Max Baer is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He
is best known for playing Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies and in
January 2015, after the death of Donna Douglas, Baer became the last surviving
member of the show's cast. Early life
Baer was born Maximilian Adalbert Baer Jr. in Oakland, California, the son of
boxing champion Max Baer and his wife Mary Ellen Sullivan. His father was of
Jewish and Scots-Irish descent. His brother and sister are James Manny Baer
and Maude Baer. His uncle was boxer and actor Buddy Baer.
He attended Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento.
Baer earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Santa Clara
University, with a minor in philosophy. Career
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 20s, and 77 Sunset
Strip. His career took off two years later, when he joined the cast of The
Beverly Hillbillies. = The Beverly Hillbillies=
In 1962, Baer was cast in the role of the doltish "Jethro Bodine," Jed
Clampett's cousin's son. It proved to be the high point of his acting career and
the role for which he is best remembered. He continued to take other
parts during the nine-year run of The Beverly Hillbilles and appeared on the
television programs Vacation Playhouse and Love, American Style, as well as in
the western A Time for Killing. With the January 2015 death of co-star
Donna Douglas, Baer is the only surviving cast member.
= Later career= The Beverly Hillbillies went off the air
in 1971, and Baer made numerous guest appearances on television. To counter
typecasting, he concentrated on working in feature motion pictures.
Baer wrote and produced the drama Macon County Line, in which he played Deputy
Reed Morgan. It was the highest-grossing movie per dollar invested at the time.
Made for just $110,000, it earned almost $25 million at the box office. This
record lasted until The Blair Witch Project broke it in 1999.
Baer also wrote, produced, and directed the drama The Wild McCullochs, as well
as playing the role Culver Robinson. He then had the idea of using the title
of a popular song as a movie title and acquired the rights to the Bobbie Gentry
hit song and producing Ode to Billy Joe. Made for US$1.1 million, it grossed $27
million at the box office, plus earnings in excess of $2.65 million outside the
US, $4.75 million from television, and $2.5 million from video. The film
starred Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor.
Since the success of Ode to Billy Joe, the motion picture industry has produced
more than 100 song title movies. Baer decided to pursue 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 $2
million. He directed the comedy Hometown USA
before retiring to his home at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He still makes occasional
guest appearances on television. Baer has expressed that playing Jethro
Bodine sank his acting career. When Paul Henning asked him to reprise the role
for a 1981 television movie, he declined. Yet when the feature film The
Beverly Hillbillies was made twelve years later, reports cited Baer's
dissatisfaction that only Buddy Ebsen was asked to do a cameo. Baer appeared
in the 1993 TV special, "The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies," reprising his
role as Jethro. By 2004, Baer recognized the marketability of The Beverly
Hillbillies and appeared with actress Donna Douglas at the annual "TV Land
Awards." = Jethro's Casino=
In 1985, Baer began investigating the gambling industry. He noted that
tourists paid a $5 to $6 admission to tour the "Ponderosa Ranch", which was
the location for filming some episodes of TV's Bonanza. There was nothing to
see but a working cattle ranch, but people enjoyed it 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 has been $1
million. Sixty-five Beverly Hillbillies slot machines were built in 1999 and
placed in 10 casinos. 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,
Baer announced the sale of the property and the purchase of another parcel just
outside of Carson City, in neighboring Douglas County, where he expected less
resistance to his plans. Baer purchased a 2.5-acre parcel in north Douglas
County for $1.2 million, and will purchase an additional 20 acres once he
has obtained the required zoning variances. The plans are for a
40,000-square-foot 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.
Plans for Baer's casino included a 200-foot-tall mock oil derrick spouting
a 20 to 30-foot flame. References
External links Max Baer, Jr at the Internet Movie
Database Max Baer, Jr. at AllMovie
Official site of Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Mansion & Casino
Watch Max Baer in Jethro's First Love