Max Baer Jr. is an actor, businessman, director, writer and producer best known for his role as Jethro Bodine on the CBS sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.

Max was born on 4 December, 1937, the son of a world heavyweight boxing champion, Max Baer Sr. He grew up in Sacremento, California and earned a BA in business administration with a minor in philosophy from the University of Santa Clara

The role of Jethro Bodine came to Max while a contract actor for Warner Brothers in 1962. He auditioned for the part only after driving his roommate to the studio for the same part. At 6' 4", he's every bit as tall and hulking as the character of Jethro Bodine seemed to be. After The Beverly Hillbillies went off the air, Max wrote and produced the film Macon County Line, which grossed over $25 million on a $110,000 cash investment. His next film, Ode to Billy Joe was also wildly popular and yet another example of his excellent business skills. He also played a crime fighter in an unsold pilot, "The Asphalt Cowboy" in one of many attempts to shed the hillbilly image earned as 9 years as Jethro Bodine. Max retired in 1980 to his home in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Max's next big business venture is his own casino, Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Mansion and Casino. As you might imagine, the casino will be hillbilly-themed with much memorbilia from the TV show, which has been called tacky, insipid and a bad idea. The website for the casino is equally bad, but look for yourself: http://www.jethroscasino.com/


this info came from all over the web, but http://www.pcperspectives.com/hillbillies/jethro.html and imdb helped lots.