The Legendary Movie Role Beverly Hillbillies' Star Buddy Ebsen Had To Say Goodbye To

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Hollywood is filled with stories of actors missing out on roles that became iconic, but there are only a few where an actor has the role only to lose it through no fault of their own. One of the most surprising and tragic cast changes happened to "The Beverly Hillbillies" star Buddy Ebsen just as his career was starting.

Ebsen had just started to make a name for himself when he was selected to play the Tin Man in 1939's 'The Wizard of Oz." The movie, which stars Judy Garland, was MGM's most expensive film to date and ended up being a box office disappointment before becoming a classic after being rereleased a decade later. And while the cast of "The Wizard of Oz" will always be remembered,  Epsen missed out on all the hype because of the makeup he was forced to wear to play the woodsman without a heart.

To give the Tin Man a silver sheen that would wow audiences in Technicolor, the actor's face was painted with white makeup, and then covered with aluminum dust. When the look was finally figured out, Ebsen was excited to get to work, but as he wrote in a letter (via People), "Unfortunately, two weeks later, I could hardly breathe at all." Ebsen was taken to a hospital where it was discovered that his lungs "were coated with the aluminum dust." Ebsen was forced to live in an oxygen tent for two weeks, during which time MGM replaced him with Jack Haley. Having learned a lesson, the studio turned the aluminum dust into a paste that could be applied without worry of breathing it in. 

Losing out on such a big role in a major motion picture that went on to be nominated for six Academy Awards certainly changed the course of Ebsen's career. Today, the actor is remembered as a TV star, playing Jed Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and the titular character on "Barnaby Jones," but neither role fully showcased Ebsen's singing and dancing abilities like "The Wizard of Oz" would have. Making matters worse, Ebsen claimed that the near-death experience on "The Wizard of Oz" left him with lifelong breathing problems. The star never got over being replaced in the classic, even naming his autobiography "The Other Side of Oz."

And he wasn't the only "Wizard of Oz" cast member to suffer for the film. His Tin Man replacement, Jack Haley, ended up with a terrible eye infection from the aluminum paste. "Wizard of Oz's" Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West, was severely burned on set, as was her stunt double, Betty Danko. Star Judy Garland, who beat out Shirley Temple for the role of Dorothy Gale, was forced onto a torturous diet that reportedly consisted of chicken soup, coffee, cigarettes, and pills. The treatment exacerbated Garland's lifelong struggle with drug addiction.

While Buddy Ebsen lost the role of a lifetime, he can still be heard on the soundtrack for "The Wizard of Oz" during the song "We're Off to See the Wizard" and, as time went on, MGM released images and footage of Ebsen in the Tin Man costume, often used as extras on DVD releases, forever securing his connection to one of the most beloved films of all time, even if it may not be exactly the way he had hoped.