Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Buddy Ebsen is dead

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Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 07-07-2003, 07:38 AM:

Buddy Ebsen has died. Born in 1908.

He will be forever known as Jed Clampett, and Barnaby Jones.

Did you know that Ebsen was the original choice for the tin man role in "The Wizard Of Oz?" He couldn't handle the make-up. It made him very sick.

He was one hell of a tap dancer, too.

Posted by Mike Fitzgerald (Member # 1304) on 07-07-2003, 07:53 AM:

I alway remember Buddy role as Jed and Baranby. He had a way of re-inventing his career and was a very talented actor. We do seem to be losing a lot of old-timers the last month or so.

Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 07-07-2003, 12:43 PM:

While the name George Russel may not ring a bell, I first remember Buddy Ebsen as Davy Crockett's sidekick in those frontier adventures leading up to the Alamo.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 07-07-2003, 06:11 PM:

Oh, this is truly sad news. He was a hoofer from way back. Poor Buddy, he seemed like such a kind soul. I am glad he stayed with us this long, and blessed us with his talent. He always made me smile -- watching him dance was a joy to behold.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 07-07-2003, 07:07 PM:

He would have been the last member of the original "Wizard of Oz", if he was not replaced because of the make-up problem with the Tin Man.

Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 07-08-2003, 12:16 PM:

According to the news last night, Ebsen was originally cast as The Scarecrow, but he and Ray Bolger decided to switch parts leading to his hospitalization because of the "tin" makeup. The production couldn't wait for his recovery, so he lost out to having maybe the signature piece in his dance career.

If you have the latest special edition DVD of "Singin' in the Rain", I believe the bonus material contains his dance material from "Broadway Melody of 1936".

I also remember an exhibit I saw at Walt Disney World. Disney wanted to make dance in his animations fluid and realistic. Buddy was hired to dance away on film so the animators could study and replicate his movements in their drawings.

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 07-08-2003, 12:51 PM:

Mitchell, I had no idea that Buddy Ebsen played Georgie Russel. Thank you for telling me. That was one of my favorite shows as a kid. He will be missed.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-08-2003, 01:00 PM:

AFAIK, the Disney animators filmed Buddy Ebsen dancing in front of a grid to "choreograph" Mickey Mouse's dance steps in the "Silly Symphony" cartoons during the 1930's.

Also, the earliest "Audio-Animatronics" experiments utilized simple mechanical devices like cams and levers to animate small scale model human figures such as the "Dancing Man", a 9-inch tall tap-dancing vaudevillian, who was programmed to mimic the dance steps of Mr. Ebsen.