Interesting Facts About The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies might be one of the more recognizable TV families that you know of, but there are quite a few things that maybe you don’t know about. The show’s producers decided to hide a few things here and there from their fans for one reason or another. We set out to track down interesting facts about the Clampetts and their many adventures. This is what we came up with…
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
According to many reports, Buddy Ebsen was only offered the role as Jed Clampett based on his performance as Doc Golightly in the hit film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. We can only imagine it was pretty fantastic to work alongside Audrey Hepburn in that film, then move on to working with Donna Douglas in your next project.
Moving on to bigger and better things
Do you remember the staunchly prude character of Miss Hathaway played by Nancy Kulp? Well, this may not come as much of a shock to you but after her role as the assistant/secretary of Milburn Drysdale, the greedy banker Clampetts, she actually went on to have a career in politics. Kulp went on to run for a seat on the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, she lost.
Booming Blue Jeans
Ms. Donna Douglwas who played the role of Elly May Clampett was quite the object of desire during her time with the Beverly Hillbillies. Maybe it was because she came across as the everyday girl next door wearing her blue jeans and wearing pig-tails. It turns out she made a huge impact on the sales of Levi blue jeans. One executive even went as far as to say that “Donna Douglas had done more for the sale of blue jeans in one year than cowboys and done in a hundred.”
Bourbon for The Duke
The Duke, John Wayne himself makes a cameo appearance during the “Indians are Coming” episode from the fifth season. Granny kept talking throughout the episode that she sure hoped the famous cowboy would show up to help them fight the Indians. Later in the episode, he actually shows up and surprises everyone. The Duke didn’t want any money for his small role, instead, he wanted a fifth of Bourbon whiskey as his payment.
Talk about a bargain
This might seem a little fishy, but according to reports, it’s all true. The mansion that the Clampetts moved to in Beverly Hills after striking oil back on their land looked like the biggest house you’d ever seen when on TV. It turns out it was quite the spread in real life too. The creator of the show Paul Henning reported only paid $500 to film in this massive home in Bel Air! How about that for a bargain!
Cooking roadkill with Granny
Granny was one of the most interesting characters in the show and usually the one that got the most Laughs. She was constantly making remarks regarding her cooking roadkill, “vittles”, and whatever else she could get her hands on. Well, there was actually a cookbook published called “Granny’s Beverly Hillbillies Cookbook” that used recipes inspired from Granny’s actual cooking.
Didn’t see eye to eye
As we mentioned before, Nancy Kulp, who played Miss Hathaway, went into a career of politics after her television career. But Buddy Ebsen who played the star of the show, Jed Clampett, didn’t agree with her policies. He even went as far as to create a radio campaign in support of her opponent when she ran for a seat on the House of Representatives that actually played a major part in her losing. The two never got along very well while on set either.
The secret location
As we mentioned before, the show’s creator got a great deal when it came to the mansion used for filming. Just a few months before the show was scheduled to air, the owner of the house Arnold Kirkeby was killed in a plane crash. Executives of the show worried that they wouldn’t be able to continue to shoot there, but the wife allowed them to continue as long as her address was never revealed.
Buddy’s Cameo
After Buddy Ebsen completed his role as Jed Clampett he later landed a role as Barnaby Jones in the self-titled private detective sitcom. It was a popular role, but in most people’s eyes not compared to his role as Jed. When Hollywood decided to make a big screen production of the Beverly Hillbillies in 1993 Ebsen made a cameo in the film, but not as Jed like you would expect. Instead, he came back as Barnaby Jones.
Unable to move on bigger and better things
Max Baer Jr. who fantastically played the part of Jethro Bodine was unable to get lined up with any other acting jobs after the Beverly Hillbillies closed down production. Baer Jr. blame it on the fact that he was cast as the dimwit hillbilly and therefore nobody could look at him as a serious actor. Instead, he shifted focus towards directing, producing and writing.
Bizarre rumors
There’s never a shortage of rumors when it comes to television shows and the Beverly Hillbillies were no exception. One of the most bizarre rumors going around was regarding the age of Granny.
