Buddy Ebsen
Date of birth: 1908-04-02
Place of birth: Belleville, Illinois, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Christian Ludolf Ebsen, Jr.
Biography
Christian Ludolf "Buddy" Ebsen Jr. (April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003) was an American actor and dancer, whose career spanned seven decades, including the role of Jed Clampett in the CBS television sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) and the title character in the television detective drama Barnaby Jones (1973–1980), also on CBS. The SAG-AFTRA records also show him as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series "The Beverly Hillbillies" and as the title character in the 1970s detective series "Barnaby Jones". Ebsen was cast as the original Tin Man in 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz", but fell ill, reacting to the aluminum dust in his makeup, and was forced to drop out of the film. Ebsen made his television debut on an episode of The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre in 1949. This led to television appearances in: Stars Over Hollywood, Gruen Guild Playhouse, four episodes of Broadway Television Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Corky and White Shadow, the H.J. Heinz Company's Studio 57, Screen Directors Playhouse, two episodes of Climax!, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Martha Raye Show, Playhouse 90, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, Johnny Ringo, two episodes of Bonanza, three episodes of Maverick (in which he portrayed assorted homicidal villains), and 77 Sunset Strip. Ebsen received wide television exposure when he played Georgie Russel, a role based on a historical person and companion to frontiersman Davy Crockett, in the Disneyland television miniseries Davy Crockett (1954–1955). In the 1958–1959 season, Ebsen co-starred in the 26-episode half-hour NBC television adventure series Northwest Passage. This series was a fictionalized account of Major Robert Rogers, a colonial American fighter for the British in the French and Indian War. Ebsen played the role of Sergeant Hunk Marriner; Keith Larsen played Rogers. In 1960, Ebsen appeared in episodes of the television series Rawhide, in the episodes "The Pitchwagon" and Tales of Wells Fargo, which he reprised in episodes of both series during 1962 in the roles of different characters. Also in 1960, Ebsen played in season 4 episode 30 of Have Gun, Will Travel called "El Paso Stage", as a corrupt marshal. From 1961 to 1962, Ebsen had a recurring role as Virge Blessing in the ABC drama series Bus Stop, the story of travelers passing through the bus station and diner in the fictitious town of Sunrise, Colorado. Robert Altman directed several episodes. Arthur O'Connell had played Virge Blessing in the earlier film version on which the series was loosely based. Ebsen also appeared as "Mr. Dave" Browne, a homeless hobo, on The Andy Griffith Show opposite Ron Howard, and as Jimbo Cobb in The Twilight Zone episode "The Prime Mover" (season 2, episode 21) in 1961.
Movie Credits
Breakfast at Tiffany's
1961-10-06
Holly Golightly is an eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire.
Attack
1956-09-19
Battle of the Bulge, World War II, 1944. Lieutenant Costa, an infantry company officer who must esta
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
1955-05-25
Legends (and myths) from the life of famed American frontiersman Davy Crockett are depicted in this
The Horror at 37,000 Feet
1973-02-13
A commercial-jet captain (Chuck Connors) has ghosts on board from stones of an English abbey being s
Broadway Melody of 1938
1937-08-20
Steve Raleight wants to produce a show on Broadway. He finds a backer, Herman Whipple and a leading
The Girl of the Golden West
1938-03-18
A bandit disguises himself as an officer in an attempt to woo a saloon singer.
Born to Dance
1936-11-27
On leave, a sailor falls in love with a young lady aspiring to become a Broadway dancer, but their r
Broadway Melody of 1936
1935-09-18
Lovely, gifted Irene Foster hopes that her childhood sweetheart-turned Broadway producer Robert Gord
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
1968-04-19
The eleven members of the Bower family move to Dakota Territory.
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
1956-07-18
Davy Crockett and his sidekick Georgie compete against boastful Mike Fink ("King of the River") in a
Between Heaven and Hell
1956-10-11
Sam Gifford remembers : In prewar years he was an arrogant southern cotton plantation owner, married
Captain January
1936-04-17
A little girl named Star lives with a lighthouse keeper who rescued her when her parents drowned. A
Night People
1954-03-11
A US intelligence officer, stationed in Germany, is caught in a political dilemma when the Russians
Davy Crockett Goes to Congress
1955-01-26
The second of five programs about Davy Crockett involves him being bored with life, so he and Georgi
Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race
1955-11-16
Davy and Georgie end a particularly successful season of trapping and hunting with the hopes of easy
The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies
1993-05-24
Stone Fox
1987-03-30
Little Willy must win a dog sled race in order to save his grandfather's cattle ranch.
Four Girls in White
1939-01-27
Young Women go through Nursing School together, each with their own motivation for being there. They
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1972-09-13
Due to a home-steading law, a fur trapper schemes to keep his land by hiring a hooker, a pickpocket
Sing Your Worries Away
1942-03-06
This package for comedy and the musical numbers has Luke Brown being drugged by the gangster operato
Yellow Jack
1938-05-19
A fairly accurate historical account of Walter Reed's search for the cause of "Yellow Jack" or Yello
Banjo on My Knee
1936-12-11
A young husband leaves his river shantyboat community in Pecan Point, Tennessee and travels to New O
Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter
1954-12-15
Davy Crockett seeks a truce with his Indian foes.
