In August 1928, the 6-foot 3-inch Ebsen and his sister, Vilma, arrived in New York City. Ebsen had just $26 in his pocket, so he worked at a soda fountain until he found a job three months later in the chorus line of the Broadway production. In August 1930, the siblings were dancing at the Babette Club in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the audience was the influential newspaper columnist, Walter Winchell, who wrote a raving, one-paragraph review about the duo, and the story catapulted them to fame. For the next several years, well into the mid-1930s, Buddy and Vilma danced at clubs in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Hollywood soon noticed them. The Ebsens arrived in Hollywood in 1935. Their first movie was The Broadway Melody in 1936. This would be Vilma’s only movie, since she married and subsequently retired from show business not long after the movie debuted. Ebsen remained in show business for the rest of his life, and was offered the role of the Tin Man in the 1939 movie Wizard of Oz. However, Ebsen nearly died of aluminum poisoning from his costume, and Jack Haley replaced him. After recovering, Ebsen was embroiled in a contract dispute that left him idle for a while. He took up sailing and completed a navigation course cum laude, becoming so proficient that he taught the subject to naval officer candidates. A solid knowledge of celestial navigation and basic seamanship was enough expertise for him to join the Navy, but he was rejected twice. One night in February of 1942, Ebsen was dancing in a show in Chicago when he noticed a uniformed officer casually saluting girls at the stage door. He was a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard Reserve. Four months later, on June 1, 1942, Ebsen himself joined the Reserve. He received four months of general indoctrination, plus an additional two months of training in anti- submarine warfare and was commissioned on May 30, 1943. After receiving his commission, Ebsen boarded the Coast Guard-manned patrol frigate, USS Pocatello. Pocatello served weather patrol duty at a position in the North Pacific, about 1,300 miles west of Seattle. Like other weather patrol vessels, Ebsen’s patrol frigate steamed in circles around its weather station coordinates for 30 days then returned to Seattle for 10 days in port. It was monotonous duty with consistently foul weather and heavy seas. Ebsen received permission from Pocatello’s commanding officer to bring aboard costumes, props and musical instruments. In addition to his official duties, Ebsen wrote, cast, and directed vaudeville shows, band concerts, and musical plays on Pocatello. Rehearsals were held in the cramped steering room located astern in the cutter’s fantail. A break from the monotony of weather patrol duty, the crew enjoyed this entertainment. One day during a patrol, the crew was performing the comic opera HMS Pinafore. In the middle of the show, a voice boomed over the public address system asking the captain to report to the bridge. A moment later, the same voice ordered all hands to battle stations. A plane had been spotted in the dense fog. Once on deck, Ebsen took one look at his costumed shipmates at battle stations and doubled over laughing. Luckily, the enemy plane never spotted the frigate, so the crew stood down and finished the show. Ebsen served in a number of positions on board Pocatello, including damage control officer, watch officer and, finally, executive officer. In late 1945, Ebsen was assigned shoreside in Seattle as master of ceremonies for five stage shows during the government’s seventh War Bond Drive. The shows were staged by the Army, Navy and Coast Guard, along with noted actor Helen Hayes. The drive raised $30 million. While in Seattle, Ebsen met Nancy Wolcott, a communications officer in the SPARS, and they married the following year. In 1946, the Coast Guard honorably discharged Ebsen, by now a full lieutenant. Just after leaving the service, Ebsen returned to show business, appearing in Oscar Hammerstein’s revival of Showboat. However, he is best known for his roles as Jed Clampett and Barnaby Jones. When the film version of The Beverly Hillbillies was released in 1993, Ebsen played the role of Barnaby Jones. He passed away in 2003 in Torrance, California at the age of 95, survived by his wife and seven children. His Coast Guard papers are housed at the Coast Guard Historian’s Office in Washington, D.C. . Lt. Buddy Ebsen poses for a photograph with Coast Guard SPAR and future wife Lt.j.g. Nancy Wolcott. U.S. Coast Guard photo Buddy Ebsen starred as Jed Clampett in the immensely popular television series, “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Issue 1 • 2023 . ReseRvist 37 CELEBRATING CELEBRATING 70 70 YEARS OF THE RESERVIST YEARS OF THE RESERVIST
