Buddy Ebsen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen as "Jed Clampett" on The Beverly Hillbillies
Birth name	Christian Rudolf Ebsen Jr.
Born	April 2, 1908 Belleville, Illinois, USA
Died	July 6, 2003

Buddy Ebsen (April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003) was an American actor and dancer, who is best-remembered for his role as Jed Clampett in the popular television series The Beverly Hillbillies.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Professional career 3 Filmography 4 Trivia 5 External links

[edit] Early years

Born Christian Rudolf Ebsen Jr. in Belleville, Illinois; his father, Christian Ebsen, was Danish and his mother, Frances, was Latvian.[1] He was raised in Belleville until age 10, when his family moved to Palm Beach County, Florida. After a brief stay there, Ebsen and his family, in 1920, relocated to Orlando, Florida. Ebsen and his sisters learned to dance at the dance studio his father operated in Orlando. He graduated from Orlando High School in 1926. Initially interested in a medical career, Ebsen attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida from 1926-1927; and then Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida from 1927-1928. Family financial problems, that resulted from the collapse of the Florida land boom, forced him to leave college for good at age 20.

[edit] Professional career

Ebsen left Orlando in the summer of 1928 to try his luck as a dancer. When he arrived in New York, he had $26.75 in his pocket. He and his sister Vilma Ebsen formed an act and performed in supper clubs and in vaudeville — they were known as "The Baby Astaires". On Broadway they appeared as members of the chorus in Whoopee (1928), Flying Colors (1932) and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. A rave from Walter Winchell, who saw them perform in Atlantic City, gave them a boost and led to a booking at the Palace Theatre, the pinnacle of the vaudeville world.

In 1936, the Ebsens were approached by MGM for a screen test, and signed a two year contract with a two-year option, with their salary to be $1,500 a wekk for each of them. They moved to Hollywood, and made their film debut in Broadway Melody of 1936. This was to be Vilma's first and only film – a contract problem prevented her from making any other films, and she shortly retired from show busness – but Buddy appeared in numerous screen musicals including 1936's Born to Dance and Captain January (in which he danced with Shirley Temple), Broadway Melody of 1938 (in which he danced with a young Judy Garland) and The Girl of the Golden West (1938). He partnered with Eleanor Powell and Frances Langford, among others, and also danced solo.

Ebsen was noted for his unusual, almost surreal dancing and singing style (see, for example, his contribution to the "Swingin' the Jinx Away" finale of Born to Dance), which may be a reason that Walt Disney chose Ebsen to be filmed dancing in front of a grid as an aide to animating Mickey Mouse's dancing in Disney's Silly Symphonies.

Despite having turned down Louis B. Mayer's offer of an exclusive contract with MGM, earning Mayer's warning that he would never get a job in Hollywood again, he was cast in the role of "The Scarecrow" in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, but later swapped roles with Ray Bolger, who was to play "The Tin Man". Ebsen recorded all his songs, went through all the rehearsals, and started filming with the rest of the cast, but he was rushed to the hospital nine days after filming began when his lungs seized after a week of inhaling aluminum dust from the "tin" makeup.

While Ebsen was in the hospital for two weeks, recovering from his near-fatal reaction to the dust, he was replaced by Jack Haley. Haley didn't run the same risk, as the makeup was changed in the meantime from a dust to a paste. (Although Haley re-recorded most of Ebsen's vocals, Ebsen's midwestern voice with the enunciated "r" in the word "wizard" can still be heard on the soundtrack during a couple of the reprises of "We're Off to See the Wizard".) As noted in a documentary included with the 2005 DVD release of Wizard of Oz, MGM did not publicize the reasons for Ebsen leaving the film, and even Haley wasn't made aware of why Ebsen left until later. In an interview videotaped before his death (also included on the DVD), Ebsen recalled that the studio heads didn't believe he was sick until someone tried to order Ebsen back to the set and was intercepted by an angry nurse. Footage of Ebsen as "The Tin Man" was included as an extra with the U.S. 50th anniversary video release of the film.

(Ironically, despite the nearly fatal makeup reaction, Ebsen far outlived almost all the cast and crew members of The Wizard of Oz, except for a few Munchkins — although to be fair he was somewhat younger than almost all of his major co-stars, except, of course, for Judy Garland.)

After the Oz debacle, Ebsen return to Broadway, where he starred in Yokel Boy (1939). In films, he appeared only in minor Westerns for many years. From 1941 to 1946, Ebsen served as a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard.

