Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. 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, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie version of The Beverly Hillbillies. Ebsen also played Fess Parker's sidekick in Walt Disney's Davy Crockett miniseries , and was cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz until he fell ill due to an allergy to the makeup. He was born Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Jr. in Belleville, Illinois. His father,... Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Sr., was Danish and his mother, Frances, was Latvian. He was raised in Belleville until the age of 10, when his family moved to Palm Beach County, Florida. After a brief stay, Ebsen and his family relocated to Orlando, Florida, in 1920. Ebsen and his sisters learned to dance at the dance studio his father operated in Orlando. He graduated from Orlando High School in 1926.
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