Buddy Ebsen

At 95 years old, Buddy Ebsen has this physical status:

Buddy Ebsen Jr. (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr.) was an American actor and dancer whose career spanned seven decades.

Jed Clampett, a television actor on CBS' The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971), appeared as the lead character in the television detective drama Barnaby Jones (1973–1988).

In Captain January (1936), he appeared as a dancer with child actor Shirley Temple.

Ebsen was the original pick for the role of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, but he became ill due to the aluminum dust in his makeup and was forced to leave.

In Sing Your Worries Away (1942), he appeared alongside Maurice O'Hara in They Met in Argentina (1941) and June Havoc in Sing Your Worries Away (1942).

He portrayed Doc Golightly, Audrey Hepburn's much older husband, in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).

Ebsen had a fruitful television career before his appearance in Walt Disney's Davy Crockett miniseries (1953–54).

Early years

Buddy Ebsen, a middle child with four siblings, was born in Belleville, Illinois, on April 2, 1908. Christian Ludolf Ebsen Sr., his father, was born in Niebüll, Germany, in 1872 and migrated to the United States in 1888. He worked as a choreographer and was a physical fitness advocate, and he later operated a dance studio and a natatorium for the local school district. Frances (née Wendt), his mother, was a Baltic German (specifically, Latvian) painter.

When his family and family migrated to Palm Beach, Florida, Ebsen was raised in Belleville before the age of ten. In 1920, Ebsen and his family immigrated to Orlando, Florida. In Orlando, Ebsen and his siblings learned to dance at a dance studio where his father worked.

Ebsen became a member of the Order of DeMolay, during his high school years. His participation as a youth earned him the Legion of Honor Degree from DeMolay in adult life, as well as induction into the DeMolay Alumni Hall of Fame later this year.

In 1926, Ebsen graduated from Orlando High School. Ebsen attended the University of Florida from 1926 to 1927, then Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, from 1928 to 1928, initially keen on medicine. Ebsen was forced to leave college at the age of 20 due to a family's financial hardship caused by the Florida land boom's demise.

Personal life

Ruth Cambridge was first married by Ebsen. They had two daughters. The union came to an end.

In 1945, Ebsen married Nancy Wolcott, a fellow lieutenant. They had four children, including Kiki Ebsen, and a son. This marriage, after 39 years, resulted in divorce. His children, Kiki, Kathy, and Bonnie, are all outstanding horsewomen.

Dorothy "Dotti" Knott, Ebsen's third wife, married him in 1985. They had no children.

Ebsen had many aspirations throughout his life. He became a folk artist and an avid coin collector, co-founding the Beverly Hills Coin Club in 1988 with actor Chris Aable. Many rare finds, such as a four-dollar gold piece worth $200,000. The coin was sold in several auctions both before and after his death. As Ebsen reached his nineties, he kept busy, and two years before his death, Kelly's Quest was published. Ebsen wrote several other books, including Polynesian Concept (about sailing), The Other Side of Oz (an autobiography) and Sizzling Cold Case (a mystery based on his Barnaby Jones character).

In the 1964 US presidential election, Ebsen endorsed Barry Goldwater.

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Career

Ebsen left Orlando in 1928 to try his luck as a dancer in New York City, having only $26.75 in his pocket and working at a soda fountain shop. Vilma Ebsen and he performed as a dance act in supper clubs and in vaudeville, and were nicknamed "The Baby Astaires" by his sister. The Ebsens appeared in the musicals Whoopee, Flying Colors, and Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 on Broadway. Walter Winchell, a New York columnist who saw them perform in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has secured a ticket to the Palace Theatre in New York City, the pinnacle of the vaudeville world.

Ebsen continued to appear in many films, including the 1936 Broadway Melody of 1936 (with Judy Garland as his dance partner), and the 1938 Golden West Girls, both musicals and nonmusicals. Ebsen performed as an actor, Eleanor Powell and Frances Langford, among other things, and also performed solo.

