Although the Beverly hillbillies was a show that was popular many years ago, it is still one that is known today. We remember many of the actors, including the actor who played Jethro Bodine.
He was well known for his role in The Beverly Hillbillies, but many people have lost touch with him since that time. These days, he is still living a good life, but he isn’t doing it as part of the Clampett family, he is doing it on his own.
Max Baer Jr, the actor that played Jethro Bodine in The Beverly Hillbillies is now 85 years old. He was known as playing the part in that television show as the son of Jed Clampett.
If you aren’t familiar with the premise of the show, it involved the Clampett family, with Jed Clampett as the father who were living in the hills. As hillbillies, they didn’t have much but after they discovered oil on their property, they began accumulating wealth and soon moved to Beverly Hills, California.
Despite the fact that they were living in a large mansion, they still continued to live a hillbilly lifestyle. This included Max, who was known for his big smile and his charismatic looks. He convinced everyone that he was the real deal as Jethro.
In reality, he was an actor who needed to learn how to play the part, so he was listening to records of Andy Griffith and Jonathan Winters to get the right accent. He also had to keep a somewhat perplexed look on his face at all times, which was part of what made him funny.
In the end, he was able to become somewhat of a legend and he was well known for his part on the show. Unfortunately, his life didn’t quite go as well as it could after the show ended.
He was born in 1937 in Oakland, California. He decided he wanted to have a career in Hollywood, and he got a good role in The Beverly Hillbillies.
He earned $1000 for the pilot episode and for every other show, he earned $500 each. He also was typecast in the role, which was a problem.
He said: “When you play a role like Jethro it’s for other people to judge because it’s pretty hard to be subjective or objective about yourself.
“You just do the best you can with the material that you’re given, and then you try to add to it [with your performance] as much as you possibly can. But in the end, it’s the audience who has the final say. Well, we liked what you did’ or ‘We don’t like what you did.’ And you really don’t have any other way of evaluating it.
“Dad had hoped to become an actor and, as everyone knows, he became a boxer. I wanted to be a lawyer and here I am acting. The show has done a lot for my career. The exposure will help insure work for me in the future, too. And someday I hope to prove I can play something besides a hillbilly.
Max is no longer working in the entertainment industry. He moved to Tahoe and has been living a quiet life for the past few years. Many fans have wondered what happened to him, but there is not much known about his life at this time.
He did give an interview in his Tahoe home recently and seems to be doing well for his age. We just hope that he is able to live a happy life for the rest of his years.
