Yes, that Buddy Ebsen. The actor best known as Jed Clampett and Barnaby Jones was a Girl Scout. Ebsen especially delighted in takin’ the young-uns down to the ocean or the backyard ce-ment pond.
Early Career
A talented dancer and with many stage and movie credits, Ebsen was cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz but had to drop out when he had a near-fatal reaction the aluminum-based makeup.
According to official US Coast Guard publications:
After recovering, Ebsen was embroiled in a contract dispute that left him idle for a while. He took up sailing and completed a navigation course cum laude, becoming so proficient that he taught the subject to naval officer candidates. A solid knowledge of celestial navigation and basic seamanship was enough expertise for him to join the Navy, but he was rejected twice.
My Coast Guard
Coast Guard Years
As World War II loomed, Ebsen joined the US Coast Guard. He was assigned to a weather patrol frigate, the USS Pocatello and soon put his skills to work.
Ebsen asked for and received permission from Pocatello’s commanding officer to bring aboard costumes, props, and musical instruments. In addition to his official duties, Ebsen wrote, cast, and directed vaudeville shows, band concerts, and musical plays aboard Pocatello. … A break from the monotony of weather patrol duty, the crew greatly enjoyed this entertainment.
My Coast Guard
Ebsen particularly remembered being called to battle stations in the middle of a performance of the light opera HMS Pinafore and the entire cast took up positions still in costume.
Troop Beverly Hillbillies?
When Ebsen moved to California in 1962 to film the Beverly Hillbillies, He made sure that daughters Susannah, Catherine, and Bonnie joined local Girl Scout troops. He had been a Boy Scout himself, and hoped membership would help his daughters make new friends.
He helped his daughters’ troops with their boating, camping, and dramatics badges, joining them on overnight adventures.
We all know that one of the aims of Scouting is to develop responsibility in girls, and that is my whole approach. When we go camping, the girls dig their own fire pits, cut their own firewood, dig their own latrines, haul their own water. When they need help, adults are there to give it to them but I try to set a course and then I develop a tremendous lazy streak.
Leader Magazine, May 1963
Ebsen taught the Girl Scouts the same navigation skills as the Naval officers. His young crews were well trained, and he happily stepped aside while the girls read compasses and charted courses for regular excursions around Catalina Island.
Ebsen remained an avid sailor until his death in 2003.
I reached out to two of his daughters for comment (Were they Mariner Girl Scouts?) but received no reply.
Buddy Ebsen truly was “Man Enough to be a Girl Scout.”
© 2026 Ann Robertson, writer, editor, Girl Scout historian, but NOT a Girl Scout employee.
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