Ebsen was known for his unusual, surreal dancing and singing style (for example, his contribution to the "Swingin' the Jinx Away" finale of Born to Dance). As an aid to animating Mickey Mouse's dancing in Disney's 1929 to 1939 Silly Symphonies animated short films, his talents may have been a reason why filmmaker Walt Disney selected Ebsen to be film dancing in front of a grid.

Louis B. Mayer's request for a exclusive MGM deal was turned down by Ebsen, and Mayer warned him that he would never work in Hollywood again. In addition, MGM portrayed him as the Scarecrow in its 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Ebsen later changed to act with actor Ray Bolger, who was first introduced as the Tin Man. Bolger wanted to play the Scarecrow, but Ebsen did not object to the change. As the Tin Man, Ebsen had recorded all of his songs and began filming. However, he soon began experiencing bodyaches, muscle cramps, and shortness of breath, resulting in a lengthy hospitalization. Doctors determined he was allergic to the aluminum dust used in the Tin Man makeup, and he was forced to leave the job. In an interview with Ebsen that was included on The Wizard of Oz's 2005 DVD release, the MGM studio heads didn't know he was sick until he was ordered back to the studio and intercepted by an angry nurse.

Jack Haley took over Ebsen's makeup, which was quickly converted to a safer aluminum paste. MGM did not reveal the true reason for Ebsen's departure; even Haley was not told until much later. During several reprises of "We're Off to See the Wizard," Haley re-recorded most of Ebsen's vocals, although Ebsen's Midwestern accent can also be heard on the soundtrack, as opposed to Haley's Boston accent. On the deluxe edition of the film's soundtrack, Ebsen's recording of "If I Only Had a Heart" was included, while a still image recreation of the sequence starring shots of Ebsen as the Tin Man was included as an extra in all VHS and DVD releases of the film since 1989. Ebsen suffered with breathing difficulties as a result of his participation in "that disgusting film" for the remainder of his life. Despite this, he outlived all the main cast members of the film, with only a handful of Munchkin actors and extras outliving him.

After recovering from the illness, Ebsen became embroiled in a labor dispute with MGM that had left him idle for long stretches. He started sailing and became so proficient in seamanship that he taught the subject to naval officer candidates. In 1941, he applied for a Navy commission but was repeatedly refused. He was accepted for a commission by the United States Coast Guard, and he was immediately promoted to lieutenant, junior rank. This wartime rank was one step up from that of ensign, the normal rank given to newly commissioned naval officers in peacetime. Ebsen served as damage control officer and then as executive officer on the Coast Guard-crewed Navy frigate USS Pocatello, which carried weather at its "weather station" 1,500 miles west of Seattle. These patrols spanned 30 days at sea and ten days in port at Seattle. In 1946, Ebsen was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard as a lieutenant.

In 1949, Ebsen made his television debut on an episode of The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre. The H.J. produced television appearances in: Stars Over Hollywood, Gruen Guild Playhouse, four episodes of Broadway Television Theatre, and four episodes of Broadway Television Theatre. Studio 57 of Heinz Company, Two episodes of Climax!, Tales of Wells Fargo, Playhouse 90, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, Johnny Ringo, two episodes of Bonanza, three episodes of Maverick (in which he portrayed various homicidal characters), and 77 Sunset Strip. In the Disneyland television miniseries Davy Crockett (1954–1955), Ebsen appeared on television as Georgie Russel, a role based on a historical person and companion to frontiersman Davy Crockett (1954–1955).

Ebsen appeared in the 26-episode half-hour NBC television adventure series Northwest Passage from 1958–1959. This book was based on a fictionalized account of Major Robert Rogers, a colonial American soldier for the British in the French and Indian War. Sergeant Hunk Marriner played by Ebsen; Keith Larsen played Rogers. Ebsen appeared in episodes of the television show Rawhide and Tales of Wells Fargo from 1960 to 1962. In "El Paso Stage," an episode of "Women," Ebsen portrayed a corrupt, bloodthirsty marshal in April 1961.

