Ryan took a bit of Granny home with her.
When an actor spends years portraying a character, some traits are bound to rub off. When Dennis Weaver— who spent years playing on Gunsmoke— departed from the show, he found himself beginning to limp every time a director began a scene, much like his character, Chester Goode.
Then there are cases like Andy Griffith, who was smart enough to inject some of himself into the character of Andy Taylor, which meant that no one batted an eye when they heard his Southern drawl in the Andy Griffith Show. Even Bonanza actor Lorne Greene gleaned something from his portrayal of Ben Cartwright, saying that portraying the role actually made him a better person.
While physically, Irene Ryan and Granny of The Beverly Hillbillies did not share many characteristics, that doesn’t mean that Ryan never walked away with any of the character’s traits.
Funnily enough, Ryan revealed in an interview with The Columbia Record that she occasionally moved like Granny at times. She said, “Sometimes when I’m tired, they tell me I walk like her.” She continued, “They know me because I’ve done so many other shows as Irene Ryan. I think Americans like me as myself just as well as ‘Granny.’ The character has been good to me.”
In an interview with the Lima Citizen, Ryan also revealed that she wasn’t just Granny on screen; some of the other cast would call her “Granny” as well. Ryan said, “There never comes a morning I don’t get ‘How’s my Granny,’ and a big kiss from Buddy [Ebsen].”
Ryan said of The Beverly Hillbillies, “It’s good, low-down farce comedy. And it makes people laugh.”
