TRIBUTE TO BUDDY EBSEN – JED CLAMPETT

Buddy Ebsen, born Christian Ludokf Ebsen Jr., (1980-2003) was an American actor, comedian, and dancer whose career lasted 70 years. His most famous role was as Jed Clampett in the sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies” from 1962-1971, for which reruns are still watched today.

Buddy's first film debut was Broadway Melody of 1936 where he performed as a dancer. 

But the first time I had seen him perform was in his second film as a dancer (and actor) with the famous child star Shirley Temple in Captain January also produced in 1936. I watched the film on a Black-N-White Admiral TV as a young lad. Next Ebsen performed as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, a 1939 film based upon a 1900s novel by Frank Baum. 

Originally Ebsen was cast as the scarecrow. Someone took his place as the Tin Man because he became ill from the aluminum dust in his makeup. The film has become a classic marking the transition from B&W filming to color. The director and producers of the film decided to film scenes in Kansas in B&W and then when Dorothy and Toto enter the world of Oz, scenes were filmed in color. The process made the film unique and sold well at the box office.

Buddy would appear in films with Maureen O'Hara (1941) and June Havoc in 1942 and in 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's, where he portrayed Doc Golightly, the older husband of Audrey Hepburn character. After that, Buddy Ebsen broke into his successful television career beginning with the Walt Disney Davy Crockett miniseries as George Russell, Crockett's friend and companion.

Buddy's father was born in Niebȕll, Germany in 1872 and immigrated to Germany in 1888 working as a choreographer, once owning a dance studio. His mother was a Latvian-German who was a painter. Born into a talented family in Belleville, Illinois, at the age of ten the Ebsen family moved to Palm Beach, Florida. In 1920, the Ebsens relocated to Orlando, Florida and that is where Buddy and his sisters learned to dance at their father's dance studio. Ebsen graduated Orlando High School in 1926 and was interested in a medical career while attending the University of Florida from 1926-1927 and then Rollins College from 1927 to 1928. Buddy was forced to leave college due to financial difficulty caused by the collapse of the Florida land boom, which in turn the infamous 1929 stock market crash ushered in the Great Depression. So Ebsen left Orlando in 1928 to try making a career as a dancer in New York City with only $26 and obtained a job at a soda fountain shop. Buddy and his sister, Vilma Ebsen, performed as a dance act in supper clubs and vaudeville under the stage name The Baby Astaires. The Ebsen team performed in musicals on Broadway and after New York columnist Walter Winchell saw them perform, he arranged for their booking at the Palace Theatre in New York City.

Buddy Ebsen & sister Vilma Ebsen

In 1935, Ebsen and his sister were offered a screen test by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which ended up with a 2-year contract for $1,500 per week each. That would be equivalent to $28,314 a week today. It would be Vilma's only film because she retired from show business after a contract problem prevented her from appearing in other films. After that, Buddy appeared in several films, both musical and non-musical in the 1930s. Ebsen danced solo or partnered with Eleanor Powell or Frances Langford.

His unusual dancing technique led him working with Walt Disney to be filmed dancing in front of a grid for the Mickey Mouse animation in animated short films produced from 1929-1939.

Buddy was offered an exclusive MGM contract by Louis B. Mayer, but for some reason Ebsen turned him down, which made Mayer furious. But MGM still cast him as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, swapping roles with Ray Bolger, originally cast as Tin Man. Ebsen recorded his songs as Tin Man and began filming, but then he was hospitalized because of a reaction to the aluminum dust makeup. That ended his role as Tin Man. Buddy was replaced by Jack Haley and the the aluminum makeup was changed from dust to paste to prevent inhalation. For the rest of Buddy's life, he complained about breathing problems from “that damned movie”.

