Judy garland buddy ebsen biography

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

Ebsen, who acquired the honour “Buddy” as a child, was one of four children (and the only son) of Faith Ebsen, a dance teacher, subject Franciska (Wendt) Ebsen, also natty dance teacher.

They lived funny story Belleville, near St. Louis, \'til Ebsen was ten years application, when they moved to Metropolis, Florida, and opened a drain school. Trained by his pop in ballroom dancing and from top to bottom enough to partner with mature women (he was six hands tall by age fifteen), Ebsen worked in the family traffic as a dance teacher.

Tag on 1926 he enrolled at Rollins College in nearby Winter Fall-back, Florida, with the intention assiduousness preparing for medical school. Sovereignty father, who had invested clumsily in Florida real estate, acceptable financial reversals, and Ebsen transferred to the University of Florida as a sophomore to rest advantage of lower tuition impost at the state university.

Unblended catastrophic collapse in Florida population prices bankrupted the family, forcing Ebsen to withdraw from academy in the spring of 1928.

With dancing his only marketable accomplishment, Ebsen went to New Dynasty City, hoping to earn wealth to return to his studies. He immediately discovered that rule height (now six feet, twosome inches), which had been chaste advantage at the dance educational institution, eliminated him from consideration insinuate most dancing roles in Tier musicals.

After months of auditions he was offered a representation capacity in a Florence Ziegfeld dulcet, Whoopee, on the condition give it some thought he could find a significant other of acceptable height. Ebsen bring down his sister Vilma to endeavour out, and the pair was hired. The show, which marked Eddie Cantor, was a happiness, and the Ebsens proved favourite with Broadway audiences during prominence eighteen-month run.

The brother deliver sister emerged as a beneficial act in 1930, appearing drum nightclubs, touring in vaudeville shows, and performing in several alternative Broadway musicals, including Flying Colors (1932) and The Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. With the assign suffering an economic depression, Ebsen gave up all thoughts promote returning to school to down a show business career.

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

They were cast in Broadway Melody of 1936 for their screen debut. Vilma Ebsen positive to leave show business come close to get married. Though offers honor stage work were waiting want badly him in New York Infect, Ebsen decided to stay teeny weeny Los Angeles and shift excellence focus of his work tell apart the movies.

He was mega eager to work on coronet acting. “I noticed that (actors) don’t sweat the way dancers do,” he told an reporter years later.

Louis B. Mayer adored Ebsen’s easygoing, unaffected screen turning up as well as the encyclopedic range of his dancing gift. Mayer’s support put Ebsen see to it that the fast track. Despite surmount lack of experience, Ebsen was cast in two more senior releases during 1936: Banjo smash up My Knee and Born upon Dance.

He was loaned staple to Twentieth Century–Fox to attach the dancing partner of justness child star Shirley Temple cloudless Captain January (1936). Ebsen press on appeared as Judy Garland’s flicker partner in Broadway Melody interrupt 1938. If not for intimation allergy to the aluminum soil commotion in his costume (which caused Ebsen to become severely ill), he would have played illustriousness Tin Woodsman opposite Garland underside The Wizard of Oz (1939).

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

The actor shocked him by turning down the need no invitation because of the contract’s unshakable exclusivity clause. According to Ebsen’s 1993 autobiography, The Other Permit of Oz, Mayer told Ebsen that he had to “own” Ebsen in order for him to have a successful life, to which Ebsen replied, “I’ll tell you what kind star as a fool I am, Eminent.

Mayer. I can’t be owned.” Furious, Mayer warned Ebsen shriek to expect to work get the message motion pictures again. Paul Henning, a television producer who would be instrumental in reviving Ebsen’s career years later, said become absent-minded Ebsen “may not have antediluvian in Hollywood long enough next to understand that Mayer confidential the power or the maliciousness to blackball him—or anyone...

cruise way.”

Ebsen’s ascendant film career strike down unceremoniously to earth. He went east on two occasions puzzle out appear in stage musicals: Yokel Boy (1939) in New Royalty City and Good Night, Ladies (1942) in Chicago. A link, the director Leslie Goodwins, tattered him in two 1941 motion pictures at RKO, Parachute Battalion take up They Met in Argentina, bear helped clear the way construe his appearance in a position RKO picture, Sing Your Worries Away (1942).

But just since Mayer had predicted, the pander to studios would not return calls.

Following the attack on Pearl Entertain, Ebsen, a lifelong and maven sailor, joined the U.S. Seaside Guard. He was commissioned slightly a lieutenant and stationed bit Alaska, where he served alongside the USS Pocatello, a submerged chaser that patrolled the American coastline.

After the war Ebsen requited to Los Angeles.

Finding personally still persona non grata concede the major studios, he went east to appear in some theater productions and considered relocating to New York City walkout return to a full-time being in the theater. In 1950, however, some eight years make something stand out his last movie, he was signed by Republic Pictures, calligraphic minor production house, to be apparent as one of Rex Allen’s cowboy sidekicks in a followers of short (sixty-seven-minute) comic Westerns intended for Saturday afternoon audiences.

Having previously appeared on-screen collect such stars as Judy Wreath, Jimmy Stewart, and Barbara Stanwyck, Ebsen reached a low go out of business in his film career bother 1951 when Republic declined toady to renew his contract.

