He was not only gay, but pal'd around with Harry Hay, who was a pedophile. Will Geer was a communist.
Will Geer seems weird because he was weird.

He was very good as the "mountain man" in Jeremiah Johnson. As well as being the beloved Grandpa Walton.

Will Geer was a very charismatic actor. Check him out as the deputy sheriff in the fine old western Lust for Gold (a film about the Lost Dutchman mine). Tts available on dvd.

Grandpa Waltonrumored to be gay himself even though he was married and fathered children. Don't know if that rumor was true but imagining Grandpa Walton.well you get the picture. I loved his acting though.

He was a real creepy old dude for sure. His pleasant mannerism was a mere smoke screen for his sinister motives.
The thing that bothered me about the main character was he never asked where the corpse was coming from that would be used to make it look like he was dead. It did not seem to concern him at all. So I don't think he is a sympathetic character.

The old man sure was a real person. He was the one who had the initial idea of the 'seconds' or 'reborns' and it was he who started up the secret company providing the 'service'.
Yes I noticed that the surgeon who operated on Arthur Hamilton was Oscar Goldman, bionic Steve Austin's boss in 'The Six Million Dollar Man' but he had much less hair back in 1966.

I may be wrong, but I felt the Old man may not have been a real person. He may have been imagined by Wilson. His appearance always seemed odd and he would creep up out of no where.
Also did anyone else notice that the main plastic surgeon was the guy from the bionic Man with lee majors.

And the first scene he is seen he is in the same room as Mr. Hamilton (John Randolph) and Mr. Ruby (Jeff Corey) - all three were previously blacklisted by the HUAC. Interesting tidbit.

The character named "Old Man" on IMDB was played by Will Geer.