Did you know that Superman and The Beverly Hillbillies share a connection?

Donna Douglas, best known as Elly May Clampett, revealed the truth.

CBS Television Distribution

Donna Douglas had a spot of good luck when she auditioned for The Beverly Hillbillies.

According to an interview with The Tennessean, Douglas revealed that she had barely enrolled in acting school before she was given the opportunity to audition.

"I had been in acting school one week, but I was willing to try," Douglas said. "I was pretty simple but I knew I could learn."

Luckily, The Beverly Hillbillies was exactly the sort of work that Douglas was looking for.

"When I read for that part I was so thankful. I wanted to do a family show. When you work together for nine years, you're just like family. That was a dream role. I knew everything about Elly May from day one. I never needed direction on my character. It was homemade."

While the Clampett family was certainly fictional, it was evident that the cast of The Beverly Hillbillies shared a bond with each other that made coming to work every day much easier.

"A lot of love went into it," she said. "It was a special time in my life, and I have good memories. No matter who tried to take advantage of us (the Clampett family), we always came out ahead by doing right by people. It was a joy to do."

After the series ended, Douglas pivoted careers. "After the show was over I went to night school and got my real estate license," she said. However, her days of conversing with celebrities weren't over just because she departed from acting. 

Douglas revealed that she leased a home to Christopher Reeve, best known as Superman in a series of films beginning with Superman (1978). Obviously, Douglas's Beverly Hillbillies days were behind her, but we'd pay to see Elly May meet Superman for the first time. We think he would have adored her.

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5 Comments

mcharris 2 months ago
She also had a small role on McMillan and Wife as operative of one of Mac's old undercover agents.
jtkrifkan2002 2 months ago
She popped in and out of TV even after The Beverly HIllbillies. I saw her playing a bit of a snobbish rich lady in a later episode of Adam-12 with no hint of her hillbilly accent. I remember her singing on Hee Haw in the late 70's and when I was at Ft. Campbell in around 1983 or 84, she did a commercial for "Outlets Limited Mall" in Nashville, TN.
Wiseguy70005 2 months ago
She did appear briefly in the classic Twilight Zone episode "Eye of the Beholder" two years before Beverly Hillbillies.
Bapa1 2 months ago
Did she lease the Fortress of Solitude to him?
Runeshaper 2 months ago
Sounds like Donna Douglas got into acting quickly, which is a gift. It's extra cool that she leased a home to Superman (-:
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