Clamp Down on These 7 Facts About ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ Star Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen’s starring roles on The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones are just two chapters in the actor’s long and storied life, which began on April 2, 1908, and lasted nearly a century until his 2003 death. The actor, who played bumpkin-turned-millionaire Jed Clampett on Hillbillies before turning private eye for Barnaby, was also an accomplished dancer, coin collector and sailor. And he even had a brush with politics — much to the consternation of costar Nancy Kulp.
Read about it all below in these fun facts about Ebesen’s life.
1 Buddy Ebsen and his sister were known as the Baby Astaires
After moving to New York City in 1928 and landing a role as a chorus boy in the Broadway production Whoopee, Ebsen got sister Vilma to join him in a dance duo called the Baby Astaires, according to his Rollins College bio. The siblings performed together in Broadway’s Flying Color sand the film Broadway Melody of 1936.
2 He once performed for Al Capone
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Ebsen had a booking to perform for gangster Al Capone in Chicago in 1931, as he recalled in his 1993 memoir, per MeTV. He got a 4-inch-thick Chateaubriand steak dinner out of the engagement, but his meet-and-greet with Capone left him rattled.
“One at a time, we were presented to our host, who smiled and shook hands without rising,” he wrote. “Mr. Capone’s hands were soft, like from not doing much gardening. The pupils of his eyes were so large, and their color merged so perfectly into irises, that you found yourself looking into two pools of murky darkness. When he smiled I’m sure he intended it to be warm, but the effect was chilling. I felt like I was shaking hands with a smiling, scar-faced wolf!”
3 He modeled Mickey Mouse’s dance moves
Disney animators had Ebsen dance to model Mickey Mouse’s moves in the Silly Symphony cartoons, according to the actor’s BBC obituary. And in 1951, Walt Disney personally recruited Ebsen to demonstrate a dance routine for the project that evolved into the Audio-Animatronics seen at Disney theme parks. In 1993, the company named Ebsen a Disney Legend.
4 He was the original Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz
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It was Ebsen, not Jack Haley, who was originally cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. But after inhaling the aluminum powder from his makeup, Ebsen suffered breathing difficulties and violent cramping in his hands, arms and legs, and had to spend two weeks in an oxygen tent.
The Tin Man role went to Haley, but Ebsen told the Sun Sentinel his work is still in the film. “Later on, the studio admitted that it’s my voice you hear in the song ‘We’re Off to See the Wizard’ as we dance up the Yellow Brick Road,” he said.
5 He campaigned against costar Nancy Kulp
TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
In 1984, Ebsen’s former Beverly Hillbillies costar Nancy Kulp ran for Congress as an underdog Democratic opponent to a popular incumbent in a Republican-leaning Pennsylvania district. Hollywood star Ed Asner supported Kulp’s candidacy, but Ebsen did not. In fact, Ebsen went so far as to record an ad for Kulp’s opponent, calling his former colleague “too liberal,” per The Advocate. Kulp ended up losing the election.
6 He cofounded the Beverly Hills Coin Club
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Ebsen was a serious numismatist and cofounded the Beverly Hills Coin Club, according to a NGC blog post. One collector attended an 1987 auction of Ebsen’s coin collection and witnessed “how after each coin brought a higher price than expected, or just for sheer joy, Mr. Ebsen would get up and break out a few dance moves to raucous applause and appreciation of those present,” the post added.
7 He once smoked Gunsmoke’s James Arness in a yacht race
Everett Collection
In 1968, Ebsen vied against Gunsmoke star James Arness and other sailors in the Multihull TransPacific Race, a yacht race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, as MeTV reports. Ebsen’s Polynesian Concept was the smallest yacht in the race, measuring 35 feet; Arness’s Seasmoke was the biggest at 58 feet. Arness crossed the finish line first, but Ebsen ended up winning through a time correction.
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September 2021
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