Buddy Ebsen, who played the easygoing patriarch of The Beverly Hillbillies, has died. He was 95.

In his most well-known role, Ebsen portrayed Jed Clampett, the amiable father of a newly wealthy Appalachian family transplanted to Beverly Hills. The Beverly Hillbillies was watched by as many as 60 million viewers on CBS for ten seasons. He returned to television stardom in 1973 as Barnaby Jones, a private investigator forced out of retirement to solve the murder of his son Hal, who had taken over the business.

Ebsen began his career in entertainment as a chorus dancer on Broadway, which led to a film contract with MGM in the 1930's. Ebsen was originally cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, but fell ill after ten days of filming due to an allergic reaction to the costume's aluminum makeup. Later, he was recommended by director Norman Foster to Walt Disney to play Davey Crockett. The role had already been cast, but Ebsen became Crockett's sidekick George Russel. The series became a smash hit; millions of children began to wear coonskin caps and singing the show's theme.

In his last screen appearance, Ebsen made a cameo as Barnaby Jones in the 1993 film adaptation of The Beverly Hillbillies.