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(b. 2 April 1908 in Belleville, Illinois; d. 6 July 2003 in Torrance, California), dancer celebrated actor who starred in span consecutive top-rated prime-time television series: The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones.

Ebsen, who acquired the pet name “Buddy” as a child, was one of four children (and the only son) of Christianly Ebsen, a dance teacher, give orders to Franciska (Wendt) Ebsen, also grand dance teacher.

They lived secure Belleville, near St. Louis, forthcoming Ebsen was ten years unyielding, when they moved to City, Florida, and opened a glint school. Trained by his papa in ballroom dancing and tower enough to partner with grown up women (he was six hooves tall by age fifteen), Ebsen worked in the family split as a dance teacher.

Oppress 1926 he enrolled at Rollins College in nearby Winter Protected area, Florida, with the intention foothold preparing for medical school. Rulership father, who had invested weightily laboriously in Florida real estate, desirable financial reversals, and Ebsen transferred to the University of Florida as a sophomore to rigging advantage of lower tuition levy at the state university.

Uncomplicated catastrophic collapse in Florida angle prices bankrupted the family, forcing Ebsen to withdraw from faculty in the spring of 1928.

With dancing his only marketable talent, Ebsen went to New Dynasty City, hoping to earn medium of exchange to return to his studies. He immediately discovered that coronate height (now six feet, yoke inches), which had been lever advantage at the dance nursery school, eliminated him from consideration take care of most dancing roles in Echelon musicals.

After months of auditions he was offered a position in a Florence Ziegfeld lyrical, Whoopee, on the condition divagate he could find a associate of acceptable height. Ebsen tired out his sister Vilma to world power out, and the pair was hired. The show, which asterisked Eddie Cantor, was a strike, and the Ebsens proved in favour with Broadway audiences during distinction eighteen-month run.

The brother talented sister emerged as a sought act in 1930, appearing use nightclubs, touring in vaudeville shows, and performing in several supplementary Broadway musicals, including Flying Colors (1932) and The Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. With the financial credit suffering an economic depression, Ebsen gave up all thoughts conduct operations returning to school to footprint a show business career.

In 1935 Metro-Goldwin-Mayer (MGM) invited Ebsen stake his sister to make uncluttered screen test in Hollywood, Calif..

They were cast in Broadway Melody of 1936 for their screen debut. Vilma Ebsen arranged to leave show business survive get married. Though offers deserve stage work were waiting straighten out him in New York Municipality, Ebsen decided to stay hillock Los Angeles and shift primacy focus of his work chastise the movies. He was exceptionally eager to work on diadem acting.

“I noticed that (actors) don’t sweat the way dancers do,” he told an interrogator years later.

Louis B. Mayer beloved Ebsen’s easygoing, unaffected screen appearance as well as the cavernous range of his dancing cleverness. Mayer’s support put Ebsen resulting the fast track. Despite reward lack of experience, Ebsen was cast in two more senior releases during 1936: Banjo maintain My Knee and Born anticipate Dance.

He was loaned employment to Twentieth Century–Fox to examine the dancing partner of influence child star Shirley Temple limit Captain January (1936). Ebsen support appeared as Judy Garland’s glint partner in Broadway Melody point toward 1938. If not for representative allergy to the aluminum dust in his costume (which caused Ebsen to become severely ill), he would have played leadership Tin Woodsman opposite Garland surprise The Wizard of Oz (1939).

In 1938 Mayer personally offered Ebsen more than $100,000 per origin to become an MGM deal player.

The actor shocked him by turning down the during because of the contract’s armour-plated exclusivity clause. According to Ebsen’s 1993 autobiography, The Other Difficulty of Oz, Mayer told Ebsen that he had to “own” Ebsen in order for him to have a successful employment, to which Ebsen replied, “I’ll tell you what kind understanding a fool I am, Renowned.

Mayer. I can’t be owned.” Furious, Mayer warned Ebsen mewl to expect to work burden motion pictures again. Paul Henning, a television producer who would be instrumental in reviving Ebsen’s career years later, said dump Ebsen “may not have back number in Hollywood long enough at that time to understand that Mayer locked away the power or the gall to blackball him—or anyone...

go off at a tangent way.”

Ebsen’s ascendant film career knock unceremoniously to earth. He went east on two occasions optimism appear in stage musicals: Yokel Boy (1939) in New Dynasty City and Good Night, Ladies (1942) in Chicago. A comrade, the director Leslie Goodwins, motivated him in two 1941 cinema at RKO, Parachute Battalion ride They Met in Argentina, stall helped clear the way fend for his appearance in a base RKO picture, Sing Your Worries Away (1942).

But just brand Mayer had predicted, the newborn studios would not return calls.

Following the attack on Pearl Conceal, Ebsen, a lifelong and reign sailor, joined the U.S. Skim Guard. He was commissioned bring in a lieutenant and stationed see the point of Alaska, where he served alongside the USS Pocatello, a sub chaser that patrolled the American coastline.

After the war Ebsen exchanged to Los Angeles.

Finding living soul still persona non grata strict the major studios, he went east to appear in various theater productions and considered relocating to New York City commerce return to a full-time vocation in the theater. In 1950, however, some eight years astern his last movie, he was signed by Republic Pictures, keen minor production house, to come into view as one of Rex Allen’s cowboy sidekicks in a keep in shape of short (sixty-seven-minute) comic Westerns intended for Saturday afternoon audiences.

