Buddy Ebsen Net Worth

Buddy Ebsen's Quotes

• You take a blank piece of paper and, whatever you're thinking, you write it down. I'm very satisfied if, in my mind, it increased the value of the paper. That's what writing should do. It should increase the value of the paper.
• [Commenting on having written a romance novel at age 93]: "There are a lot of me's."
• You get more negative reactions than positive reactions as you go through life, and the big lesson is nobody counts you out but yourself...I never have, I never will.
• 'As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.' Often the values of the influences imposed on us by our mothers and fathers, our teachers and certain friends, are not realized until years later, when we, as a sailor does, look back at our wakes to determine the course we have steered that got us to where we are. Today when I look back, then look around me to see with whom I am standing, I fully realize the influence on my life that must be credited to DeMolay.
• [When asked why he had returned to the rigors of a weekly show (Matt Houston (1982)), at the age of 76. (1984)]: "I'm used to getting up at dawn and going to the studio to be with my pals on the set. It's my lifestyle and I wouldn't trade it for any other."

Interesting Facts about Buddy Ebsen

1. In the 1930s, Disney animators filmed him dancing in front of a grid to "choreograph" Mickey Mouse's dance steps for the Silly Symphony cartoons.
2. Attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida shortly before starting his film career.
3. Became a bestselling author at age 93. [2001]
4. Originally cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (1939), Buddy was hospitalized as a result of inhaling aluminum powder used as part of his make-up. One chorus of "We're Off to See the Wizard" in the movie and soundtrack album retain Ebsen's original vocals as the Tin Man, recorded before he was forced to leave the production. Because of the prolonged hospitalization, he was replaced by Jack Haley (whose reformulated make-up used pre-mixed aluminium dust), and Ebsen's scenes were re-shot using Haley. Footage of Ebsen as the Tin Man still exists, and was included as an extra with the U.S. 50th anniversary video release of The Wizard of Oz (1939).
5. An outspoken Republican, he helped defeat Nancy Kulp, his co-star in The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), in her 1984 Democratic congressional bid in Pennsylvania. Ebsen made radio ads for her opponent accusing Kulp of being "too liberal" and not good for the district. The two did not speak for years after the incident, but eventually settled their differences.
6. After seeing Ebsen in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), the creator of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) wanted him to play family patriarch Jed Clampett. At the time, Ebsen was thinking of retiring, but the producers sent him a copy of the script, and he changed his mind.
7. In 1938, MGM offered him a seven-year contract, starting at $2,000 a week but requiring him to give the studio absolute control over his career. He rejected it. MGM blackballed him and his film career went into eclipse for nearly 20 years, until Walt Disney hired him to play George "Georgie" Russell, Davy Crockett's sidekick, in Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier (1955).
8. Initially wanted to become a doctor. He took premed courses at Rollins College ( Winter Park, Florida) and the University of Florida, but his mother persuaded him into show business.
9. Director Norman Foster first recommended Ebsen to Walt Disney to play Davy Crockett, and Disney was "half sold" on the idea. Then Disney saw Fess Parker in the sci-fi film Them! (1954) and cast the strapping actor as the famed frontiersman. Ebsen was crestfallen because he knew how big the picture would be. The next day the studio signed Ebsen on as Crockett's weatherbeaten sidekick, George "Georgie" Russell. The part helped to turn his career around and arguably played a part in Ebsen's getting the role of the equally grizzled and popular Jed Clampett.
10. Wrote a half dozen plays, five of which were produced, including a farce called Honest John in 1948 and Champagne General in 1973, a Civil War story. Also a part-time songwriter, he became a newly-published author of a romantic novel at the age of 93, titled Kelly's Quest.
11. Was initiated into DeMolay at the John M. Cheney Chapter in Orlando, Florida, in 1926. DeMolay is a Masonic youth organization for young men between 12 and 21.
12. He served in the Coast Guard during World War II as the executive officer on the Pocatello, a submarine chaser in the North Pacific.
13. Owned a 36-acre ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains.
14. He and his The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) co-star, Donna Douglas, had a lot in common. Like Buddy, she too is a successful singer (of gospel), is also a character actress, and is also a Republican.
15. Best remembered by the public for his starring role as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) or as the lead role on Barnaby Jones (1973).
16. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 161-163. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.
17. His former Barnaby Jones (1973) co-star, Lee Meriwether, said he reminded her a lot of Ray MacDonnell, with whom she had a wonderful relationship on All My Children (1970).
18. Co-founder of the Beverly Hills Coin Club with a young actor named Chris Aable.
19. He had 15 hobbies over his long life: dancing, playing guitar, coin collecting, swimming, golfing, riding horses, sailing, painting, building sailboats, spending time with his family, politics, gardening, fishing, traveling and singing.
20. Remained friends with Lee Meriwether during and after Barnaby Jones (1973).