Max Baer Jr. rocketed to fame when he was cast as Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies. However, Baer soon learned that a meteoric rise to fame would not guarantee success for the rest of his life.

During an interview, Baer confessed that even after nine years of dominating television on the hit sitcom, he couldn’t seem to find any acting work after the show was canceled.

“After The Beverly Hillbillies ended, I couldn’t even get a job,” Baer said during an interview with The Copley News Service. “I did two Love American Style’s and a Movie of the Week, and that’s all.”

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Baer’s dry spell was so difficult that he even considered leaving the acting business altogether in an effort to make more money.

“I was thinking of trying to get a job selling cars,” said the actor. “During that period, if I’d made as much as $5,000 a year, I would have thought I was on Easy Street. I would have been rolling.”

Luckily, that didn’t happen. Instead, Baer focused his effort and talents toward work behind the camera. He found success as a screenwriter, writing hit films like Macon County Line (1974) and The Wild McCullochs (1975).

Even with his success as a screenwriter, Baer never forgot his first true love: performing for an audience.

“I like writing and directing and producing, but I still like acting, too,” said the actor. “I like it all, because I like the feeling of people knowing who I am.”