Actress Donna Douglas, who died of pancreatic cancer at 82 in 2015, was best known as the critter-loving Elly May Clampett on TV’s classic country sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. But just before she began work on that legendary series in 1962, Douglas was in a car accident that resulted in an intense case of whiplash.
A Closer Look
Before she was cast on The Beverly Hillbillies, Donna Douglas received a severe injury to her neck when a vehicle rear-ended her car, which was stopped at a traffic light. Creator Paul Henning had selected Douglas to play Elly May out of several candidates and so much wanted to place in her the show that he held up production until her full recovery.
In a conversation with Talk of the Town, Douglas recalled her Elly May audition. “Beverly Hillbillies was like a slice out of my life. It really was,” she observed. When the series opportunity arrived, the actress was “thrilled to get the…part.”
“I was interviewed along with about 500 other girls, and they narrowed it down to six,” she recalled. “The day I went up for the part of Elly May, I was in an automobile accident on my way home.”
Before going home, Douglas stopped at a garage to get an oil change, and that’s when the accident occurred.
“A pretty well-known actor was driving a big ole’ black Bently, and I was put in the hospital for 17 days,” Douglas said. “All I could say was ‘Oh Dear God, please [give] me the chance to get out [of the] hospital and get a chance at that part.’ I was really happy.”
Upon her discharge from the hospital, Douglas learned that if she failed to complete the audition process, the chance to play Elly May would be gone.
As she continued to recall, “The day I got out of the hospital, they said you [have to] test in three days, or you’ll lose the part. Better know, I was a little wobbly, but I was there.”
During the audition, Douglas, who is also best known for her famed appearance in The Twilight Zone episode, “The Eye of the Beholder,” was asked if she had ever milked a goat. Although doing so was not yet a part of her life experience at the time, Douglas milked the moment, so to speak. She aced the audition by conducting the goat procedure without a hitch and got the part.
Frankie, Johnny, and Elly May
Once cast as Elly May on The Beverly Hillbillies, Donna Douglas was allowed to perform in other roles. For example, she starred with Elvis Presley in the hit movie musical, Frankie and Johnny, which premiered on March 1, 1966. (Although Eileen Wilson’s voice was dubbed for Douglas for the musical sequences (and is also heard on the soundtrack album.)
Following the Hillbillies
After The Beverly Hillbillies ended in 1971, Donna Douglas made a few other TV guest appearances on shows like McMillan & Wife. But she found her greatest success, post-Elly May, as a realtor, if still gaining new generations of fans who discovered and rediscovered The Beverly Hillbillies.
“People tell me all the time, they wish television shows were made like that today,” she said. “It makes me happy and proud to have been a part of that. Those were good years for me.”
Later in life, Douglas charmed fans at various Hollywood collector shows. She would autograph photos of her days on The Beverly Hillbillies, whistle, and say things like, “Ya’ll come back now! Hear?!” and “This has been a Filmways Presentation!” which were two of the show’s closing sign-offs.
Lasting Impression
In an interview shortly before she passed away, Donna Douglas said she “never had any desire to be an actress…just a wife and perhaps a mother; those were my thoughts growing up. I only had a pinch of modeling back home [before] leaving for New York. Once there, I slowly built up my portfolio book with photos, got a job, here, a job there…illustration modeling.”
“I knew I didn’t want to be a fashion model,” she said. “But I could hold up a tube of toothpaste and smile into the camera.”
