System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Buddy Ebsen, Actor
April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003
At the age of 95 years, Buddy Ebsen the Hollywood actor who achieved fame and fortune in the television series "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Barnaby Jones, " died Sunday Morning of an undisclosed illness.
He was born "Christian Ebsen, Jr." in 1908 in Belleville, Illinois. His father owned a dancing studio, but Ebsen decided that he would rather pursue the field of medicine and went to the University of Florida and Rollins College to study pre-med. However, he soon changed his mind about dancing, went to New York, and won a Broadway role as a dancer in a 1928 Ziegfeld production.
Ebsen was the original Tin Man in the "Wizard of Oz, " but he fell ill due to the poisonous silver makeup used which infected his eyes and his lungs. As a result, he was unable to complete production and the role was recast. The anniversary reissue of the "Wizard of Oz" video contains a dance number with Ebsen as the Tin Man.
His notable television career started off with playing Fess Parker's side-kick, George Russel in the series "Davey Crockett" and then really took off when he became "Jed Clampett, millionaire." Less than two years following the demise of the Hillbillies, Ebsen landed the role of detective Barnaby Jones, which he played for the next seven years. Outside of acting, Buddy Ebsen was an avid student of United States history and even wrote a play about the President called "The Champagne General."
In 1998, he embarked on a brand new career as a folk artist. It all began when he "doodled" a picture and was encouraged by his wife Dorothy, an accomplished artist in her own right, to try his hand at more drawing. He began working with oils and soon discovered that there was a viable market for his artwork and started selling landscapes, seascapes, and even self portraits. His venture into folk art was further prompted by Dorothy and Violet Parkhurst, also a world renowned artist. Together, they convinced Buddy that he should "lighten up" and his folk art is the result. Buddy liked folk art more because he said that "It is therapeutic. It makes people smile."
He was first married to Ruth Cambridge, Walter Winchell's "Girl Friday, " and they had two daughters. That marriage ended in divorce. He later met and married his second wife, Nancy, while both were in the Coast Guard. They had four daughters and a son.