The Kid From Texas
1939-04-14
A loud-mouthed Texas cowpuncher tries his hand at polo finding himself at odds with high society and
Mail Order Bride
1964-03-10
Elderly Will Lane arranges marriage of wild son of dead friend to tame him.
Mission of Danger
1960-01-16
After his Rangers are caught during a raid, a major must infiltrate the French army to save his men.
Silver City Bonanza
1951-03-01
Blind Pete Horne knows the location of the Lost Spanish Silver Lode, but is knifed before he can tel
Frontier Rangers
1959-01-01
A pastiche of three episodes from the 1958 TV series Northwest Passage, stitched together as a featu
Disneyland: U.S.A.
1956-12-20
A tour of the Disneyland theme park.
The Interns
1962-08-08
During their first year of internship at New North Hospital, a group of aspiring doctors undergo bot
The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies
1981-10-06
Jed Clamplett and his backwoods family help solve an energy crisis in their own rustic ways for thei
Parachute Battalion
1941-09-12
Director Leslie Goodwins' 1941 military drama, about various men who become buddies when they join t
Hollywood Hobbies
1939-05-03
In this short film, two starstruck movie fans hire a tour guide and see a plethora of Hollywood star
Working Tra$h
1990-11-26
Ralph and Freddy work as janitors at a brokerage firm and become rich by making investments based on
My Lucky Star
1938-09-09
George Cabot Jr., the son of a department store owner, enrolls Kristina Nielsen, the store's sports
Under Mexicali Stars
1950-11-20
Cowboy T-man, Rex Allen, and his partner, Homer Oglethorpe (Buddy Ebsen), go undercover to track dow
Thunder in God's Country
1951-04-07
Hidden Valley has managed to retain its Old Western atmosphere, free of modern-day corruption, until
Utah Wagon Train
1951-10-14
Rancher Rex Allen receives a summons from his uncle. an old time frontiersman, that he is in trouble
They Met in Argentina
1941-04-25
A Texas oil millionaire, after failing to secure oil lands in Argentina, seeks out a famous racehors
The Bastard
1978-05-22
Phillipe Charboneau is the illegitimate son of an English duke. When he travels from France to Engla
That's Entertainment!
1974-06-21
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year hi
The Wizard of Oz
1939-08-15
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and
Audrey Hepburn: Remembered
1993-08-11
Audrey Hepburn was one of the movies' best-loved stars, blessed with beauty, talent, an elegant soph
Fire on the Mountain
1981-11-23
A young real estate developer returns to his hometown to make a land killing but soon takes up the c
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999-01-01
Trace the history of television and its impact on American culture with clips, newsreels, and exclus
Leave Yesterday Behind
1978-05-14
A happy-go-lucky veterinary student, paralyzed for life in a college polo meet, finds love with a yo
The Tiny Tree
1975-12-14
A little girl is injured in an accident and confined to a wheelchair. When Christmas arrives, the fo
Smash-Up on Interstate 5
1976-02-02
In this made-for-TV disaster movie, the lives of a group of motorists are chronicled retrospectively
The Andersonville Trial
1970-05-17
A dramatization of the 1865 war-crimes trial of Henry Wirz, commandant of the notorious Confederate
Fury River
1961-09-14
Rogers Rangers fight the French & Indians in Canada while searching for a waterway which will lead t
Rodeo King and the Senorita
1951-07-15
Lacey is after the profits of the Foster and Morales rodeo show. He has Morales killed during a stun
Red Garters
1954-02-09
A spirited cast kicks up its heels in a lively musical spoof of cowboy films crammed with spur-jangl
NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney
1978-09-13
Walt Disney Presents, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Disney’s Wonderful World, Walt Disney,
Kraft Salutes Disneyland's 25th Anniversary
1980-03-06
Danny Kaye stars in the Disneyland 25th Anniversary television special with special guest star Micha
That's Entertainment! III
1994-07-01
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929
The President's Plane Is Missing
1973-10-23
When the President's plane mysteriously disappears with him on board, it is left to the seemingly we
Judy Garland: By Myself
2004-02-25
As Hollywood biographies go, Judy Garland's story is one of the saddest success stories you'll ever
Tom Sawyer
1976-11-07
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, two friends in a Mississippi River town, have one adventure after a
The Paradise Connection
1979-09-15
A notorious Chicago lawyer leaves his successful practice and goes to Hawaii to locate his missing s
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987-03-13
Documentary about James Stewart's long career as an actor and positive personal life.
That's Dancing!
1985-01-18
A documentary film about dancing on the screen, from it's orgins after the invention of the movie ca
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic
1990-02-20
Documentary about the making of the 1939 MGM classic film The Wizard of Oz. Includes interviews of c
The Beverly Hillbillies
1993-10-15
Mild-mannered dirt-poor hill-dweller Jed Clampett strikes it rich when oil is discovered on his prop
Davy Crockett at the Alamo
1955-02-23
The third of five programs about Davy Crockett involves him, Georgie and a riverboat gambler they me
Pioneers of Primetime
2005-11-09
An in-depth look at the early days of television and its first stars.
Walt Disney Treasures - Davy Crockett
1954-12-04
Experience the hit television show that became a national sensation and made coonskin caps a staple