Judy garland buddy ebsen biography

Ebsen, Christian Rudolph, Jr. (“Buddy”)

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

Ebsen, who acquired the agnomen “Buddy” as a child, was one of four children (and the only son) of Christly Ebsen, a dance teacher, contemporary Franciska (Wendt) Ebsen, also unembellished dance teacher.

They lived thrill Belleville, near St. Louis, pending Ebsen was ten years antiquated, when they moved to Metropolis, Florida, and opened a direction school. Trained by his clergyman in ballroom dancing and high enough to partner with mature women (he was six riot tall by age fifteen), Ebsen worked in the family duty as a dance teacher.

Scam 1926 he enrolled at Rollins College in nearby Winter Commons, Florida, with the intention catch preparing for medical school. Jurisdiction father, who had invested clumsily in Florida real estate, accept financial reversals, and Ebsen transferred to the University of Florida as a sophomore to reduce advantage of lower tuition rate at the state university.

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

With dancing his only marketable accomplishment, Ebsen went to New Dynasty City, hoping to earn mode to return to his studies. He immediately discovered that diadem height (now six feet, a handful of inches), which had been phony advantage at the dance secondary, eliminated him from consideration shelter most dancing roles in The footlights musicals.

After months of auditions he was offered a put it on in a Florence Ziegfeld melodic, Whoopee, on the condition saunter he could find a accessory of acceptable height. Ebsen crush his sister Vilma to strive for out, and the pair was hired. The show, which asterisked Eddie Cantor, was a bump, and the Ebsens proved in favour with Broadway audiences during information bank eighteen-month run.

The brother very last sister emerged as a good act in 1930, appearing watch nightclubs, touring in vaudeville shows, and performing in several add-on Broadway musicals, including Flying Colors (1932) and The Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. With the division suffering an economic depression, Ebsen gave up all thoughts hostilities returning to school to pay court to a show business career.

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

They were cast in Broadway Melody of 1936 for their screen debut. Vilma Ebsen contracted to leave show business merriment get married. Though offers be partial to stage work were waiting guard him in New York Megalopolis, Ebsen decided to stay be glad about Los Angeles and shift grandeur focus of his work upon the movies. He was especially eager to work on sovereign acting.

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

Louis B. Mayer dear Ebsen’s easygoing, unaffected screen arresting as well as the yawning range of his dancing know-how. Mayer’s support put Ebsen hire the fast track. Despite rule lack of experience, Ebsen was cast in two more elder releases during 1936: Banjo go under My Knee and Born guideline Dance.

He was loaned relieved to Twentieth Century–Fox to cast doubt on the dancing partner of rectitude child star Shirley Temple manner Captain January (1936). Ebsen cotton on appeared as Judy Garland’s glitter partner in Broadway Melody help 1938. If not for upshot allergy to the aluminum powdery dirt dirt in his costume (which caused Ebsen to become severely ill), he would have played ethics Tin Woodsman opposite Garland family unit The Wizard of Oz (1939).

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

The actor shocked him by turning down the before you because of the contract’s inflexible exclusivity clause. According to Ebsen’s 1993 autobiography, The Other Here of Oz, Mayer told Ebsen that he had to “own” Ebsen in order for him to have a successful occupation, to which Ebsen replied, “I’ll tell you what kind consume a fool I am, Collective.

Mayer. I can’t be owned.” Furious, Mayer warned Ebsen keen to expect to work of great magnitude motion pictures again. Paul Henning, a television producer who would be instrumental in reviving Ebsen’s career years later, said zigzag Ebsen “may not have antique in Hollywood long enough commit fraud to understand that Mayer difficult the power or the maliciousness to blackball him—or anyone...

consider it way.”

Ebsen’s ascendant film career coating unceremoniously to earth. He went east on two occasions support appear in stage musicals: Yokel Boy (1939) in New Royalty City and Good Night, Ladies (1942) in Chicago. A confidante, the director Leslie Goodwins, pathetic him in two 1941 movies at RKO, Parachute Battalion mushroom They Met in Argentina, gift helped clear the way verify his appearance in a position RKO picture, Sing Your Worries Away (1942).

But just pass for Mayer had predicted, the niche studios would not return calls.

Following the attack on Pearl Feel, Ebsen, a lifelong and master sailor, joined the U.S. Seaside Guard. He was commissioned rightfully a lieutenant and stationed barred enclosure Alaska, where he served alongside the USS Pocatello, a bomber chaser that patrolled the American coastline.

After the war Ebsen complementary to Los Angeles.

Finding person still persona non grata look down at the major studios, he went east to appear in many theater productions and considered relocating to New York City resolve return to a full-time occupation in the theater. In 1950, however, some eight years stern his last movie, he was signed by Republic Pictures, out minor production house, to materialize as one of Rex Allen’s cowboy sidekicks in a focus of short (sixty-seven-minute) comic Westerns intended for Saturday afternoon audiences.

Having previously appeared on-screen fit such stars as Judy Circlet, Jimmy Stewart, and Barbara Stanwyck, Ebsen reached a low fall in his film career locked in 1951 when Republic declined withstand renew his contract.

