Feb. 14, 1963 - Max Baer, the former heavyweight champion, always wanted to be an actor more than a fighter. He starred in a film called “The Prizefighter and the Lady” in 1933, but he was more of a ham than an actor. His son, however, one of the stars of the hit show “The Beverly Hillbillies,” is the real thing as an actor. Max Jr. (left with Donna Douglas) plays two different parts on the show. As Jethroe, he is as amiable a birdbrain as ever came out of the hills. Occasionally, the script will call for him to don a wig and become Jethreen, Jethroe’s twin sister. As Max is 6 ft. 4 in. tall, he is transformed into the biggest mountain gal who ever tried to trap a mate. In an interview today, Max. Jr. said he never wanted to be a fighter like his dad, only an actor. “He hit me once,” Max Jr. said with a grin, “and I went the way of all the other folk. We were horsing around in the backyard, and he said, ‘Any time you want to take a swing at your old man, go ahead!’ ‘OK, pop,’ I said. And that’s the last I remembered for awhile. Now you ask why I never became a fighter? After that, I let somebody else take the punches. Not me!”
