By John R. Kennedy, Entertainment Reporter Global News
Donna Douglas, pictured in 2003.
Carlo Allegri / Getty Images
TORONTO — Donna Douglas, who played Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies from 1962 to 1971, died Thursday. She was 81.
According to the star’s granddaughter, she passed away at her Louisiana home surrounded by loved ones.
In addition to starring on The Beverly Hillbillies for nine seasons (and in the 1981 reunion TV special), Douglas had guest roles in series like The Twilight Zone, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Adam 12 and Mister Ed.
She played herself in a 1999 episode of The Nanny.
On the big screen, Douglas co-starred in Frankie and Johnny with Elvis Presley in 1966.
In 1994, Douglas lost a $200 million lawsuit she and business partner Curt Wilson filed against Disney, Whoopi Goldberg, Better Midler and others, alleging they based the movie Sister Act on a screenplay they wrote for the book A Nun in the Closet.
In 2011, Douglas settled a lawsuit against Mattel and CBS Consumer Products over an Elly May doll. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Douglas was married twice. She had one son, Danny P. Bourgeois, in 1954 with first husband Roland Bourgeois Jr.
She divorced second husband Robert M. Leeds in 1980.
With Douglas’ death, Max Baer Jr. (Jethro Bodine) is the only surviving member of the cast of The Beverly Hillbillies. He is 77.
