So, picture this: it’s 2019, and you’re scrolling through your news feed, expecting stories about avocado toast trends or which celebrity wore a trash bag to an awards show. Instead, BAM, you get hit with the news that Max Baer Jr.—the guy who played the loveable dimwit Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies—was not dead. Yes, you read that right. In 2019, a wave of obituaries and funeral announcements for Max Baer Jr. started popping up online, sending fans into a panic. The only problem? The man was still very much alive, probably sipping a martini and laughing all the way to the bank.
Let’s rewind the tape for a second. Max Baer Jr. is the son of the legendary heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer, but he made his own name playing Jethro Bodine—the muscle-bound, gravy-loving, simple-minded cousin of Ellie May. For nine seasons, Jethro was the heart of the show’s silly charm, from his obsession with “cee-ment” ponds to his delusions of being a Hollywood stud. And in 2019, that same Jethro became the unwitting star of a bizarre hoax. Someone, somewhere, decided to manufacture a funeral for a man who was still ordering room service in Vegas.
Why would anyone fake an obituary for a fictional character actor? Well, the internet is a weird, wild place where truth goes to die and be resurrected as clickbait. In this case, a handful of sketchy websites—the kind that also promise you a free iPhone if you just click here—posted Max Baer Jr.’s “passing” with all the solemnity of a clown car. They even included funeral details and quotes from tearful fans. One headline read, “Max Baer Jr. Dies at 81; Jethro Bodine Actor Leaves Behind Legacy.” Only he hadn’t left anything behind except a good lawyer.
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The Obituary That Wasn’t
Here’s the surprising fact: Max Baer Jr. was actually 81 at the time—but he wasn’t dead. He was alive, well, and probably grumbling about how much those fake obituaries would cost him in stress. See, these hoax obituaries are a common scam. They get shared thousands of times, driving traffic to ad-laden sites, and then the actor or their family has to spend days telling reporters, “Nope, still breathing, thanks for asking.” It’s like a ghost story where the ghost is just a glitchy algorithm.
Remember the time in 2016 when everyone “died” on Twitter? Betty White, Abe Vigoda, and now Max Baer Jr. all got the digital dirt-nap treatment. But Max’s case was special because the funeral details were so specific. One site claimed he’d be buried in a gold-plated coffin next to his father’s boxing trophy. Another said the service was in Burbank, California—a location he hadn’t visited since the 1970s. I half-expected them to list the casserole menu.
Can't hold back tears at the legendary actor Max Baer Jr.'s funeral
The Man Behind the Jethro Mask
Let’s talk about Max Baer Jr. himself for a second, because this guy is way more interesting than a fake funeral. After The Beverly Hillbillies ended, he didn’t just fade into obscurity. Nope. He became a real estate mogul and a casino developer. That’s right: Jethro, the guy who couldn’t count past ten without using his toes, built a hotel-casino in Nevada called the Beverly Hillbillies themed joint. It failed, but the audacity deserves a round of applause.
In his later years, Max Baer Jr. lived quietly in Las Vegas, collecting royalties and occasionally flipping burgers at a charity event. He once told a reporter that people still yell “Jethro!” at him from pickup trucks, and he just tips his hat. The 2019 obituary hoax probably made him think, “Well, at least they remembered my name.” But let’s be real: if you’re going to fake a death, at least wait until the actor is in a coma. Max was hosting a poker game when the news broke.
The Anatomy of a Hoax
How did this happen? It’s a three-step recipe: First, a bot or a bored teenager scrapes Wikipedia for biographical facts. Then, they plug them into a template obituary that says “beloved actor” and “survived by nobody.” Finally, they hit publish and watch the clicks pour in. The 2019 Max Baer Jr. obituary even had a fake photo of a cemetery—probably a stock image of a sad flower vase. The irony? Jethro would have loved the attention, even if it meant buying a pre-need plot.
Max Baer Funeral
When the real Max Baer Jr. got wind of his own funeral, he reportedly laughed it off. His publicist issued a statement saying, “Max is alive, well, and not planning any departures anytime soon.” And the internet shrugged and moved on to the next celebrity death hoax—which was, of course, Keith Richards for the 47th time.
The Takeaway
So, what did we learn from this 2019 saga? First, never trust a pop-up obituary. Second, Max Baer Jr. is a testament to the fact that Jethro’s spirit lives on—goofy, indestructible, and impossible to kill with bad journalism. The man who taught us that “cee-ment ponds” are a viable career choice is still out there, probably eating a big bowl of grits and smiling at the chaos. And if you see a story about his funeral again? Just remember: Jethro never stays down.
May your coffee be strong, your obituaries be real, and your gold-plated coffins stay on the shelf. Until the next hoax, folks.