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Buddy Ebsen's preferred method of rehearsal: ''Wing it.''
Ebsen had an unconventional method of preparing for an episode of Barnaby Jones.
Despite his beginnings in vaudeville and theatre, Buddy Ebsen wasn't always destined to become an actor. In fact, were it not for some dire financials in his childhood, Ebsen may not have even pursued performing in the first place.
The actor told the Associated Press that he originally wanted to pursue a career in the medical field. "I was gonna be a doctor," said Ebsen. "I would have been one except that Florida land boom went broke and I had to go to work."
Luckily, Ebsen had a knack for entertaining others, and he won lead roles like that of Jed Clampett of The Beverly Hillbillies. As he got older, Ebsen became a more seasoned performer, who had his own way of developing a character in the early stages of a series.
By 1975, Barnaby Jones was at the height of its popularity, and viewers were eager to get a behind-the-scenes look at how Ebsen approached his craft. Strangely enough, Ebsen found that he preferred a more off-the-cuff sort of acting, as opposed to the rigid memorization process.
"At first, I was memorizing all the lines, and that was a drag," said Ebsen. "Now, I 'wing it.' At night I mark my lines with a pencil; that seems to establish them in my mind. Then I read my cues and the lines into a tape recorder. I play the tape back while I'm driving to work and getting made up. Then I wing it."
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2 Comments
He's very good at conveying a wise, skeptical, dogged investigator with understated strength and determination.
