Donna Douglas Net Worth
Publish date: 2024-05-21
| # | Fact |
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| 1 | Donna Douglas, who was married at age 16, came to New York and worked as a model, attracting attention when she appeared on various network television variety shows, hosted by Perry Como, Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan. Donna Douglas was the Billboard Girl on The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956) (1959-1960). That led to roles in the 1959 Hollywood feature film, Career (1959), opposite Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine, and the Paramount film musical adaptation of the Broadway stage property, Li'l Abner (1959). Douglas played Tony Randall's secretary in the Rock Hudson-Doris Day romantic comedy, Lover Come Back (1961). Douglas was an uncredited party guest in Bells Are Ringing (1960). She also showed up on the network television shows Tightrope (1959), Bachelor Father (1957), Dr. Kildare (1961), Whirlybirds (1957), The Twilight Zone (1959) (1960-1962), Route 66 (1960), Mister Ed (1958) (1961-1962), Checkmate (1960) (1961), Surfside 6 (1960) (1961), 77 Sunset Strip (1958) (1961) The Jack Benny Program (1950) (1962), before making a career splash as "Elly May". |
| 2 | The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), created by Paul Henning, centered on Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen), a poor Ozarks mountaineer who strikes oil on his property and then moves the family to California, purchasing an estate in the Beverly Hills of Bel Aire. As the story goes in the theme song, "One day he was shooting for some food, and up through the ground come a bubbling crude ... Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea". The goofy Filmways Television series, which also starred Irene Ryan as Granny, Jed's crusty mother-in-law, and the burly Max Baer Jr. as Elly May's dumb cousin Jethro, was a huge ratings hit for CBS - the No. 1 show in its first two years. The series aired from September 1962 until its cancellation in March 1971. The blond, shapely Douglas, a native of Pride, La., who was named Miss New Orleans in a 1957 beauty contest, started out making $500 a week on "The Beverly Hillbillies" television series. That eventually rose to $3,000 a week in the ninth and final season of the series. "I didn't have an agent, but I don't know if that would have made any difference", Donna explained further: "By this time, they had interviewed over 500 girls but had narrowed it down to six, and gave a screen test to only five", she recalled. "So they had a goat tied up on the set and they asked me, 'Do you reckon you can milk that goat?' Well, I had never milked a goat in my life, but I said, 'Sure, I can milk that goat'. That was my first critter. Over the nine years, I probably worked with over 900 different animals. Elly May didn't kiss a lot of men, but she sure kissed a lot of critters". |
| 3 | Was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. [August 2014]. |
| 4 | Donna Douglas appeared occasionally on-screen, after the CBS series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) ended in March 1971, on Night Gallery (1969) (1972), Love, American Style (1969) (1970-1973), Adam-12 (1968) (1973) and on NBC's McMillan & Wife (1971) (1974). Her "Elly May" role was reprised for the 1981 television film, The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (1981); appeared in a 1993 TV documentary about the comedy series, The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies (1993); and made appearances at conventions that celebrated "The Beverly Hillbillies" series. "The two things I am most asked is if I still love critters and can I still whistle like Elly May. The answer is yes to both", Donna once said. |
| 5 | With her death on January 1, 2015, Max Baer Jr. is the last surviving star of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). |
| 6 | Her only child, Danny P. Bourgeois, was born September 14, 1954. |
| 7 | Donna Douglas performed as a gospel singer and wrote the book, "Miss Donna's Mulberry Acres Farm", which was published in 2011. Also that year, she sued Mattel, claiming that the toy manufacturer used her name and likeness for a Barbie doll, without her approval. The suit reportedly was settled. Earlier, she sued Disney, CAA, Whoopi Goldberg and others, claiming that the idea for the 1992 smash hit, Sister Act (1992), was stolen from the Dorothy Gilman book, "A Nun in the Closet", that she said she had optioned. Douglas lost that suit. |
| 8 | Her birth name is listed both as Dorothy Smith and Doris Smith in various articles. |
| 9 | At her death, she was survived by son Danny Bourgeois, three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, one brother and other extended family members. |
| 10 | Revealed that she had a wonderful working relationship with Buddy Ebsen on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). |
| 11 | Her acting mentor, series' lead and best friend, Buddy Ebsen, passed away on July 6, 2003, at age 95. |
| 12 | Was close to Buddy Ebsen. |
| 13 | Got married at age 16, and gave birth at age 21. |
| 14 | Mother of Danny P. Bourgeois. |
| 15 | Her mother, Elma Robinson, died on December 31, 2003, at age 93. |
| 16 | Douglas, along with Buddy Ebsen and Max Baer Jr., attended the memorial of Irene Ryan, when the actress passed away in 1973. |
| 17 | Graduated from Redemptorist High School (now Redemptorist Upper School) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1951. |
| 18 | Best friend of Max Baer Jr.. |
| 19 | She and Max Baer Jr. both visited Buddy Ebsen, in the hospital, the week before his death. |
| 20 | Speaking at churches and religious organizations in Louisiana. [October 2013] |
| 21 | Semi-retired and living again in her native Louisiana. [April 2009] |
| 22 | Acting protégée of Buddy Ebsen. |
| 23 | Tested for a role in Visit to a Small Planet (1960). |
| 24 | She and her The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) co-star, Buddy Ebsen, had a lot in common. Like Ebsen, she too is a successful gospel singer and character actress, and is also Republican. |
| 25 | Best known by the public for her role as Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). |
| 26 | During the filming of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) she and Irene Ryan would annually put on a huge Christmas party for the show's staff and families. |
| 27 | Appeared as a guest at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1992, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2005. |
| 28 | Had a second career as a gospel singer, as well as a popular real estate agent in Beverly Hills, California. |
| 29 | Was proud of her role as Elly May Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) and occasionally made public appearances dressed as Elly May. |
| 30 | Was Miss Baton Rouge, and then in 1957, Miss New Orleans. |
| 31 | Spent hours autographing photos and personally responding to fan mail - even though she received far more than anyone else in the cast of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). |
| 32 | Was a self-described tomboy in her younger days, and like her character Elly May Clampett, she was extremely fond of animals. |
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