Donna Douglas, Elly May Clampett on ‘Beverly Hillbillies,’ Dies at 81

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crazypipe

Lifer
Sep 23, 2012
3,484
0
© Provided by Variety

Donna Douglas, who played the ditsy Elly May Clampett on “The Beverly Hillbillies,” has died at the age of 81, according to a report by CBS affiliate WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, La.

Douglas starred as the naive only daughter of oil-rich Clampett clan in the CBS sitcom that ran from 1962 to 1971. Buddy Ebsen played patriarch Jed Clampett, who moves the family from the Ozarks to Beverly Hills after stumbling into oil riches.

Douglas’ Elly May was known for her love of all kinds of “critters,” as well as for her shapely figure, form-fitting jeans and cascade of blond curls. She was a series regular through the run of the top-rated show, which was the first in a triptych of corny countrified sitcoms from creator Paul Henning that also included “Petticoat Junction” and “Green Acres.”

Douglas was a Louisiana native who moved into acting after winning several beauty pageants in her home state. She was crowned Miss Baton Rouge and Miss New Orleans in 1957, according to WAFB.

Douglas logged a slew of TV guest shots in the late 1950s and early ’60s before landing on “Beverly Hillbillies.” She did everything from “Bachelor Father” to “Route 66″ and “77 Sunset Strip” to two episodes of “The Twilight Zone.” She had a memorable if brief role in the famed 1960 “Twilight Zone” episode “Eye of the Beholder,” a commentary on conformity and ideals of beauty.

Douglas was revealed at the end as the woman who was disappointed after undergoing plastic surgery because she did not achieve pig-like snout and other features considered to be attractive in the fantasy realm of the episode penned by series creator Rod Serling.

During the run of “Hillbillies,” Douglas had a guest shot on the gritty CBS legal drama “The Defenders.” She co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1966 pic “Frankie and Johnny.”

After “Hillbillies” ended, Douglas guested on another Serling series, “Night Gallery,” and was seen in episodes of “McMillan and Wife,” “Adam-12″ and “Project UFO.”

But her acting career was on the wane by the mid-1970s. In recent decades she’s mostly been seen in “Beverly Hillbillies” revival projects, including the 1981 telepic “The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies,” and in vintage TV retrospectives and events.

 

tbradsim1

Lifer
Jan 14, 2012
9,093
11,011
Southwest Louisiana
Saw her and loved her acting on The Hillbillies, she was a frequent visitor to BucksBills Fun Fair park in Baton Rouge where I brought my kids. Never heard bad crap about her. People in and around Baton Rouge were proud of her. You were Loved.

 

newbroom

Lifer
Jul 11, 2014
6,087
6,394
Florida
This woman was one of the first who stirred my sexual impulses urges. Must have been just at my adolescence.

The way you fill them blue jeans, baby, my, my , my!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Somehow I am having difficulty putting Ellie Mae together with the age of eighty one, much less with her passing.

She'll always be one beautiful young country gal to me.

 

mephistopheles

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 14, 2014
545
0
:( I grew up watching The Beverly Hillbillies. I still watch it occasionally. She really was a beautiful woman and her silliness always made me smile.

 

tanless1

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 14, 2010
643
1
Jimmy dikens, Donna douglas....larry storch ought to lay low for a couple weeks, just to be safe.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,249
108,349
Love those Louisiana girls. My first love was from New Orleans, but my first crush was Donna Douglas. She made me laugh, and made me love tight jeans. Rest in peace Mon Cher.

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,070
Maryland
postimg.cc
RIP. She was the lone bright spot on The Beverly Hillbillies...
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