Cool News
Buddy Ebsen passes away...
This is getting scary, I can’t think of another period of constant celebrity death like this in the history of running AICN. The Reaper just seems to be collecting constantly these days. This time he’s taking another American Icon… BUDDY EBSEN.
For the first
part of his career, Buddy Ebsen had… what could only be imagined as being the most frustrating career ever. Sure he got to do “The Cod Fish Ball” with the supernaturally cute Shirley Temple in CAPTAIN JANUARY, but as wonderful as the scene is, it just didn’t live like her scene with Bojangles or her “Goodship Lollypop” number. The number did open some doors for him and 3 years later he landed the part of The Scarecrow in WIZARD OF OZ… ahhhhhh, immortality was in his grasp. His fantastic hoofing ability was set to shine! However, he decided to trade parts with Ray Bolger and play The Tin Man instead. Still a great part but a near fatal reaction to the Aluminum Powder base make-up required that the part be recast with Jack Haley and... well the rest is history
For the next 20 years, Buddy worked in small character parts, good work, but the sort in films that were often overlooked. In the early fifties he was the happy sidekick character for B-Western Movie star Rex Allen… While Rex Allen was nearly always playing… Rex Allen, Buddy was given character names like “Muscles” Benton, Happy Hooper, Gabe Horne, Snooper Trent, Homer Oglethorpe, but unfortunately more people knew the name of Rex Allen’s horse because… well he rode Koko The Wonder Horse, and Koko kicked ass and neighed names! However, Buddy again was doing good, but fairly thankless work.
Then… Walt Disney was set to give him his BIG BREAK. You see, Walt Disney was working up a series TV episodes called DAVY CROCKETT, KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER for his DISNEYLAND show and Walt wanted Buddy Ebsen to play… DAVY CROCKETT! Just about everything was set, when fate again intervened and while Walt Disney was being a good geek and watching THEM! He caught glimpse of a man born to play Davy… FESS PARKER! Feeling awful about giving away Buddy’s part, Buddy was given the part of “the faithful sidekick” George Russel. It seemed that Buddy was doomed to obscurity when the fickle finger of the Pop Culture Gods pointed at DAVY CROCKETT and declared it to be the biggest thing… like ever. And while he wasn’t the lead… the exposure was so great, so big that it instantly raised him out of obscurity and into the realm of “the known”.
Personally, I will forever think of Buddy Ebsen as George Russel. Last year when I introduced the film print of DAVY CROCKETT, KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER to my Saturday Morning Kids Club at the Alamo Drafthouse… looking out at that audience of Grandparents and their daughters and sons and their daughters and sons and sometimes their daughters and sons… I’ll never forget this little girl that came dressed in full Davy Crockett gear and during the trivia contest part of the screening, she sang the entire Ballad of Davy Crockett from memory at the age of 5 years old… and about 30 kids could all sing the first verse… Nearly 50 years later. And watching Buddy’s George… it’s iconic. Right there with Davy, pushing him forward… the feeling of desperation at the Alamo… When Buddy volunteers to ride to Goliad and Davy is glad he got away, only to be furious with him when he returns… and that look between the two of them… That look of two best friends, both wanting the other to live, neither willing to live in a world without each other… JUST THE BEST! As great as onscreen charisma between friends has ever gotten. Just Perfect!
As great as that work is though… it was destined to be overshadowed in Pop-culture’s eyes.
After DAVY CROCKETT mania – Ebsen had the break he needed. His acting and nuanced performance of George Russel took him to a better level of film work. He landed a wonderful supporting role in one of the absolute best World War II movies that too few know called ATTACK by Robert Aldrich. Putting him right in a hotbed of great acting by Lee Marvin, Richard Jaeckel, Eddie Albert and the astonishingly great Jack Palance.
Then he was cast as a pre-Clampett in the film that is definitely the most timeless work he belongs in… BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S as Audrey Hepburn’s husband. Of course… all the best lines went to Audrey and George Peppard, but again… he did wonderful work and was a part of something truly unforgettable. Ultimately it directly led to the part of a lifetime.
