Raymond Bailey - Mr. Drysdale On The Beverly Hillbillies

Mr. Drysdale On The Beverly Hillbillies

Two years before he was cast as Milburn Drysdale, a greedy bank president, on the hit TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, Bailey appeared on the CBS sitcom My Sister Eileen with Shirley Bonne, Elaine Stritch, Jack Weston, Rose Marie, and Stubby Kaye. His character was D.X. Beaumont, the boss of Stritch's character Ruth Sherwood.

In The Beverly Hillbillies, Nancy Kulp portrayed Bailey's ever loyal and "by the book" secretary, Miss Jane Hathaway. Banker Drysdale managed the millions of dollars in oil money royalties in the bank account of country gentleman Jed Clampett (portrayed by Buddy Ebsen). Often, Mr. Drysdale would be required to talk with Clampett about how strange "city life" and "city folk" are (when compared to Mr. Clampett's view of "normal" country folk). On occasions when Mr. Clampett was considering withdrawing all his funds and returning to the country (his home near Bugtussle), the miserly Mr. Drysdale would often panic and work to try to convince him (and his unusual family) to remain in Beverly Hills (to great comedic effect). Interesting to note that before becoming an actor he, himself was a banker in Beverly Hills.

After the show went off the air in 1971, Bailey acted in a few less-noteworthy movie roles. He reportedly began suffering symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease, which visibly affected his performance in the last episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, and he was completely unable to work after 1975. In his final years he divided his time between a condo and a houseboat in Laguna Niguel, California, keeping in touch with former co-star Nancy Kulp (who he nicknamed 'Slim') but mostly reclusive.