Max Baer Jr. had quite a remarkable career, especially considering how he got the part in Beverly Hillbillies. Today, he’s 84 years old, and after his acting career, he became a professional golfer.
Baer was married to Joanne Hill from 1966 to 1971 but never had any children. Max never became a father – and in fact, there is an explanation for it. He never wanted to become a dad for one sad reason.
Max Baer Jr. was born December 4, 1937, in Oakland, California. He is the son of boxing legend Max Baer and Mary Ellen Sullivan.
Max Baer Jr. – early life and career
Besides being a celebrated star on The Beverly Hillbillies, Baer had a great interest in sports, just like his father. Unfortunately, Baer’s dad passed away in 1959, at age 50.
Baer didn’t become a boxer, but he played professional golf, participating in several tournaments in California. In 1968, Max Baer Jr. teamed up with professional golfer Charlie Sifford, with whom the actor won the pro-am division of the Andy Williams Golf Classic in San Diego.
“Acting, though, is really only a hobby with me,” Baer told The Times in 1971. “Golf is my occupation.”
But even though Baer thought of himself as a golf player foremost, he turned out to be a great actor.
This is the story of the man behind Jethro Bodine – a character people in Hollywood never wanted to let go of.
It wouldn’t be long before Baer made his debut as an actor. His first role was in a stage production of Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Blackpool Pavilion in England in 1949. Later, it was just a mixture of coincidence, luck, and a great self-confidence that landed him the role of a lifetime in The Beverly Hillbillies.
Baer was raised in Sacramento and later moved to Santa Clara, California. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Santa Clara University in 1959, but only a year later, he would find himself standing in a parking lot in Los Angeles.
Max Baer Jr. – ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’
According to a 1999 article in People Magazine, Max Baer Jr. decided to ride his motorcycle to Los Angeles the year after graduation. He ended up in the Warner Bros. lot, where an executive thought he looked like James Garner.
Baer was discovered, and he decided to give acting a chance. Soon after, he signed his first one-year contract, despite knowing nothing about acting — he just thought he might as well go for it.
He scored small parts and guest roles in television, appearing in television series such as 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, and Hawaiian Eye.
Even though his career wasn’t skyrocketing, he decided to stay in the business. Soon enough, he found himself the most significant gig he would ever land: a sitcom about a country bumpkin family getting rich off oil.
Following an open audition, he scored the role as Jethro Bodine in The Beverly Hillbillies, earning $1,000 for the pilot and $500 the following show.
“When you play a role like Jethro, it’s for other people to judge because it’s pretty hard to be subjective or objective about yourself,” Baer told Medium.
Max Baer Jr. on co-star Buddy Ebsen’s last days alive
Donna Douglas – who starred as Elly May on The Beverly Hillbillies – passed away in 2015, aged 82, leaving Baer the only surviving cast member of the show. Even though it was a very tough time, Buddy Ebsen’s passing struck Baer the hardest.
In 2003, Buddy Ebsen – who starred as Jed Clampett – passed away at the age of 95. It was a very tough blow for Bear. Days before Ebsen died, his wife Dorothy called Baer to say that the end was near.
Alongside his television cousin, Donna Douglas, he rushed to the hospital where Ebsen was treated.
“I tiptoed in,” Baer told The Courier-Journal in 2008. “Buddy was lying there with his eye shut and a catheter in him. I put my hand on his head, and he says, ‘Jethro.’ It was so sweet.”
The moment at the hospital was the last time he saw Ebdsen alive – and a memory that they forever were a part of a very appreciated, loved, and legendary show.
One might think that Bear would have a pile of offers waiting for him after his performance in The Beverly Hillbillies. But it was the complete opposite.
One of the problems was that producers only saw him as Jethro and not Baer. Nevertheless, he managed to get guest appearances on several shows like Love, Fantasy Island, and Murder, She Wrote.