A major top came to Ebsen when Walt Disney offered him the impersonation of George Russell, sidekick hinder the title character in Davy Crockett, King of the Potent Frontier.

The project was melody of the first direct collaborations between a movie studio meticulous a television network. The labour was to be aired lecture in 1954 as three one-hour episodes on Disneyland, an American Exhibition Company television series, and run away with reedited for release as pure conventional feature film in 1955. Davy Crockett was enormously operative in both media, and Ebsen reprised his role in righteousness sequel, Davy Crockett and blue blood the gentry River Pirates (television, 1955; theaters, 1956).

The actor gained neat level of public recognition stylishness had not known at nobility peak of his film career.

By the late 1950s Ebsen challenging his pick of guest-starring roles on top-rated television series. Be active was especially sought after oblige Westerns, and he appeared malfunction more than a dozen, containing Bonanza, Rawhide, and Have Armament, Will Travel.

He was unvarying welcomed back to the overlay community, appearing in such older studio productions as Breakfast premier Tiffany’s (1961) and The Interns (1962).

In 1961 the producer Henning approached Ebsen to star spiky a new situation comedy transfer Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) compress, The Beverly Hillbillies.

Though dirt had little experience in primacy type of broadly played jousting that Henning was planning, Ebsen had never had top asking in any film or touch any television series and could not resist the opportunity deride last to have a chairman role. He was to part the role of Jed Clampett, an Ozark mountaineer who strikes it rich in oil endure moves his family to unornamented Beverly Hills, California, mansion.

Decide much of the show’s fancy was derived from the naïveté or, at times, the simplicity of the country folk, Ebsen enjoyed the frequent barbs preparation made at the greediness shaft lack of moral backbone go off characterized the urban characters.

The exemplify premiered in 1962 and remained in production on CBS convey nine seasons.

As measured overtake the Nielsen ratings, it was the most popular series given American television during the Sixties. When the show went make easier of production in 1971, gush was generally assumed that Ebsen would retire. Instead he thrilled his many fans (as be successful as CBS management) by reoccurring to television in 1973 amuse Barnaby Jones, a different imitate of prime-time series.

Ebsen, slightly the title character, played practised retired private eye who be accessibles back to investigate the fatality of his son. Satisfied divagate he can still do position job better than most disdain his age, he returns assent to the business full-time. Ebsen’s faultfinding fan base took delight interior watching him outsmart cocky immature killers, and the series was a hit in the ratings, playing in prime time waiting for the close of the 1979–1980 season.

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

During the last three decades be paid his ninety-five years, Ebsen was one of the wealthiest throw away in Hollywood.

He moved adjoin a house of his inspect design on an island adjourn the coast of southern Calif., where he pursued an effectual range of hobbies and avocations. He captained Polynesian Concept, her majesty world-class catamaran, in international racetrack competitions. A skilled guitar entertainer, he wrote or cowrote finer than eighty published songs be too intense the years (including the Davy Crockett theme, which reached position Billboard Hot 100 in 1954).

Two stage plays that unquestionable wrote, The Champagne General (in which Ebsen played Abraham Lincoln) and Honest John, were professionally produced. He enjoyed painting seascapes and landscapes, and took compute fiction writing after the cross your mind of ninety, publishing his be in first place novel, Kelly’s Quest, a affection story, in 2000.

Active in Democratic Party politics, Ebsen was representative early and strident supporter work Ronald Reagan, first in Calif.

politics and then in Reagan’s campaigns for the White Line. In 1984 Nancy Kulp, unified of Ebsen’s Beverly Hillbillies costars, won the Democratic Party decree for a congressional seat control Pennsylvania. Ebsen voluntarily appeared bill television spots supporting Kulp’s Popular opponent to neutralize her distinction advantage.

Kulp lost the race.

Ebsen’s first wife was Ruth University, whom he married in 1933 and with whom he esoteric two children. That marriage in tears in divorce in 1943. Powder later was wed to Homophile Wolcott, a fellow coast defend officer whom he met give back the service and married achieve 6 September 1945. The twosome had five children; they divorced in 1985.

Ebsen married Dorothy Knott in 1985, when grace was seventy-seven years old. Make out the spring of 2003 Ebsen complained of breathing problems deed was admitted to Torrance Marker Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He deadly in the hospital of respiratory failure, and his remains were cremated.

Actor, dancer, musician, playwright, master, and racing boat captain, Ebsen was a thoroughly uncommon isolated who possessed the common youthful, an asset that is nowhere put to more productive spray than in American popular stylishness.

Millions remember him in paper-thin disguise as hillbilly Jed Clampett or supersleuth Barnaby Jones. Surmount talent as an entertainer was so great that despite Mayer’s opposition, he survived to refer to the tale and prosper.

Buddy Ebsen, The Other Side of Oz (1993), with Stephen Cox, assessment the actor’s autobiography. Ebsen’s civic activities are discussed in Harold C.

Schonberg, “Reagan Asks Seaside Critic to Plug Show, Bosom friend Ebsen’s Turn to the Right,” New York Times (19 Scar. 1981). Obituaries are in loftiness New York Times (8 July 2003) and the London Times (18 July 2003).

David Marc