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The Real Beverly Hillbilly
With Buddy Ebsen
Actor, Painter, Author
Friday, Sept. 7, 2001; Noon EDT
First there was Broadway (Whoopee, 1928, Ziegfield Follies, 1934). Next came the movies (Broadway Melody, 1935, Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961, The President's Plane Is Missing, 1981). Then came television. He played Georgie Russell, Davy Crockett's pal in the Walt Disney series, Davy Crockett. Next he was Jed Clampett, patriarch of The Beverly Hillbillies. And then he played private eye Barnaby Jones.
A man of many talents, Buddy Ebsen, will be online Friday, Sept. 7, at Noon EDT, to take your questions and comments about his creative life on stage, in the movies, on the small screen and -- there's more -- with paint brush and pen in hand.
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Kelly's Quest
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The 93-year-old Ebsen has always done oil painting as a hobby and in 1994 he took a break to write Kelly's Quest, a story about a stagehand frustrated in L.A. and in search of a new life and love. He knows first hand about all things L.A. and used his inside knowlege of the business to weave his story.
A transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
McLean, Va.:
Hiya Mr. Ebsen:
Who created Jed Clampett's famous phrase
"Well Doggies!?" And does it have any particular meaning??
Buddy Ebsen: It was just two words in the script when I got it. The fact that it caught on, I would say it was due to an accent I put on the words and it seemed to catch on for some reason. There have been catch phrases with performers for years.
Washington, D.C.:
Mr. Ebsen-
Congradulations on your long and varied career.
Have your oil paintings ever been on exhibit?
Have/Will they ever be seen in the Washington, D.C. area?
Buddy Ebsen: They have been in California and New York and all over the country. Don't have any plans for the paintings to come to Washington. (Go to www.buddyebsencreations.com to see his oil paintings.)
Washington, D.C.:
Buddy! Tell me your thoughts about Belleville, Ill. -- my hometown and yours! Do you get back much? Did you go to school there? I think you and Jimmy Connors are our biggest claims to fame -- and rightfully so! Take care.
Buddy Ebsen: I've been back a number of times and I always enjoy it. Most recently I went back and went to the boat races -- I have a catamaran, Polynesian Concept. Was on Lake Christine, I think.
Minneapolis, Minn.:
Do you ever wonder how differently your career might have transpired had you been able to play the Tin Man in The Wizard Of Oz?
Do you think it would have afforded you more opportunities or do you think you might have been been negatively typecast?
Buddy Ebsen: That picture was a million dollar picture in the days when a million dollar picture was rare. I was on the lot and was assigned to be in the picture for ten days. The Tin Man. Then the aluminum powder that they powdered me with got into my lungs and that's not good for you. I got emphysema. I went to the hospital for about a month and then the rest of the time I was recuperating and by that time the picture had marched on. They -- the studio, MGM -- punished me with a couple minor roles/throwaway parts. Then I went back to New York and did a play.
Marietta, Ga.:
Mr. Ebsen, Do you think "The Beverly Hillbillies" will ever get its critical due as being one of the classic comedies in televison history? You, Irene Ryan, etc, created some unforgettable characters. And as
a Southerner, I still love saying "Well doggies!"
Buddy Ebsen: It's had a record of longevity. It's still going strong.
Silver Spring, Md.:
Mr. Ebsen:
It's wonderful to see someone living life so fully and productively and enjoying a career so long.
Have you considered ever writing a memoir of your Hollywood career?
Buddy Ebsen: I wrote it. It's called The Other Side of Oz. Go to www.buddyebsen.com.
Alexandria, Va.:
Of the many actors and actresses with which you've worked over your career, which ones did you have the greatest rapport with?
Buddy Ebsen: My sister Vilma the dacer. Then Shirley Temple. Judy Garland. Audrey Hepburn. The Hillbillies. Fess Parker, Davy Crockett ... I was his sidekick. Those were all memorable people I worked with.
Alexandria, Va.:
Do you have any lifestyle tips for those of us wanting to remain active as we age?
Buddy Ebsen: Find something to do. As I got older, I picked up the pen. I've always written something. I had a lot of experience in Hollywood and along the way. As I look back at my life I seem to remember 60 some years in show business as a period of collecting material for a novel or two or three.
You should only write about what you've had experience with. You can't fake it. You have to have the scars of it. The happiness of it. You have to write the truth of what you learned from it and what you remember from it and the truth will prevail.
College Park, Md.:
What happened to Ellie Mae?
Buddy Ebsen: She's on to traveling and doing good in her manner. She's very religious. She's spiritual. When a person meets her, I hear they go away feeling better. She restores people's faith in the human race. I last saw her on one of my recent birthdays. She travels a lot and I talk to her on the phone. She's not sedentary. She moves around.
Annandale, Va.:
Is it true that Walt Disney picked you to be in his movies because he spotted you wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt?
Buddy Ebsen: I was doing Broadway Melody of 1936 with my sister. I was wearing a sweatshirt. In the movie the director Roy Del Ruth said my shirt needed something on it because it showed a big blank space so he decided to put Mickey Mouse on it. At that time Disney was struggling and trying to establish Mickey Mouse.
Elkview, W. Va.:
Hello Buddy ... How old were you when you made the first television shows of The Beverly Hillibillies? Your character was so perfect.
That is how I will best remember you ... Those were just the best years of television when nothing was obsene or vulgar ... THANK YOU FOR THE MEMORIES ...
Buddy Ebsen: I guess I was about 38. When I read the first script, I laughed. Then I started to worry because all the characters were funny except Uncle Jed. I had to have some substance to my character so I said it would be the money and we made it so I was always in control of the money and that's how we worked it out so I'd get some funny lines. It wasn't broad comedy. It was more humorous observations. Uncle Jed was the only sane one in the crowd. He kept the show from being an out and out hillbilly farce.
Arlington, Va.:
In your Barnaby Jones days, you were quite the heartthrob for my grandmother who's about to turn 93. Do you have any funny stories?
Buddy Ebsen: I was raising my boat in Florida and I went into a restaurant there and a waitress came out and served me, before I ordered, she put a glas of milk on the table which was funny bacause she remembered Barnaby Jones as somebody who always drank milk.
Washington, D.C.:
Tell us about your book, Kelly's Quest.
Buddy Ebsen: Kelly was discovered about 15 years before I wrote the book. Kelly was an electrician and the only girl working on the crew for the Barnaby Jones TV show. She was very pretty. I wondered why she was working as a carew member when she probably could be an actress. When I started to write a novel, she popped up in my mind and I put in what I judged to be her family and her life. I used my imagination and wrote about it.
She's looking for Mr. Right, the perfect husband. In the romantic minds of young girls, he's the white knight who picks her up on his horse and takes her to his castle. And she has no more problems with money and budgets. It's the story of her search, her quest. She finds several males that might be Mr. Right and finally finds one on a cattle ranch in Montana.
Buddy Ebsen: I'm delighted with the reception that Kelly's Quest is getting from the critics and the people. When you write, that's all you can hope for. What you write has to make you feel good. I'll settle for that. Whatever might happen beyond that, it's gravy. I get my sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from reading what I wrote.
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