EBSEN
(EB-suhn)
American
actor Common clue: “The Beverly Hillbillies”
star; Buddy of TV; Buddy of “Barnaby Jones”; Clampett
portrayer; Buddy of Hollywood; Actor Buddy Crossword
puzzle frequency:
3 times a year Video: Dean
Martin, Dom Deluise & Buddy Ebsen
Writing
fiction, there are no limits to what you write as long as it
increases the value of the paper you are writing on ~ Buddy
Ebsen
Buddy
Ebsen (April 2, 1908 – July 7, 2003) was an American actor,
who is best-remembered for his role as Jed Clampett in the
popular television series The
Beverly Hillbillies.
Born
Christian Rudolph Ebsen in Belleville, Illinois, he began his
career as a dancer, making his film debut in 1935's Broadway
Melody of 1936
and appearing in various screen musicals including Born
to Dance,
Captain
January
(both 1936) and The
Girl of the Golden West
(1938).
Ebsen
was originally cast as the Tin Man in the 1939 classic The
Wizard of Oz.
He recorded all his songs, went through all the rehearsals, and
started filming with the rest of the cast. He was rushed to the
hospital nine days after filming began, when his lungs seized
after a week of inhaling aluminum dust from the dangerously
experimental "tin" makeup.
While
Ebsen was in the hospital for two weeks, recovering from a
near-fatal allergic reaction to the dust, he was silently
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. After
the debacle, Ebsen appeared only in minor Westerns for many
years.
From
1941 to 1946, Ebsen served as a lieutenant in the United States
Coast Guard.
His
work in television started as the sidekick to Fess Parker in the
Davy
Crockett
series, but he became famous in 1962 with the role of Jed
Clampett in the television show The
Beverly Hillbillies.
The show depicted a hillbilly family from the fictional
Bugtussle, getting rich on oil and moving to a rich neighborhood
in Beverly Hills, California. Although scorned by critics, the
show was a massive hit, attracting as many as sixty million
viewers on CBS between 1962 and 1971. It was still earning good
ratings when it was canceled by CBS because advertisers shunned a
series that attracted a rural audience.
Ebsen
also had a notable role as a country farmer in the 1961 movie
Breakfast
at Tiffany's,
which is credited for bringing him to the attention of the
producers of Beverly
Hillbillies,
who cast him in a similar role.
He
later starred in a TV detective series, Barnaby
Jones,
beginning in 1973 and running for most of the decade. His last
work was mainly in television, reprising his Beverly
Hillbillies
and Barnaby
Jones
roles. As he entered his 90s, however, Ebsen remained active and
it was reported that he was trying his hand at writing a novel.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Buddy Ebsen".
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