With these two parts… it seemed certain that Buddy was headed towards work as a great character actor in major motion pictures… when that fickle finger of fate pointed at him again. This time… there would be no aluminum powder… no last minute casting changes… no, “He’s too tall” problems of any kind. This was when he was cast as Jed Clampett in THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES. After that, a film career was pretty much impossible because he had found one of those roles so big, so perfect for him that 9 years on the show and for the rest of eternity Buddy Ebsen would be known as J.D., Jed or just THE Beverly Hillbilly. He got the role because of his character in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S and indeed it was a role so suited that it is his legacy.
Ebsen helped tailor the Jed Clampett role to be something more than just “a joke” – he wanted Jed to be the smartest character on the show, wanted his “horse sense” to outpace all the cityfolk’s book learning… and possibly paved the way of public acceptance to our current Pennsylvania Avenue Hillbilly show that’s playing on stations around the globe. The character of Jed Clampett gave a Jed-I-like sense of cool to southern patriarch types. He commanded a certain level of respect and no matter who was trying to fox him out of his money, he was always several steps ahead of the game.
Later, he became BARNABY JONES, but it was never as iconic as his work in THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.
Buddy Ebsen was definitely one of a kind.
-
+ Expand All
-
Who's next? Which Hollywood Buddy will be next to feel the Reaper's chill kiss? Who I say?
-
Weeeeeeeeeeeeellllll doggieeeeee!
-
Being from Chicago, I gotta think Buddy Guy is watching his step.
Or this could be the end of an extended Trilogy of Death if you go back to last year when Clinton's Buddy the Dog was hit by a car (yeah, and Vince Foster committed suicide!) -
Nice work, Knowles. Nice work.
-
Buddy started off in show business dancing on Broadway and in a double act with his sister Vilma. They both appeared together in the wonderful BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936, his first film role. Having grown up on reruns of the Hillbillies its been quite a delight discovering Buddy's early work as a hoofer. Rest in peace, sir.
-
Well, ain't it!?
-
Jul 07, 2003 3:28:21 PM CDT
My God! Some demented serial killer is after the Buddys!
by rufus_t_firefly
That little plastic bluejeans shill had better watch his back!
-
....Holy Shit, I thought he died years ago.
-
Thanks for the memories of Buddy. But keep your asinine political opinions to yourself. He deserves better
-
Or am I confusing him with Jethro ? Regardless ... I know I heard one of them being interviewed ad nauseum about their extensive love of hard core porn. Anyway, every interview I ever heard with Buddy he was the gentlest, most humble and most honest guy imaginable - a total class act. None of this "I've been in the business for over 70 years" ego trip BS you hear from so many Hollywood old timers. We'll miss you, Uncle Jed - and here's hoping there's plenty of porn in heaven.
-
I never missed an episode when I was a kid. Adios amigo and hope you get to that big mansion in the sky.
-
Can you leave the sniping out of a freakin' OBIT once in awhile? Oh, and Itchy, you're thinking of the guy from Hogan's Heroes.
-
Jul 07, 2003 4:26:44 PM CDT
Current Whitehouse Hillbilly??? certainly you mean Pa Kettle fro
by apostlex
You feel OK calling Bush a Hillbilly? Well what the hell was BUBBA from the Ozarks?
Harry your such a jack-off! -
Jul 07, 2003 4:39:12 PM CDT
Actually, truth be told, it's George from "Dead Like Me" who's b
by spyguy
And the worst part? I hear she just got a Post-It with Phil "Uncle Owen from STAR WARS" Brown's name on it...
-
Peck, Cronyn, Uris, Hepburn, Hackett, Ebsen... This is getting very very sad. What's going on? How is it we're losing so many greats in such a short time? Dammit, there just aren't words for how this sucks.
-
You two could've been twins weight wise, for Christ's sake.