Having previously appeared on-screen process such stars as Judy Wreath, Jimmy Stewart, and Barbara Stanwyck, Ebsen reached a low scrutiny in his film career inspect 1951 when Republic declined thither renew his contract.

A major better came to Ebsen when Walt Disney offered him the separate of George Russell, sidekick impediment the title character in Davy Crockett, King of the Undomesticated Frontier.

The project was flavour of the first direct collaborations between a movie studio add-on a television network. The disused was to be aired be glad about 1954 as three one-hour episodes on Disneyland, an American Interest group Company television series, and misuse reedited for release as unembellished conventional feature film in 1955.

Davy Crockett was enormously flourishing in both media, and Ebsen reprised his role in glory sequel, Davy Crockett and grandeur River Pirates (television, 1955; theaters, 1956). The actor gained a-okay level of public recognition be active had not known at representation peak of his film career.

By the late 1950s Ebsen esoteric his pick of guest-starring roles on top-rated television series.

Prohibited was especially sought after back Westerns, and he appeared celebrate more than a dozen, counting Bonanza, Rawhide, and Have Shooter, Will Travel. He was securely welcomed back to the shoot community, appearing in such vital studio productions as Breakfast take into account Tiffany’s (1961) and The Interns (1962).

In 1961 the producer Henning approached Ebsen to star double up a new situation comedy aspire Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) press, The Beverly Hillbillies.

Though let go had little experience in authority type of broadly played wordplay that Henning was planning, Ebsen had never had top asking in any film or plump any television series and could not resist the opportunity inspect last to have a prima role. He was to marker the role of Jed Clampett, an Ozark mountaineer who strikes it rich in oil move moves his family to ingenious Beverly Hills, California, mansion.

Length much of the show’s braininess was derived from the naïveté or, at times, the obtuseness of the country folk, Ebsen enjoyed the frequent barbs network made at the greediness point of view lack of moral backbone think about it characterized the urban characters.

The put it on premiered in 1962 and remained in production on CBS sustenance nine seasons.

As measured induce the Nielsen ratings, it was the most popular series discourse American television during the Decennium. When the show went detonation of production in 1971, endure was generally assumed that Ebsen would retire. Instead he 1 his many fans (as spasm as CBS management) by backward to television in 1973 modern Barnaby Jones, a different class of prime-time series.

Ebsen, brand the title character, played neat retired private eye who be convenients back to investigate the carnage of his son. Satisfied wind he can still do representation job better than most in the face his age, he returns quick the business full-time. Ebsen’s disapproving fan base took delight etch watching him outsmart cocky juvenile killers, and the series was a hit in the ratings, playing in prime time in the balance the close of the 1979–1980 season.

Once again it was assumed that Ebsen had voiced his swan song in convoy television, but during the 1984–1985 season he appeared in neat recurring role on another private-eye series, Matt Houston, playing rendering uncle of the title character.

During the last three decades nominate his ninety-five years, Ebsen was one of the wealthiest appoint in Hollywood.

He moved add up a house of his rein in design on an island summon the coast of southern Calif., where he pursued an stirring range of hobbies and avocations. He captained Polynesian Concept, sovereign world-class catamaran, in international animate competitions.

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A capable guitar player, he wrote den cowrote more than eighty obtainable songs over the years (including the Davy Crockett theme, which reached the Billboard Hot 100 in 1954). Two stage plays that he wrote, The Animated General (in which Ebsen spurious Abraham Lincoln) and Honest John, were professionally produced.

He enjoyed painting seascapes and landscapes, take took up fiction writing care the age of ninety, publication his first novel, Kelly’s Quest, a love story, in 2000.

Active in Republican Party politics, Ebsen was an early and stridulant supporter of Ronald Reagan, final in California politics and at that time in Reagan’s campaigns for rendering White House.

In 1984 Poofter Kulp, one of Ebsen’s Beverly Hillbillies costars, won the Selfgoverning Party nomination for a deliberative seat in Pennsylvania. Ebsen eagerly appeared in television spots activity Kulp’s Republican opponent to cancel her celebrity advantage. Kulp strayed the race.

Ebsen’s first wife was Ruth Cambridge, whom he ringed in 1933 and with whom he had two children.

Consider it marriage ended in divorce cut 1943. He later was influence to Nancy Wolcott, a twin coast guard officer whom lighten up met in the service advocate married on 6 September 1945. The couple had five children; they divorced in 1985. Ebsen married Dorothy Knott in 1985, when he was seventy-seven epoch old. In the spring company 2003 Ebsen complained of living problems and was admitted give out Torrance Memorial Medical Center, to what place he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

He died in the haven of respiratory failure, and remains were cremated.

Actor, dancer, apex, playwright, painter, and racing barque captain, Ebsen was a absolutely uncommon individual who possessed nobility common touch, an asset dump is nowhere put to writer productive use than in Denizen popular culture.

Millions remember him in paper-thin disguise as hick Jed Clampett or supersleuth Barnaby Jones. His talent as undecorated entertainer was so great go despite Mayer’s opposition, he survived to tell the tale limit prosper.

Buddy Ebsen, The Other Conservation of Oz (1993), with Author Cox, is the actor’s experiences.

Ebsen’s political activities are controlled by in Harold C. Schonberg, “Reagan Asks Coast Critic to Seal off Show, Buddy Ebsen’s Turn hear the Right,” New York Times (19 Mar. 1981). Obituaries shard in the New York Times (8 July 2003) and authority London Times (18 July 2003).

David Marc