Max Baer Jr.

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Max Baer Jr.
As Jethro in 1962
Born
Maximilian Adelbert Baer Jr.

(1937-12-04) December 4, 1937 (age 86)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
  • director
  • comedian
  • entrepreneur
Years active1949–1991
Spouse
Joanne Kathleen Hill
​
​
(m. 1966; div. 1971)​
Parent

Maximilian Adelbert Baer Jr. (born December 4, 1937) is an American actor, producer, comedian, and director widely known for his role as Jethro Bodine, the dim-witted relative of Jed Clampett (played by Buddy Ebsen) on The Beverly Hillbillies.

Early life[edit]

Baer was born in Oakland, California, on December 4, 1937, the son of boxing champion Max Baer and his wife Mary Ellen Sullivan.[1] His paternal grandfather was of German Jewish descent, and his mother was of Irish descent. His brother and sister are James Manny Baer and Maude Baer. His uncle was boxer and actor Buddy Baer.[2]

He attended Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, where he earned letters in four sports and twice won the junior title at the Sacramento Open golf tournament. Playing with Charlie Sifford, he later won the pro–am tournament at the 1968 Andy Williams - San Diego Open.[3]

Baer served as a medical technician in the U.S. Air Force at Gunter Air Force Base Alabama.[4] Baer later earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Santa Clara University, with a minor in philosophy.[5]

Career[edit]

Baer's first acting role was in Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Blackpool Pavilion in England in 1949. He began acting professionally in 1960 at Warner Bros., where he made appearances on television programs such as Maverick, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye, Cheyenne, The Roaring 20's, and 77 Sunset Strip.[6] His career took off two years later, when he joined the cast of The Beverly Hillbillies.[6][5]

The Beverly Hillbillies[edit]

Baer, Nancy Kulp, and Sharon Tate (in a wig) in The Beverly Hillbillies (1965)

In 1962, Baer was cast in the role of the naïve but well-meaning Jethro Bodine, Jed Clampett's cousin Pearl's son.[5] He also played Jethro's twin sister Jethrine, though her voice was dubbed by actress Linda Kaye Henning.[7]

He continued to take other parts during the nine-year run of The Beverly Hillbillies and appeared on the television programs Love, American Style, as well as in the Western A Time for Killing.[8]

He declined to appear in the 1981 TV movie Return of the Beverly Hillbillies and his character was recast as a result.[9]

Later career[edit]

Following the cancellation of The Beverly Hillbillies in 1971, Baer made numerous guest appearances on television, but he found his TV acting career hampered by typecasting. He concentrated on feature motion pictures, especially behind the camera, writing, producing, and directing. Baer wrote and produced the drama Macon County Line (1974),[10] in which he played Deputy Reed Morgan, the highest-grossing movie per dollar invested at the time. Made for less than US$200,000, it earned upwards of US$30 million at the box office, a record that lasted until The Blair Witch Project surpassed it in 1999.[10][11][12] Baer also wrote, produced, and directed the drama The Wild McCullochs (1975), and played the role of Culver Robinson.[13]

Baer is credited with being one of the first to use the title of a popular song as the title and plot anchor of a film, acquiring the rights to Bobbie Gentry's hit song and producing the 1976 film Ode to Billy Joe, which he also directed. Made for US$1.1 million, the film grossed $27 million at the box office, and earned over US$2.65 million outside the US, US$4.75 million from television, and US$2.5 million from video. The film starred Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor.[14]

Since the success of Ode to Billy Joe, the motion picture industry has produced more than 100 song-title movies. Baer pursued the rights to the hit song "Like a Virgin", recorded by the singer Madonna in 1984. When ABC tried to prevent him from making the film, he sued and won a judgment of more than US$2 million.[15]

He directed the 1979 comedy Hometown U.S.A. before retiring to his home at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He continues to make occasional guest appearances on television.[citation needed]

Other ventures[edit]