-
Personally, I don't like obits - they're depressing and morbid and never seem to capture the essence of the person that they're a tribute to. This time, you guys hit it right on the nail - with a career overview written in a lively and affectionate style that fits perfectly. Whoever wrote this, and I think it's Harry - congratualtions on a job well done. As to Buddy Ebsen, sure I remember Barnaby Jones, but my favorite memories of him are watching him on an old b&w set at my parents home when I was a small child in The Beverly Hillbillies. A dim distant memory back in the days when the Addams Family, My Mother the Car and My Favorite Martian were first being shown on ITV.
-
Jul 07, 2003 6:02:40 PM CDT
I really liked that Twilight Zone episode where he had telekinet
by porky
That was some great acting and some great storytelling for a half-hour show...
-
Cyber, Air Bud DID die. The Air Bud "act" of the pooch bouncing a basketball off his snout into a hoop had actually been going on for a while. Somewhere along the way, it ultimately attracted Disney's attention and they thought a dog doing such a cute thing could make the centerpiece for a film, and obviously they guessed right since the film was actually a hit, and the subsequent video films have become a steady financial cash cow for them. However the Air Bud who started it all, who starred in that first movie, passed away of cancer not long after it had been released. The current sequels actually star trained Air Bud II and IIIs, so to speak. ****** Itchy, regarding porn, I believe what you're thinking of is Max Baer's (Jetho) SON. I seem to recall reading a news article that his KID is currently trying to etch out a career as a porn actor/producer. ****** Harry, why the hell do you have to say the current residents of the White House are "hillbillys" when truth be told, despite their Texas roots, the Bushes have been FAR less "hillbilly" or traditionally southern-like then the Clintons were, or even the Carters. I agree with other posters -- fine, you don't like the Bushes. WE GOT THE POINT A LONG TIME AGO, especially back when you had that bleeding heart, whining liberal rant that ran 4 billion words long about the impending start of the Iraq war which I recall being truly groan inducing and the cure for insomnia. However, This piece should be about Buddy and AS AN OBITUARY, it should be kept classy, and NOT be a spot for you to work in some lame ass cheap shot yet again. ****** As for Buddy, everything I'd ever seen about him seemed to indicate he really was as gentle, humble and nice in real life as the characters he played onscreen. I'll always remember him singing and dancing away in Disney's THE ONE AND ONLY, GENUINE, ORGINAL FAMILY BAND which I saw as a kid and which will always be a unique film oddity as the only family musical about Republicans versus Democrats. Rest in peace, Buddy. You gave the world a great amount of entertainment and smiles, and you will be surely missed.
-
This sucks.
-
Jul 07, 2003 6:16:53 PM CDT
Ya'll Come back Now, Ya Hear? Err....as long as you don't say a
by brashhulk
So long, Buddy - 'twas a good long life and now yer swimmin' in that big ol' see-ment pond in the sky. Be sure ta say "howdy" to all yer other neighbors up there and they'll treat ya just like kinfolk. ** And oh yeah, all you people who are against Harry's right to make jokes about the Presidency on his own website, why don't you all go join a Hate group and gripe to the others of your ilk and the rest of us folks who can handle a joke alone. Geez, talk about hostility! It's kinda sad, y'know?
-
He's pretty f*** far from ok, and you done lost your Bevery Hills privileges, so speed away on the motor bike, Elly May's arms holding tightly around your waist...
-
Jul 07, 2003 6:44:18 PM CDT
4 great people dying in such a short amount of time. Whats happ
by steal_dragon
First, Gregory Peck. Then Katherine Hepburn. Barry White (Which I'm still in shock over), now Buddy Ebsen. Geez who is next.
-
Ed McMann, Johnny Carson?
How many old legends are left?
-
Jul 07, 2003 6:47:24 PM CDT
I always thought it was Buddy Epson ... like the salt or the pri
by i hate movies
[cymbal crashes]
-
Jul 07, 2003 7:09:04 PM CDT
I would be disappointed, but so many greats are dying right now
by cooldan989
Or, to put it this way, I'm prepared for anyone to die now. Just going along for the ride, I guess.
