Buddy Ebsen(1908-2003)
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Buddy Ebsen began his career as a dancer in the late 1920s in a
Broadway chorus. He later formed a vaudeville act with his sister
Vilma Ebsen, which also appeared on
Broadway. In 1935 he and his sister went to Hollywood, where they were
signed for the first of MGM's
Eleanor Powell movies,
Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935).
While Vilma retired from stage and screen shortly after this, Buddy
starred in two further MGM movies with Powell. Two of his dancing
partners were Frances Langford in
Born to Dance (1936) and
Judy Garland in
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937).
They were a little bit taller than
Shirley Temple, with whom he danced in
Captain January (1936). MGM
studio chief Louis B. Mayer offered him
an exclusive contract in 1938, but Ebsen turned it down. In spite of
Mayer's warning that he would never get a job in Hollywood again, he
was offered the role of the scarecrow in
The Wizard of Oz (1939). Ebsen
agreed to change roles with Ray Bolger, who
was cast as the Tin Man. Ebsen subsequently became ill from the
aluminum make-up, however, and was replaced by
Jack Haley. He returned to the stage,
making only a few pictures before he got a role in the Disney
production of
Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier (1955).
After this, he became a straight actor, and later won more fame in his
own hit series,
The Beverly Hillbillies (1962)
and Barnaby Jones (1973).