Buddy Ebsen biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Actor and dancer Buddy Ebsen was born Christian Ludolph Ebsen, Jr., on April 2, 1908, in Belleville, Illinois. Ebsen's career in show business almost didn't happen. His father, a dancer, moved his family, when Ebsen was still young, to Florida. His father opened a dance school in Orlando, but he wanted Ebsen to study medicine. Ebsen initially started down that path, enrolling in a pre-med program at the University of Florida, but in the middle of his studies, Ebsen's family was wiped out financially.

The young student quit school, feeling as though he could "make it" in showbiz. He headed to New York City to take a shot at following in his father's footsteps as a dancer. It wasn't long before the talented Ebsen found work, landing a spot in the chorus of a popular Broadway musical entitled Whoopee, which ran a remarkable 379 times.

Propelled by his new found confidence and a minor bit of name recognition, Ebsen encouraged his sister Vilma to come to New York as well, where the two of them put together a song-and-dance performance that took them across the country. The show provided even more exposure for the young dancer.

Commercial Success

Eventually Buddy and Vilma earned the notice of Hollywood, and the two landed a couple of film roles together. On his own, Ebsen found even more movie work in films like Banjo on my Knee (1936), Cole Porter's Born to Dance (1936) and the Shirley Temple vehicle, Captain January (1936).

But Ebsen's most triumphant audition also proved to be his most heartbreaking. Originally cast as the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz (1939), Ebsen was forced to pull out of the film after he became violently ill from the traces of aluminum in his make-up. Ebsen made a full recovery, as did his career. In the early 1950s, Disney cast him in the Davy Crockett series, which became wildly popular with young viewers.

Two major motion pictures based on the program, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and Davy Crocket and the River Pirates, soon followed. Ebsen also gave a notable performance during this period as the abandoned husband in the Audrey Hepburn classic, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).

'Beverly Hillbillies'

Even bigger television success came the following year, when Ebsen took on the role of Jed Clampett, the head of an Appalachian family that suddenly finds fortune through the discovery of a crude oil well. Suddenly rich, the Clampett family leads a new life in posh Beverly Hills. While critics blasted The Beverly Hillbillies' depiction of rural folks, television audiences adored the program, which ran nearly 10 years, and became the country's the top rated show.