Lieutenant Buddy Ebsen

After a contract dispute with MGM, Buddy was jobless for a while, so he took up sailing and became a proficient seaman, so much so, he taught naval officer candidates. He applied for a commission in the Navy in 1941, but was turned down. The United States Coast Guard accepted his application for a commission and he achieved the rank of lieutenant. The usual rank was ensign, but his rank was increased due to it being wartime. Ebsen served as damage control officer and later as executive officer on the Coast Guard-Navy frigate USS Pocatello, which recorded weather as a weather station. The patrols lasted 30 days at sea, followed by shore leave for 10 days at Seattle, Washington. Ebsen was honorably discharged as a lieutenant in 1946. He returned to acting in the same year working on Broadway and making his debut on television, guest starring in TV shows like Studio 57, Tales of Wells Fargo, Playhouse 90, Johnny Ringo, two episodes of Bonanza, three episodes of Maverick and 77 Sunset Strip. From 1954 to 1955, he was a regular character on Davy Crockett miniseries.

Buddy Ebsen - Rawhide episode

Ebsen then co-starred in 26 episodes from 1958-1959 in the television series Northwest Passage. In 1961, Buddy appeared in an episode of Have Gun, Will Travel.

Other acting gigs was a homeless hobo on The Andy Griffith Show, opposite Ron Howard and an episode (The Prime Mover) on The Twilight Zone (Season 2, Episode 21).

Beverly Hillbillies

Buddy's most famous role was as Jed Clampett in the popular TV sitcom series The Beverly Hillbillies. Principal cast members were Irene Ryan, Max Baer Jr., Donna Douglas, Raymond Bailey, and Nancy Kulp.

Kulp was a Democrat Socialist, who in 1984, ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Nancy Kulp was clearly upset that Ebsen supported her Republican opponent and taped an ad for opponent Bud Shuster that labeled the actress Kulp as “too liberal”. This marked the emergence of “identity” politics and the Beverly Hillbillies relationship between Ebsen and Kulp took to heated discussions that Donna Douglas (Elly May Clampett) said: “They would go at it for weeks”.

Barnaby Jones, Detective

Buddy returned to television in 1973 as Barnaby Jones, which ended up his second long-running television series. In 1955, Lee Meriwether (1955 Miss America) played Barnaby's widowed daughter-in-law, Betty Jones. Ebsen appeared briefly as Barnaby Jones in 1975 episode of Cannon and in the 1993 film, The Beverly Hillbillies.

In an interview, Meriwether praised Ebsen as a person on and off screen:

“He really worked at being at top of his game. You had to keep up with him. I adored him. I loved that man! I was so lucky. He was a dream. He loved the idea of being a detective. We had CSI-type equipment in the office on the set and he liked doing his own tests. It was a show the whole family could watch.”

Ebsen appeared in his last television series Matt Houston on ABC, starring Lee Horsley, playing Matt's uncle, Roy Houston during the 3^rd season from 1984-1985. He also appeared in a Night Gallery segment in 1972. Ebsen narrated the documentary series Disney Family Album in the 1980s on Disney Channel.

In the 1980s, Buddy Ebsen retired from acting, but agreed to film a cameo in the 1993 version of The Beverly Hillbillies as Barnaby Jones. It would be his final motion picture role. His last TV appearance was the voice of Chet Elderson in an episode of King of the Hill.

Buddy Ebsen has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1765 Vine Street and a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 1993, Buddy was inducted as a Disney Legend award winner.

During his long career in the entertainment field, Ebsen was married three times. The first was Ruth Cambridge, having two daughters. In 1945 he married fellow lieutenant Nancy Wolcott. They had four daughters, including Kiki Ebsen and a son. The marriage lasted 39 years, but ended in divorce. His daughters Kiki, Kathy and Bonnie are accomplished horsewomen. In 1985, Buddy married his third wife, Dorothy “Dotti” Knott. They had no children. During his life, Buddy was a folk artist and coin collector, co-founded the Beverly Hills Coin Club in 1987 with actor Chris Aable. Ebsen's coin collection included a rare four-dollar gold piece worth $200,000. The coin sold in several auctions before and after his death.

Ebsen's Sailboat - Polynesian Concept

Buddy kept active into his nineties and two years before his death, he published a bestselling novel, Kelly's Quest. He wrote several other books including Polynesian Concept about sailing, The Other Side of Oz (autobiography), and Sizzling Cold Case, a mystery based upon his Barnaby Jones character.

Buddy Ebsen died of respiratory failure on July 6^th, 2003 at the age of 95. He was cremated at Pacific Crest Cemetery.