After Baer Jr. was noticed, he wanted to try acting. Despite knowing nothing about acting, he quickly signed his first one-year contract. Instead, he reasoned that he might as well go for it. He had modest parts and guest appearances on television in shows including 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, and Hawaiian Eye. Even though his career wasn’t taking off, he opted to stay, and soon he found himself with the best job he’d ever had: a sitcom about a country bumpkin family who become wealthy through oil. After an open audition, he landed the role of Jethro Bodine in The Beverly Hillbillies, receiving $1000 for the pilot and $500 for the following show.
“It’s extremely difficult to be subjective or objective about yourself when you play a part like Jethro,” Baer Jr told Medium. “You simply do the best you can with the material you’re given, and then you attempt to contribute to it [with your performance] as much as possible. Yet, in the end, the audience has the final word. We liked what you did or we didn’t like what you did. And you don’t have any other method of assessing it.” The show was a big success at this time. Baer never made more than $800 per episode, but he had a special place in the hearts of the American television audience.Max Baer Jr. felt he was doing well and, more importantly, making people laugh.
“You must perform well. And, in my situation, it’s fine if I’ve made people laugh, even if it’s at my expense. “I don’t care,” remarked Baer Jr. “They can laugh with or at me. It makes no difference as long as they laugh. So if I can make them laugh, I’ll consider my performance a success. I don’t know what level of success it achieved. Yet I can say it accomplished its purpose.” A feature-length remake of the iconic TV show starring Dolly Parton debuted in 1993. Regrettably, it did not enjoy the same level of success. Honestly, it’s hard to believe after they cast someone else in the part of Jethro. On Beverly Hillbillies, celebrated actress Donna Douglas portrayed mountain beauty Elly May Clampett. In 2013, she applauded Max Baer Jr. for his outstanding performance as Jethro, who may not have been the brightest bulb in the bulb box.
