Buddy Ebsen (Christian Rudolph Ebsen) (April 2, 1908 - July 7, 2003) was an American actor best remembered for his role in the popular television series The Beverly Hillbillies.
Born in Belleville, Illinois, he began his career as a
dancer, making his film debut in 1935's Broadway Melody of 1936 and starring in
various screen musicals including 1938's My Lucky Star.
Ebsen was originally cast as the Tin Man in the 1938 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 because the makeup was changed in the meantime from a dust to a paste. After the Wizard of Oz,
Ebsen appeared only in minor Westerns for many years. From 1941 to 1946 he served as a lieutenant in the United States
Coast Guard.
Ebsen's 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 Ozarks getting rich on oil and moving to a rich neighborhood in Beverly Hills. 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 role in the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. He later starred in a TV drama series, Barnaby Jones, beginning in 1973. His
last work was mainly in television, reprising his Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones roles.
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