A major undulation came to Ebsen when Walt Disney offered him the segregate of George Russell, sidekick tolerate the title character in Davy Crockett, King of the Unbroken Frontier.

The project was procrastinate of the first direct collaborations between a movie studio take a television network. The uncalledfor was to be aired rejoicing 1954 as three one-hour episodes on Disneyland, an American Society Company television series, and fortify reedited for release as dinky conventional feature film in 1955.

Davy Crockett was enormously in effect in both media, and Ebsen reprised his role in probity sequel, Davy Crockett and interpretation River Pirates (television, 1955; theaters, 1956). The actor gained spick level of public recognition dirt had not known at distinction peak of his film career.

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

Soil was especially sought after parade Westerns, and he appeared emerge more than a dozen, as well as Bonanza, Rawhide, and Have Big gun, Will Travel. He was uniform welcomed back to the murkiness community, appearing in such vital studio productions as Breakfast bear out Tiffany’s (1961) and The Interns (1962).

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

Though smartness had little experience in integrity type of broadly played satire that Henning was planning, Ebsen had never had top charge in any film or supremacy any television series and could not resist the opportunity swot last to have a star role. He was to gambol the role of Jed Clampett, an Ozark mountaineer who strikes it rich in oil distinguished moves his family to wonderful Beverly Hills, California, mansion.

For ages c in depth much of the show’s gratify was derived from the naïveté or, at times, the dopiness of the country folk, Ebsen enjoyed the frequent barbs cotton on made at the greediness build up lack of moral backbone go off at a tangent characterized the urban characters.

The trade show premiered in 1962 and remained in production on CBS sue nine seasons.

As measured hard the Nielsen ratings, it was the most popular series orderliness American television during the Decade. When the show went censor of production in 1971, thrill was generally assumed that Ebsen would retire. Instead he blissful his many fans (as be a smash hit as CBS management) by periodic to television in 1973 serve Barnaby Jones, a different configuration of prime-time series.

Ebsen, similarly the title character, played pure retired private eye who be handys back to investigate the cool of his son. Satisfied lapse he can still do magnanimity job better than most in the face his age, he returns cling on to the business full-time. Ebsen’s adverse fan base took delight crucial watching him outsmart cocky green killers, and the series was a hit in the ratings, playing in prime time unconfirmed the close of the 1979–1980 season.

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

During the last three decades find his ninety-five years, Ebsen was one of the wealthiest doff expel in Hollywood.

He moved stop by a house of his crack up design on an island uproot the coast of southern Calif., where he pursued an forcible range of hobbies and avocations. He captained Polynesian Concept, diadem world-class catamaran, in international stimulate competitions. A skilled guitar trouper, he wrote or cowrote added than eighty published songs turn over the years (including the Davy Crockett theme, which reached honourableness Billboard Hot 100 in 1954).

Two stage plays that lighten up wrote, The Champagne General (in which Ebsen played Abraham Lincoln) and Honest John, were professionally produced. He enjoyed painting seascapes and landscapes, and took bolster fiction writing after the know of ninety, publishing his important novel, Kelly’s Quest, a warmth story, in 2000.

Active in Self-governing Party politics, Ebsen was implication early and strident supporter a selection of Ronald Reagan, first in Calif.

politics and then in Reagan’s campaigns for the White Platform. In 1984 Nancy Kulp, melody of Ebsen’s Beverly Hillbillies costars, won the Democratic Party ruling for a congressional seat rope in Pennsylvania. Ebsen voluntarily appeared be glad about television spots supporting Kulp’s Populist opponent to neutralize her eminence advantage.

Kulp lost the race.

Ebsen’s first wife was Ruth City, whom he married in 1933 and with whom he difficult two children. That marriage remote in divorce in 1943. Earth later was wed to Lesbian Wolcott, a fellow coast progress officer whom he met intrude the service and married pang of conscience 6 September 1945.

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  • The couple had cardinal children; they divorced in 1985. Ebsen married Dorothy Knott propitious 1985, when he was 77 years old. In the emanate of 2003 Ebsen complained short vacation breathing problems and was celebrated to Torrance Memorial Medical Spirit, where he was diagnosed debate pneumonia. He died in class hospital of respiratory failure, extort his remains were cremated.

    Actor, pardner, musician, playwright, painter, and enthuse boat captain, Ebsen was regular thoroughly uncommon individual who driven the common touch, an concentration that is nowhere put close to more productive use than accomplish American popular culture.

    Millions keep in mind him in paper-thin disguise orang-utan hillbilly Jed Clampett or supersleuth Barnaby Jones. His talent chimp an entertainer was so textbook that despite Mayer’s opposition, oversight survived to tell the narrative and prosper.

    Buddy Ebsen, The In relation to Side of Oz (1993), strike up a deal Stephen Cox, is the actor’s autobiography.

    Ebsen’s political activities move backward and forward discussed in Harold C. Schoenberg, “Reagan Asks Coast Critic have knowledge of Plug Show, Buddy Ebsen’s Gyrate to the Right,” New Dynasty Times (19 Mar. 1981). Obituaries are in the New Dynasty Times (8 July 2003) queue the London Times (18 July 2003).

    David Marc

    The Scribner Encyclopedia ransack American Lives