-
I have not heared anyone mention the death of Barry white. Honestly, why do the greats in bunches. The remberence ceremony during the Orcars is going to take an hour.
-
Carrot-Top is still alive! Where is the justice?!
Bummer, RIP Buddy. -
Jul 07, 2003 10:24:11 PM CDT
He never got a chance to make a guest appearance on The Simpsons
by truthseekr1488
It's a gol-dang shame. I'm-a gonna go set out by the old cee-ment pond and do some whittlin'.
-
Jul 07, 2003 10:40:58 PM CDT
TOM SERVO: Glad you could join us here at the Buddy Ebsen societ
by osmosis jones
-
Jul 07, 2003 11:41:23 PM CDT
I'm gonna head down to the SEE-ment pond and mourn a spell.
by uncle stan
Y'all come back now, ya hear?
-
Mr. Ebsen was a nice guy, but his publicist seemed to believe that Buddy must never, ever do interviews. A real pain in the backside, that publicist. Rest in peace, Mr. E.
-
Jul 08, 2003 3:30:39 AM CDT
Welllllllllllll.....Doggy!!!! Sorry to see him go. Guess that Ba
by monkey_king
A new I DREAM OF JEANIE stands a better chance at being made. Joshua Jackson in the Larry Hagman role and some busty, sandy blonde hottie in the title role. Sam Raimi as Executive Producer and I'm there. Yum!
-
no "cool" news, just a lot of over dramatic celebrity death reports.
-
...Buddy Love?
-
Open season on buddies. Does Bob "Little Buddy" Denver count?
-
Jul 08, 2003 11:16:47 AM CDT
See Bush is a hillbilly because he is not all smart like Bill, h
by jasondkeldar
See sophisticated international playboy presidents learn how to lie til they are caught by court transcript and DNA evidence. Deny, deny, deny and let your supporters attack like vicious Carville-ized Hulk-dogs and you won't be a hillbilly, just the bought-and-paid-for son of a barfly from a backwater gambling town who has had nuthin' but Mama's exes paying off his scandals til the cows some home. Clinton needed an Uncle Jed and a trip to the woodshed. Maybe he would not have inflicted that Velma-looking harpy on us with her frosted hair-and-contacts screeching about her plan to change the Constitution since her little pet VPBore didn't win the election based on what the only document authorizing the office of the President says you have to win on--a majority of recognized states' votes. We only get to vote for President because the staes opened the elections to public voting for electors. Before that happened the states' legislatures voted for electors. Buddy Ebsen deserves better treatment than being the spark for yet another Clinton/Bush comparison, though, and I am sorry I ranted, but this is one of those subjects I have to agree to disagree with Harry on. It is his site to state his opinion on, and in all truth, he could require approval of talkback posts before they are registered onto his site as acive threads in a discussion. Thanks for the soapboxes Harry, We swear not to break them with our Light-allergic selves shuffling onto them before taking that one "Wafer-thin" mint on our tongues. Better to explode with this sort of spewing I am thinking.
-
When someone as EVIL as Strom Thurmond finally runs out of immortality juice, he leaves a big karmic void in the balance. Now a HUGE amount of evil is missing, and the only way for the balance to be restored is for an equal amount of goodness to be sucked from the world. At this rate, I'd say we've got a few more deaths coming. If Bush ever dies, it will require the death of the Dalai Lama and most of Hollywood to come close to being even with the imbalance from a loss of THAT much evil. Look how many good people had to perish before we were rid of Hitler.
-
At least when their nineties they do!
-
So what?
-
Wait...I think I answered my own question.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 209 total posts 207 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 97 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 144 total posts 77 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 68 total posts 68 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 64 total posts 60 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 480 total posts 55 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 53 total posts 50 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 118 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 182 total posts 27 posts