The Beverly Hillbillies Star Who Couldn't Stand 'Rotten' Buddy Ebsen

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For nine seasons, viewers tuned in each week to watch the Clampett family's misadventures on "The Beverly Hillbillies." The series, a fish-out-of-water comedy about widower Jed Clampett, who strikes oil in the Ozark Mountains, becomes wealthy from it, and moves his family to California, was filled with laughs. But the laughs didn't always happen behind the scenes, where there was a fair amount of arguing. Played by Buddy Ebsen, Jed was a kind family leader who made sure everyone treated bank secretary Jane Hathaway, played by Nancy Kulp, with respect. But in real life, Ebsen and Kulp didn't get along, and, years after the series ended, Ebsen would do something that Kulp called "rotten."

In 1984, Kulp launched her political career hoping to represent the people of Pennsylvania in Congress. Making Kulp's campaign into a sad piece of "Beverly Hillbillies" trivia, Ebsen recorded a radio ad for her opponent, Bud Shuster. In the ad, Ebsen recalls conversations he had with Kulp while making the hit series and how her progressive views didn't align with his conservative beliefs, ending the piece with "Hey, Nancy. I love ya dearly, but you're too liberal for me." Making matters worse, Ebsen also donated to the Shuster campaign. 

Responding to the ad, Kulp said (via UPI), "I think it's rotten. I can't conceive that, after I've put so much time and money into this race, that he would come along and do something like this." The politician elaborated on her feelings about Ebsen to The Rocky Mountain News, making it clear that, in her eyes, Ebsen was "Not the kindly old Jed Clampett you saw on the show, " before adding that they "didn't get along because I found him difficult to work with. But I would never have done something like this to him." 

Buddy Ebsen approached Bud Shuster, offering his assistance to the campaign despite living across the country in California and therefore not being eligible to vote for him. On election day, Nancy Kulp resoundingly lost to Shuster, who earned 66% of the vote. Kulp believed that Buddy Ebsen's radio ad played a large part in her defeat and refused to speak to him. Following her loss, Kulp became an acting teacher before moving to Palm Springs to retire. Sadly, her golden years did not last long: Kulp was diagnosed with cancer and died at age 69 in 1991. Reportedly, Kulp and Ebsen reconciled before she passed, though the two never discussed their relationship in public. 

But Max Baer Jr., who played Jed's nephew, Jethro, gave MeTV a little insight into how the cast of "The Beverly Hillbillies" got along on the set, suggesting that Kulp and Ebsen weren't the only ones who had spats: "That's normal living. You may like or even love somebody, but from time to time, you're gonna get pi**ed off at them and tell them to get lost." From his perspective, the on-set tensions were nothing out of the ordinary. He added, "But that's natural. Not everything runs smooth."

Meanwhile, Donna Douglas, who played Jed's daughter, Elly May, once described Ebsen to the Lincoln Times-News (via The BayNet) as "a wonderful man, very much like my own father, a quiet, reserved, and caring person." It seems that Ebsen, who was originally cast as the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz," had a heart for some of his castmates, but not others.