty's The Ninth Configuration. He played veterinarian Hershel Greene on the AMC television series The Walking Dead (2011–2014; 2018). He also had a recurring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as casino mogul Sam Braun, as well as a lead role on the Netflix series The OA as Abel Johnson. Life and career Wilson was born in the small Southern town of Thomasville, Georgia. He made his screen debut portraying characters suspected of murder in his first three films. In his debut film, Wilson played a murder suspect in In the Heat of the Night (1967). Wilson appeared in Sparta, Illinois where In the Heat of the Night was filmed, on March 15, 2014, to celebrate the city's 175th anniversary in reference to his debut appearance in the film. His follow-up role, in the same year, was in the film version of In Cold Blood, based on the book of the same name by Truman Capote. Wilson portrayed real-life murderer Richard Hickock, while Robert Blake played his partner, Perry Smith.