Buddy Ebsen

A middle child with four sisters, Buddy Ebsen was born as Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr., on April 2, 1908, in Belleville, Illinois. His father, Christian Ludolf Ebsen Sr., was born in Niebüll, Germany in 1872 and moved to the United States in 1888. Ebsen Sr. worked as a choreographer and was a physical fitness advocate; he owned a dance studio and subsequently operated a swimming pool for the local school district. His mother, Frances (née Wendt), was a Baltic German (specifically, Latvian) painter.

Ebsen was raised in Belleville until the age of ten when his family moved to Palm Beach County, Florida. In 1920, Ebsen and his family relocated to Orlando, Florida. Ebsen and his sisters learned to dance at a dance studio his father operated in Orlando.

During his high school years, Ebsen became a member of John M. Cheney Chapter, Order of DeMolay. His involvement as a teenager led to his being recognized by DeMolay in adult life with the award of the Legion of Honor Degree, and later by induction into the DeMolay Alumni Hall of Fame.

Ebsen graduated from Orlando High School in 1926. Initially interested in a medical career, Ebsen attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, from 1926 to 1927, and then Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, from 1927 to 1928. Family financial problems caused by the collapse of the Florida land boom forced Ebsen to leave college at age 20. Ebsen left Orlando in the summer of 1928 to try his luck as a dancer in New York City, arriving with only $26.75 in his pocket, and worked at a soda fountain shop. He and his sister Vilma Ebsen performed as a dance act in supper clubs and in vaudeville — they were known as "The Baby Astaires". On Broadway, the Ebsens appeared in the musicals Whoopee, Flying Colors, and Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. A rave review from New York columnist Walter Winchell, who saw them perform in Atlantic City, New Jersey, led to a booking at the Palace Theatre in New York City, the pinnacle of the vaudeville world.