Buddy Ebsen

Ebsen's career is one of Hollywood's great what-ifs and great comebacks rolled into one. He was originally the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz until the aluminum makeup nearly killed him, a story that still amazes me. Yet he rebuilt himself into a beloved television fixture, first as the folksy Jed Clampett and then as the dogged Barnaby Jones, proving real staying power across decades. A trained dancer who became a household face, named a Disney Legend with a Walk of Fame star, he embodies an entire era of American entertainment.

Buddy Ebsen (April 2, 1908 - July 6, 2003) was an American actor and dancer. Beginning as a vaudeville and Broadway dancer, he became a television star as Jed Clampett on the long-running sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies and later as the title detective in Barnaby Jones. He was famously cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz before an allergic reaction to the makeup forced him to leave the role.

Name (English)

Buddy Ebsen

Name (Japanese)

バディ・イブセン

Reading

ばでぃ・いぶせん

Born

April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Monkey

Origin

Belleville, Illinois, United States

Height

192cm

Occupation

Singer / Television actor / Stage actor / Military officer / Film actor

University

University of Florida

Awards & achievements

• 1993 Disney Legend
• Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://www.buddyebsen.com/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%90%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A4%E3%83%96%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3

Tags

• From Illinois
• Singer
• Television actor
• Stage actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.