‘Beverly Hillbillies’ star charms Thibodaux crowd
THIBODAUX — Trust in God. Stay true to yourself.
Those were the inner principles that guided Donna Douglas, who achieved fame as Elly May Clampett in the starring role of the “Beverly Hillbillies,” through her life.
“Don’t ever let go of your joy, no matter what’s going around you,” said Douglas, keynote speaker at the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet Thursday evening at the Warren J. Harang Jr. Municipal Auditorium. “Nobody can be a better friend than you.”
Clad in a pink ruffled blouse and black skirt, her long trademark blonde curls were carefully arranged to cascade down her back.
Douglass played the tomboy bombshell daughter in the hit sitcom, which chronicled a country family that relocates to Beverly Hills after striking it rich from an oil find. Originally running from 1962 to 1971, it was the top-ranked show on television for its first two years and has become an American institution in syndication.
Her beginnings were modest, Douglas told the crowd, growing up in a poor rural area near Baton Rouge. Married at 17 and divorced not long afterwards, she was ready for a change of scenery to try and help out at home.
“The farthest north I had ever been was Shreveport,” she said. “Once. On a bus.”
But she boarded a plane to New York and made a promise to Jesus, who she explained had guided her through sickness as a child.
“I made a commitment to God that if I do the best that I could do, God will take care of me,” she said.
Once in New York, she found non-speaking parts and modeling roles that helped bring in a paycheck.
Before she knew it, she was winner of the “Miss Byline” award from local photographers and reporters. Next came the Ed Sullivan show, then Hollywood screen tests for speaking parts. After a few small parts on TV, she finally captured her breakout role as Elly May.
She turned down jobs she felt would undermine her dignity, such as a gig that would have required for her to parade in a bathing suit or take a married man to dinner. She turned down a meeting for drinks with a big Hollywood kahuna one night because she’d already washed her hair and put on her pajamas.
A willing heart and humble spirit can help God shape your life, she said, a message she summed up in a brief a capella performance for the crowd.
“I’ve got news, you can choose,” she sang. “Life doesn’t have to be the same: You can change.”
Douglas took plenty of time to take pictures, give hugs and talk with fans, ranging from Thibodaux Mayor Charles Caillouet to the entire catering crew.
Today, Douglas keeps a full speaking schedule, telling her story both to those who remember her show in black-and-white or in reruns. She also loves riding her large tractor on her property and cheering for the New Orleans Saints, as well as the LSU football and baseball teams. She still lives outside Baton Rouge and is putting together a children’s book. She didn’t speak of any current showbiz projects, though she said she enjoyed the recent Sandra Bullock film, “The Blind Side,” about a family that fosters high-school football player and top college pick Michael Oher.
But she doesn’t envy the high-pressure environment of Hollywood today, she says.
“I thank God I was on a show when I was,” she said. “Then, we didn’t show any cleavage, any tummy buttons.”
