o most fans, Donna Douglas was forever Elly May Clampett—the sweet, animal-loving country girl in pigtails and blue jeans. But decades after The Beverly Hillbillies ended, Douglas found herself back in the spotlight for a very different reason: a Hollywood lawsuit that drew headlines and surprised even longtime admirers.
In the early 1990s, Douglas filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against Disney and Whoopi Goldberg, alleging that Sister Act was based on a screenplay she had co-written years earlier. According to Douglas, her script shared too many similarities with the hit film’s premise of a lounge singer hiding in a convent. The case dragged on in court, with Douglas passionately defending her intellectual property.
Though the lawsuit was ultimately unsuccessful, it revealed a different side of Douglas—determined, assertive, and unwilling to let Hollywood giants brush her aside. For fans used to seeing her as Elly May, the legal battle was both surprising and oddly fitting. Elly May was never a pushover, and neither was Donna Douglas.
After the lawsuit, Douglas shifted her career into public speaking, gospel music, and Christian children’s books. She also embraced fan conventions, where she happily reminisced about her Clampett days while also sharing her post-Hollywood journey.
The case may not have changed the outcome of Sister Act, but it cemented Douglas as more than just a TV actress. She became a symbol of resilience, someone unafraid to stand up to the biggest studios in the world—even if the odds were stacked against her.
