Buddy Ebsen’s daughter, Kiki Ebsen, is currently performing a one-woman show that honors her father, star of films such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Barnaby Jones.
The show, titled My Buddy: The Other Side of Oz focuses on her legendary father and actor, Buddy Ebsen, who would have been 115 as of April 2.
Buddy Ebsen had a long and successful career spanning several decades, from the 1930s to the 1990s. He became famous for his talent as an actor and dancer, as well as his memorable performances in a variety of films and TV shows.
Ebsen was slated to play the Tin Woodman in the legendary 1939 Wizard of Oz before a brush with death removed him from the production.
”I didn’t know much about ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” his daughter Kiki Ebsen admitted to Fox News Digital recently.
The young, talented Kiki Ebsen found a treasure trove of her father’s belongings after he passed at the age of 95 in 2003. Much of what she found told a story of her father’s career and led to her developing her one-woman show.
”I found a songbook that he had for ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” she told the outlet and continued:
”That was a rumor in our family. He never spoke to us directly about that. So I got inspired to read these letters and go through his timeline… He had great success, but he also had great failures. And the way he dealt with all of that, especially in the end, was just so inspiring.”
Her father began his career in vaudeville in the 1920s and in the 1930s, he starred in several musical films including Broadway Melody of 1936 and Born to Dance. His talent combined with his height eventually led to being signed to MGM, right when the buzz about a major motion picture – Oz – was beginning.
”It was a big-budget movie, and it was going to be in color,” Kiki explained. ”And anyone who was cast in that movie – it was going to be a major career advancement for them. It would be huge. A lot of publicity.”
Film producer Arthur Freed, a higher-up in MGM, is the one who approached Ebsen with the news that he had been cast as the Scarecrow.
”Dad was like, ‘This is great, I’ve made it!’” Kiki chuckled. ”He started practicing his moves, the wobbly dance, the whole thing.”
Unfortunately, Ebsen was pushed into a different role against his will while on set. One day, actor Ray Bolger appeared with his agent, a powerful player from William Morrison, who commanded that Bolger would now take over the role.
”Arthur Freed says, ‘Don’t tell anybody I told you [that] you were gonna be The Scarecrow – You’re [now] going to be the Tin Woodman,’” said Kiki. ”And the makeup is what almost killed him.”
According to Kiki, the costume for the Tin Woodman was originally comprised of heavy stove pipe. The costume was sharp and heavy, preventing the actor from moving fully while piercing parts of his body. It was eventually changed to cardboard.
”Arthur Freed says, ‘Don’t tell anybody I told you [that] you were gonna be The Scarecrow – You’re [now] going to be the Tin Woodman,’” said Kiki. ”And the makeup is what almost killed him.”
The actor began having trouble breathing but didn’t want to cause further issues on an already tumultuous set. One night, he had no choice when he woke up and felt that something was truly wrong.
”He woke up and thought he was dying,” said Kiki and added:
”He absolutely could not breathe. His fingers and toes were curled back on themselves, and he was completely cramped up. They rushed him by ambulance to the hospital, to the emergency room. He stayed there for two weeks under an oxygen tank. It took him another six weeks to recover… He actually couldn’t get oxygen to the blood and his blood fermented. The doctor described it as… a breakdown of the nervous system. He had taken as much as he could in his body, and it just broke down.”
After Ebsen recovered, he returned to the set only to realize that he had been replaced. Now, Jack Haley was hired to play the Tin Woodman, now called the Tin Man. For Haley, the filmmakers were now mixing the aluminum powder into a paste to put on the actor instead of applying it directly to his face. While Haley developed an eye infection, he did not have further consequences.
The film, starring Judy Garland, went on to only modest success before eventually becoming one of the most beloved films of all time.
Ebsen, meanwhile, now struggled to find roles in films and returned to his roots on the stage. Eventually, he hit a second well-earned break from Walt Disney in the 1950s as Davy Crockett’s sidekick, Georgie Russel, in Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier.
It was Disney, according to Kiki, that allowed her father to become a star on his own terms.
”[My father] said Louis B. Mayer told him, ‘We’re very excited about you Buddy, but the studio’s gonna have to own you,’” said Kiki. “And [my dad] said, ‘I’ll tell you what kind of fool I am. Nobody owns me.’ And he walked out. That gave him his freedom, but it didn’t give him a lot of opportunities… He went back to the theater, but he was doing it his way. Judy Garland came backstage one time, looked around and said, ‘Someday I want this.’
”[My father] said Louis B. Mayer told him, ‘We’re very excited about you Buddy, but the studio’s gonna have to own you,’” said Kiki. “And [my dad] said, ‘I’ll tell you what kind of fool I am. Nobody owns me.’ And he walked out. That gave him his freedom, but it didn’t give him a lot of opportunities… He went back to the theater, but he was doing it his way. Judy Garland came backstage one time, looked around and said, ‘Someday I want this.’”
In 1962, Ebsen hit the height of his career when he was cast as family patriarch Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies on CBS. The iconic sitcom focused on a family moving from an Ozark farm to Beverly Hills after striking oil.
The show was a huge hit and ran until 1971. The TV comedy followed the story of the Clampett family, starring Buddy Ebsen as new millionaire Jed Clampett. It became legendary, and today, there is only one member of the main cast that is still alive: Max Baer Jr., who played Jethro Bodine.
”What I saw was a lot of fun, a lot of joy and a lot of laughing,” said Kiki.
”I think he was surprised at the success. He was supposed to be retiring… The critics panned it the first year… It was completely ridiculous. But it’s also some of the funniest writing and best casting you’ll ever see. That runs for nine years, and then right after he gets ‘Barnaby Jones.’ For 18 years my dad was on a hit television show.”
Kiki eventually began to pursue music and was always inspired by her father.
”I was getting ready for a recital, and I was extremely nervous,” she recalled. “I couldn’t sleep. I was beside myself… He takes me by the hand, he takes me outside and just said, ‘Keek, look at the stars.’ We take a moment… He says, ‘We’re all just specks on a speck on a speck in the sky. Don’t worry. Everything’s OK.’ And it put it in such perspective for me… The comfort that he gave me is something I’ll always remember… Have fun, do what you love and follow your heart.”
