Buddy Ebsen (April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003) was a versatile American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he is best remembered for his starring role as Jed Clampett in the popular 1960s television series, The Beverly Hillbillies.

Early years

He was born Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Jr., in Belleville, Illinois. His father, Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Sr., was Danish and his mother, Frances, was Latvian. He was reared in Belleville until the age of ten, when his family moved to Palm Beach County, Florida. After a brief stay there, Ebsen and his family, in 1920, relocated to Orlando, Florida. Ebsen and his sisters learned to dance at the dance studio his father operated in Orlando.

He graduated from Orlando High School in 1926. Initially interested in a medical career, Ebsen attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, from 1926 to 1927 and then Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida from 1927 to 1928. Family financial problems caused by the collapse of the Florida land boom forced him to leave college for good at the age of twenty.