Ebsen lost yet another iconic landmark role: he was originally slated to play Davy Crockett for the Walt Disney television series in the mid-1950s, until Disney saw Fess Parker. Parker played Crockett and Ebsen was demoted to Crockett's fictional sidekick "George Russell" for the series, which became an tremendous sensation.

Ebsen had a notable film role as a country veterinarian "Doc Golightly" who was married to "Holly Golightly" (Audrey Hepburn) in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. This is credited with bringing him to the attention of the producers of the The Beverly Hillbillies, who offered him the role of Jed Clampett, patriarch of a hillybilly family who struck it rich and moved to Beverly Hills. Ebsen had been thinking about retiring, but changed his mind after reading the script.

Ebsen finally became truly famous with The Beverly Hillbillies. Although the 1962 series was scorned by critics, the show was a massive hit, attracting as many as sixty million viewers on CBS between 1962 and 1971. Although Irene Ryan as Granny received the most critical notice, earning two Emmy nominations, and Donna Douglas received the most fan mail and media publicity, Ebsen was the show's most prominent star in the ensemble cast. The series was still earning good ratings when it was canceled by CBS because advertisers began shunning shows that attracted a rural audience.

Because Ebsen, unlike many in Hollywood, was a conservative Republican, some fallout resulted from his refusal to endorse fellow Beverly Hillbillies co-star Nancy Kulp for a Congressional seat in Pennsylvania. Ebsen asserted that she was "too liberal" for his tastes and instead endorsed her opponent; they never spoke again.

Ebsen later starred in a TV detective series, Barnaby Jones, beginning in 1973 and running through 1980. His last work was mainly in television, reprising his Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones roles.

Although generally retired from acting as he entered his 80s, he had an amusing cameo in the film version of The Beverly Hillbillies, again playing "Barnaby Jones", with the TV theme underscoring the scene. This cameo would prove to be his final motion picture appearance, although Ebsen would go on to appear in an episode of the 1994 revival of Burke's Law and, in 1999, make his final acting appearance anywhere, providing a voice for an episode of King of the Hill. Illness and infirmity kept him from a cameo on Son of the Beach.

As Ebsen entered his 90s, he continued to keep active, and there were media reports that he had begun work on his first novel about a year before his death at the age of 95. One of the last known on camera interviews with Buddy Ebsen was conducted by Steven F. Zambo. A small portion of this interview can be seen in the 2005 PBS program The Pioneers of Primetime.

Buddy Ebsen has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

[edit] Filmography

• Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)
• Captain January (1936)
• Born to Dance (1936)
• Banjo on My Knee (1936)
• Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
• The Girl of the Golden West (1938)
• Yellow Jack (1938)
• My Lucky Star (1938)
• Four Girls in White (1939)
• The Kid from Texas (1939)
• Hollywood Hobbies (1939) (short subject)
• They Met in Argentina (1941)
• Parachute Battalion (1941)
• Sing Your Worries Away (1942)
• Under Mexicali Stars (1950)
• Silver City Bonanza (1951)
• Thunder in God's Country (1951)
• Rodeo King and the Senorita (1951)
• Utah Wagon Train (1951)
• Night People (1954)
• Red Garters (1954)
• Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1954)
• Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)
• Attack (1956)
• Between Heaven and Hell (1956)
• Mission of Danger (1959)
• Frontier Rangers (1959)
• Fury River (1961)
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
• The Interns (1962)
• Mail Order Bride (1964)
• The Mike Bialka Story (1966)
• The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)
• Fire on the Mountain (1981)
• The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) (Cameo)

[edit] Trivia

In The Simpsons episode "Last Tap Dance in Springfield," dance instructor "Little" Vicki Valentine gets "ever so pissed" after discovering that Lisa used self-tapping shoes during the dance recital. Lisa explains that she just wanted to dance so badly. Little Vicki sighs and says, "I understand. We all do crazy things when we're desperate. I once destroyed Buddy Ebsen's credit rating." A confused Lisa asks why, and Vicki snaps back, "He knows why!"

[edit] External links

• Buddy Ebsen at the Internet Movie Database
• Buddy Ebsen at All Movie Guide
• Buddy Ebsen at the Notable Names Database
• Buddy Ebsen at the Internet Broadway Database
• The official Buddy Ebsen Virtual Museum
• The official Buddy Ebsen web site
• Fan tribute site