Ebsen played Virge Blessing in ABC's Bus Stop, a tale of visitors passing through the bus station and diner in the fictional town of Sunrise, Colorado, from October 1961 to March 1962. Several episodes were directed by Robert Altman. In the earlier film version on which the series was loosely based, Arthur O'Connell had played Virge Blessing. In 1991, Ebsen appeared on The Andy Griffith Show as "Mr. Dave" Browne, a homeless hobo, and as Jimbo Cobb in The Twilight Zone's episode "The Prime Mover." He appeared on Gunsmoke throughout the show's run, including as the episode's title character in Season 17, Episode 11 (Drago). In 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's, one of Ebsen's continuing work in Westerns and rural television shows as Doc Golightly, an older, rural veterinarian deserted by his young wife (played by Audrey Hepburn).

Jed Clampett, a low-key backwoods climber who strikes oil and flies with his family to Beverly Hills, California, is one of CBS' longest-running, fish-out-of-water sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies' long-running, fish-out-of-water comedy Jed Clamsen.

Despite being scorned by critics, the Beverly Hillbillies attracted as many as 60 million viewers between 1962 and 1971, making them one of the most popular television series on television. In addition, similar Paul Henning-produced rural sitcoms such as Green Acres and Petticoat Junction were born, which were then linked in crossover episode arcs. The Beverly Hillbillies had good ratings when CBS had cancelled them (because programmers started shunning shows that attracted a rural audience). One episode, "The Giant Jack Rabbit," was the most watched half-hour on television to that date, and it remains the most watched half-hour sitcom episode.

On The Beverly Hillbillies set, not all was harmonious, especially between the politically conservative Ebsen and the more liberal Nancy Kulp. "They had a different opinion," Douglas said, and there were some tense discussions about it. They'll be back for weeks. Kulp unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1984 as a Democrat from Pennsylvania. To her dismay, Ebsen praised her Republican adversary, incumbent Representative Bud Shuster, going so far as to tape an ad for Shuster that labeled the Kulp as "too liberal." Ebsen argued that she was profiting from her celebrity and was unaware of the details.

In 1973, Ebsen appeared in Barnaby Jones' title role in his second long-running television series. Barnaby Jones was a milk-drinking detective who came out of retirement to look at his son's death. Critics and CBS executives mocked the show's age, but it was broadcast for 8 seasons and 178 episodes. Betty Jones, Barnaby's widowed daughter-in-law, was played by Lee Meriwether, 1955 Miss America. Ebsen appeared on two other films: a 1975 episode of Cannon and the 1993 film The Beverly Hillbillies.

"He certainly excelled at being at the top of his game," Meriwether said of her on and off screen chemistry with Ebsen. "You had to keep up with him." I adored him. He seems he had feelings for me too. "I adored the guy," she added of the guy. I was so lucky. He was a dream." "He loved the prospect of being a detective." We had CSI-type equipment in the lab, and he liked doing our own experiments. It was a program that the entire family could enjoy."

Matt Houston, starring Lee Horsley, was the last regular television series on ABC for Ebsen's last regular television series. During the show's third season, Ebsen played Matt's uncle, Roy Houston, from 1984 to 1985. He appeared in "The Waiting Room," a Night Gallery segment that first aired in 1972.

On the Disney Channel and Steven Kellogg's "Paul Bunyan" on PBS' Reading Rainbow in 1985, Ebsen narrated the documentary film Disney Family Album during the 1980s. On an episode of Burke's Law's short-lived television series revival, he made his last guest-starring appearance in 1994.

Although generally retired from acting in his 80s, Ebsen appeared in the 1993 film version of The Beverly Hillbillies as Barnaby Jones. This was Ebsen's last motion picture job. In 1999, Ebsen appeared as Chet Elderson on an episode of Fox Entertainment's King of the Hill. This was his last television appearance.

Ebsen has appeared on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1765 Vine Street and as a participant in the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Ebsen was named in 1993 as a recipient of a Disney Legends award.

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