In 1985, Baer began investigating the gambling industry. He noted that tourists paid a US$5 to $6 admission to tour the "Ponderosa Ranch", in Incline Village, Nevada, which was the location for filming exterior scenes for episodes of TV's popular program Bonanza. The Ponderosa was a cattle ranch with horses, barns, Bonanza displays, restaurants, hay rides, and a wedding chapel, and tourists enjoyed the Ponderosa because of the Bonanza connection. Baer decided that tourists would also pay for something dealing with The Beverly Hillbillies. He began using his Jethro Bodine role as a marketing opportunity toward the gambling and hotel industry. Baer obtained the sublicensing rights, including food and beverage rights, to The Beverly Hillbillies from CBS in 1991. His business partner estimates the cost of obtaining the rights and developing the ideas at US$1 million. Sixty-five Beverly Hillbillies slot machines were built in 1999 and placed in 10 casinos.[16]

In late 2003, Baer attempted the redevelopment of a former Walmart location in Carson City into a Beverly Hillbillies-themed hotel and casino, but was unsuccessful due to building code conflicts and other developers on the neighboring properties. On May 4, 2007, he announced the sale of the property and the purchase of another parcel just outside Carson City, in neighboring Douglas County, where he expected less resistance to his plans. Baer purchased a 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) parcel in north Douglas County for US$1.2 million, and would purchase an additional 20 acres (8.1 ha) once he obtained the required zoning variances. The plans were for a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) gambling area with 800 slot machines and 16 tables, flanked by various eateries, including "Jethro's All You Ken Et Buffet". The project would feature a showroom, cinema complex and a 240-room, five-story hotel.[17]

Plans for Baer's casino included a 200-foot-tall (61 m) mock oil derrick spouting a 20- to 30-foot (9.1 m) flame.

As of July 2012, development of Jethro's Casino had been suspended. Ongoing litigation involving Baer, the developer and Douglas County has delayed the development of the project indefinitely.[18]

In 2014, Baer sued CBS after claiming a secret deal with a Des Moines-based Jethro's BBQ was interfering with his opportunity to cash in on his role from the iconic television show. The lawsuit claims that Baer negotiated a deal with CBS in 1991 for the rights to use the fictional character and other motifs from the show to create a chain of restaurants, hotels, and casinos.[19]

Recent years[edit]

He remained close friends with Buddy Ebsen until Ebsen's death from pneumonia on July 6, 2003. Just before his acting mentor's death, Donna Douglas and he both had visited Ebsen in the hospital.[20]

In January 2008, Baer's live-in girlfriend, 30-year-old Penthouse model Chere Rhodes, committed suicide in the 70-year-old's Lake Tahoe home. Her suicide note mentioned "relationship problems".[21][22]

The 2015 death of co-star Donna Douglas left Baer as the only surviving regular cast member of The Beverly Hillbillies.[23]

Filmography[edit]

List of credits[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1960 Maverick Ticket Taker / Chuck / Brazos 3 episodes
— "Bundle from Britain"
— "A Bullet for the Teacher"
— "Kiz"
1960–1961 Surfside 6 Joe Wilk / Party Guest 2 episodes
— "High Tide" (1960)
— "Facts on the Fire" (1961)
1960–1961 Cheyenne Callow / Bert McGuire / Pete 4 episodes
— "Two Trails to Santa Fe" (1960)
— "Duel at Judas Basin" (1961)
— "The Beholden" (1961)
— "The Frightened Town" (1961)
1960–1961 Hawaiian Eye Ali / Bill Gorham 2 episodes
— "Vanessa Vanishes" (1960)
— "The Big Dealer" (1961)
1960–1961 77 Sunset Strip Government Man / Luther Martell / Billy Blackston 3 episodes
— "Double Trouble" (1960)
— "The Corsican Caper" (1961)
— "The Chrome Coffin" (1961)
1961 Bronco Cowboy Episode: "The Invaders
1961 Sugarfoot Frank Episode: "Angel"
1962 Follow the Sun Tom Baylor Episode: "A Choice of Weapons"
1962 It's a Man's World 1st GI Episode: "Drive Over to Exeter"
1962–1971 The Beverly Hillbillies Jethro Bodine main role (273 episodes)
TV Land Award for Favorite "Fish Out of Water" (2004)
1962–1971 Jethrine Bodine 11 episodes
Jethro's twin sister[7]
1967 A Time for Killing Sergeant Luther Liskell
1967 Dream Girl of '67 Himself (Bachelor Judge) series regular (10 episodes)
1968 Hollywood Squares Himself (Panelist) recurring role (5 episodes)
1971 The Birdmen Tanker Television Movie
1972 Two for the Money — Producer
1972–1973 Love, American Style Rocky / Jackie Lee Rhodes 2 episodes
— "Love and the Fullback" (1972)
— "Love and the Games People Play" (1973)
1974 Macon County Line Deputy Reed Morgan also Producer/Writer
1975 The Wild McCullochs Culver Robinson also Director/Producer/Writer
1976 Ode to Billy Joe — Director/Producer
1979 Fantasy Island Big Jake Farley Episode: "Nobody's There/The Dancer"
1979 Hometown U.S.A. — Director
1980 The Asphalt Cowboy Max Caulpepper Television Movie
1982 The Circle Family Hearst Circle Television Movie
1984 Matt Houston Andy MacKay 2 episodes
— "Return to Nam: Part 1"
— "Escape from Nam: Part 2"
1989 Murder, She Wrote Johnny Wheeler Episode: "Jack and Bill"
1991 State Trooper Boone Willoughby Episode: "Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?"
2005 Biography Himself (Interviewee) Episode: "Buddy Ebsen"

