My father met Buddy Ebsen at Universal Studios years ago. Dad said that he was one of the most charismatic people he had ever encountered. I believe that Mr. Ebsen was also very conservative in his politics.
Yep, Ebsen was a Republican. When his castmate Nancy Kulp (Miss Jane, the bank president's secretary) ran on the Democrat ticket for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania, she had a radio commercial done which made it sound as if all her surviving castmates supported her candidacy (I'm not sure but I think Max Baer, Jr. and Donna Douglas were also Republicans, but just not as vocal as Ebsen was about their politics). So Ebsen had a commercial done for Kulp's Republican oppinent. This infuriated Kulp. And she lost. :-)
Maybe so. He would not support Nancy Culp (Miss Jane) when she ran for office.........