The Only Major Actor Still Alive From ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’

The Beverly Hillbillies of the ‘60s featured a story about a poor family from the Ozarks who then move to Beverly Hills after getting rich. The nine-season show featured actors like Donna Douglas, Irene Ryan, Max Baer, Nancy Kulp, Harriet McGibson, and many more.

It has been 53 years since the finale, and many of the cast are long gone except for Max Baer, who turned 86 last December. He came from an affluent family, with his father preceding a successful career in Hollywood, which arguably paved the way for Max.

The only major actor still alive from ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’

In 1974, Max decided to take charge of his cast-type narrative and collaborated with filmmaker Richard Compton to make Macon County Line. The hicksploitation film featured Max as a Georgia sheriff who sought to avenge his wife’s death by some wrongly accused Yankee interlopers. Macon County Line made $19 million at the US box office from its $225,000 budget.

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Being a goal-getter, Max struck another deal with Warner Bros. for 1976’s Ode to Billie Joe, based on Bobbie Gentry’s hit track. After a multi-million settlement over a supposed adaptation of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” which never happened, Max moved to Lake Tahoe, Nevada as a resort and casino owner. He sometimes plays golf and jokes about becoming a hitman.

The Beverly Hillbillies made history as one of the top 20 most-watched TV programs of its time, with 16 episodes that are still among the top 100 today. The series received numerous accolades including seven Emmy nods and a Logie Award win for Best Overseas Show. Although Max played Jethro in the 274 episodes of the original show, he did not reprise his role in 1981’s TV movie Return of the Beverly Hillbillies and had his character recast.

Max was quite close with his late co-stars, including Buddy Ebsen, with whom he was best buddies until Ebsen died from pneumonia in 2003. “I tiptoed in. Buddy was lying there with his eye shut and a catheter in him. I put my hand on his head, and he says, ‘Jethro.’ It was so sweet,” he recalled to The Courier-Journal in 2008. Donna’s death from pancreatic cancer nearly a decade ago has left Max as the only surviving member of The Beverly Hillbillies cast.