References[edit]

  1. ^ Pilato, Herbie (2016). TV's Top Male Icons from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Taylor Trade. p. 152. ISBN 9781630760533.
  2. ^ Kronenberg, Steve (March 12, 2019). "The Baer Family From Boxing to the Beverly Hillbillies". Quad-City Times. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  3. ^ "Golf exhibition set Tuesday at CC course", Times-News (Hendersonville, NC), September 15, 1971.
  4. ^ Deichert, Kelly (October 21, 2011). "Exhibit salutes stars who wore stripes". United States Air Force Air University Public Affairs. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Santa Clara University Alumni: Arts and Entertainment". scu.edu. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Max Baer Jr". TV Guide. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "About that time Max Baer Jr. played Jethro's twin sister on The Beverly Hillbillies". Me-TV Network. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  8. ^ "Robson to Direct 'Detective' Martin, Betty". Los Angeles Times. June 2, 1966. p. d12. Retrieved April 4, 2024 – via Newspaper.com. (subscription required)
  9. ^ "'The Beverly Hillbillies': Who Played Jethro in 1981 Reunion Movie After Max Baer Jr. Declined?". outsider.com. June 25, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Mavis, Paul (May 6, 2008). "Macon County Line: Review". dvdtalk.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  11. ^ Galloway, Stephen (January 18, 2020). "What Is the Most Profitable Movie Ever?". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  12. ^ "The Blair Witch Project". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  13. ^ Erickson, Hal. "The Wild McCullochs (1975) - Max Baer, Jr". AllMovie. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  14. ^ "AFI - Ode to Billy Joe (1976)". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  15. ^ McGraw, Carol (February 14, 1991). "'Beverly Hillbillies' Star Wins Suit Over Madonna Song Rights". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  16. ^ "Max Baer reflects on his fight to open Hillbillies casino". The Nevada Appeal. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  17. ^ "'Jethro' Buys Land for Nevada Casino". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  18. ^ "News Updates". Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  19. ^ "'Beverly Hillbillies' actor sues CBS over chain". Associated Press. December 12, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2024 – via Ocala StarBanner.
  20. ^ Thomas, Bob (July 7, 2003). "Ebsen, who played Jed Clampett, Barnaby Jones, many others, dies". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  21. ^ "Girlfriend of ex-'Hillbillies' star Baer commits suicide". Las Vegas Review-Journal. February 1, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  22. ^ Vigil, Jennifer (May 29, 2014). "Accused Father 'Nervous, Upset' Over Son Bringing Gun to Chula Vista Campus". Times of San Diego. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  23. ^ Clark, Jerry (January 2, 2015). "Max Baer Jr. On Donna Douglas: 'She Was Elly May Until The Day She Died'". RumorFix - The Anti Tabloid. Retrieved May 6, 2016.

External links[edit]

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