Friday, January 02, 2015

Donna Douglas

Donna Douglas, star of hit show The Beverly Hillbillies, passed away Thursday night. She was 81.

Her granddaughter confirms to TMZ that she died at her home in Louisiana surrounded by friends and family. She starred on the CBS show for all nine seasons and returned for a reunion TV movie in 1981. In addition to playing Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, Douglas appeared in several other hit shows, including The Twilight Zone, Mister Ed and Route 66. She also co-starred with Elvis Presley in Frankie and Johnny.

Her big break came in 1962 when was cast as Elly May Clampett.

"No one ever had to tell me how to play Elly May when that part came along," Douglas told The Advocate. "They asked me if I could milk a goat and I said 'sure!' I knew everything about her. When I got that part, I thought my little heart would pop open."

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For Donna Douglas, it sounds as though art really did reflect life in a way.

The actress died Thursday at the age of 81 at her home in Louisiana and, while she was easily most famous for playing Elly May Clampett, the beautiful fish-out-of-water niece of an accidental oilman on The Beverly Hillbillies, Douglas enjoyed a fruitful career and in later years reflected on having had the type of life that she never would have dared to dream of having.

Still vivacious and famously platinum-blond, Douglas sat down with E! News back in 2000 and talked about her own small-town roots, none of which made her think she'd one day be a Hollywood star.

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The Thanksgiving episode

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