Actor and avid sailor Buddy Ebsen dies

Kris O’Donnell

Actor Buddy Ebsen, a former Balboa Bay Club member and Balboa

Peninsula resident, was recalled Monday as a “pleasant gentleman.”

Christian Rudolph Ebsen, better known as Buddy, died Sunday in a

Torrance hospital. He was 95.

Best known as Jed Clampett on “The Beverly Hillbillies” and

Barnaby Jones on the show of the same name, Ebsen once lived across

the bay from the Balboa Pavilion. He lived in the Newport Beach home

where Joey Bishop now lives and Shirley Temple lived before that.

Ebsen and his wife, Dorothy, were members of the Balboa Bay Club,

where they frequently dined.

“He was always the most pleasant gentleman,” said Henry Schielein,

president of the club.

Buddy was an avid sailor and thrived in the outdoors. He won a

multitude of races here and abroad, including the prestigious 1968

Honolulu Transpac yacht race in his 35-foot catamaran Polynesian

Concept. Before that, in the boat’s first race, he placed second in

the Newport to Ensenada.

His showbiz career lasted 75 years. He starred in 31 films, 12

made-for-TV movies and five TV shows. He performed with Eddie Cantor,

Sid Silvers, sister Vilma Ebsen, Judy Garland, Shirley Temple and

Audrey Hepburn, but his true love was the sea.

Ebsen summed up his life at end of his autobiography, “The Other

Side of Oz:” “Life’s a brand new ball game every day! Remember that

of all the elements that comprise a human being, the most important,

the most essential, the one that will sustain, transcend, overcome,

and vanquish all obstacles is -- Spirit!”

Ebsen is survived by wife Dorothy; sister Vilma; children

Alexandra, Susannah, Cathy, Bonnie, Kiki and Dustin; and six

grandchildren.

Donations in his memory can be sent to the Motion Picture and

Television Fund, 22212 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91364.

* KRIS O’DONNELL is a Daily Pilot intern. He can be reached at

Kris.Odonnell@latimes.com.