Donna Douglas, who played the ditsy Elly May Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies," died Friday at her home in Zachary, La., according to a report by CBS affiliate WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, La. She was 81.
Douglas starred as the naive only daughter of the oil-rich Clampett clan in the CBS sitcom that ran from 1962 to 1971. Buddy Ebsen played patriarch Jed Clampett, who moves his 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. The actress was a series regular throughout the run of the top-rated show, which was the first in a triptych of corny countrified sitcoms from creator Paul Henning that included "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres."
Elly May's love of "critters" was inspired by Douglas' real-life affection for animals, having grown up on her grandparents' farm in rural Louisiana.
As a teenager, Douglas 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. She moved to New York to pursue acting and landed work as a model, in TV commercials and finally bit parts on "The Perry Como Show" and "The Steve Allen Show."
Douglas logged a slew of TV guest shots in the late 1950s and early
'60s before landing on "Beverly Hillbillies."