Episode # 131: Kiki Ebsen (Buddy Ebsen)

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Kiki Ebsen, daughter of the great Buddy Ebsen. Now, originally, I was going to say the great actor Buddy Ebsen and he definitely was a great actor. But after talking to Kiki we learned that not only did her father act but he also danced, he sang, he wrote books, he was a master sailor of catamarans and he had great comic skills. Some of this we might have known from shows like The Beverly Hillbillies or Barnaby Jones but did you know Buddy Ebsen’s career began when he was discovered by newsman Walter Winchell with his sister as part of a dancing team? Or he was cast in the original The Wizard of Oz but wasn’t able to be on screen due to reasons we discuss with Kiki? Or that he was the test case for Walt Disney and modern animatronics? No? Well keep listening.

We spoke to Kiki about her upcoming June residency at the El Portal Theater in Los Angeles each Friday in June for her one woman show about her father, My Buddy, The Other Side of Oz. Part memoir, part cabaret and part tribute to her father, the show showcases Kiki’s storytelling but her singing as well. It’s a love of music that led her to Cal Arts which then led in quick succession a job on the road with the band Chicago and then gigs with Tracy Chapman, Boz Scaggs, Christopher Cross & Al Jarreau among others. Working as a professional musician for other people led Kiki to record nine of her own solo albums in the past decade or so and just recently licensing her songs from the 80s to a label who will release them later this year.

Along the way we talk about shows & movies like Matt Houston, Davy Crockett, Tom Sawyer, The Kent Chronicles as well as actors Lee Meriwether, Mike Connors, James Arness and more. It was a blast talking to Kiki for this episode and we certainly hope you will like it too. So take a listen to the Rarified Heir podcast with Kiki Ebsen, coming up right now. Everyone has a story.