"I reckon every man like to have a son, and you was my only young'un, and when your ma passed away, I just decided to turn you into a boy. By the time Granny come to help out, you was too wild to tame. By thunder, you could outrun, outclimb, outfight, and outshoot every boy in them hills... It ain't fittin'. It ain't right for folks to go against nature...."
Goodbye to Elly May — Donna Douglas — who has died at the age of 81.
ADDED: Douglas also appeared in one of the greatest episodes of "Twilight Zone," "Eye of the Beholder," which you can watch in full here.
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As a young lad who often "admiringly" watched Donna Douglas on the Beverly Hillbillies, I have to say in all honesty I never, ever mistook her for a boy.
That is a great episode of 'The Twilight Zone.'
So many actors took parts in that show, some of them at the beginnings of their careers, others, dare I say it, near the twilight.
The writing was so amazing that, to this day, most of the episodes stand as truly great pieces of art.
my fav was:
To Serve Man (The Twilight Zone)
Who can't still sing at least part of the theme song?
The best Twilight Zone with Donna Douglas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHp9q3QTmVQ
"The best Twilight Zone with Donna Douglas..."
That's the one I linked to in the post. The title is "Eye of the Beholder."
She's in one other episode: "Cavender Is Coming," but the main role there is played by Carol Burnett.
That's the Twilight episode I used to explain to my son what the show was about.
What typecasting the Hillbillies became. Jed over came the character long after the series. None of the other actors seemed to manage the feat.
RIP, Donna.
She was fine.
The "double-barreled slingshot" ... oh, those were the days for a 14 yo boy watching television.
She was also Miss New Orleans and Miss Louisiana in 1957. Grew up as a real country girl in Pride La and later Zachary, La (both just out-side Baton Rouge.)
(PS: My wife the RN took care of "Granny" in Santa Monica Hosp (or maybe it was St Johns) in Spring, '73 when she was dying of a brain tumor..)
The other night they were having a movie marathon and it was very interesting to see a pretty young Buddy Ebsen doing a dancing routine with little Shirley Temple.
The story of her love affair with Elvis is as sad and heartbreaking as the love affair between Ann Margaret and Elvis was joyous.
"The other night they were having a movie marathon and it was very interesting to see a pretty young Buddy Ebsen doing a dancing routine with little Shirley Temple."
The movie is "Captain January" and very special to me, as I blogged back in 2007, here.
The supposedly ignorant hicks from the hills are all, even Granny, much happier, even smarter (well, maybe, except Jethro) than the supposedly sophisticated city people. Wealth didn't change them.
How very much like American politics today.
Jed would be a fracker, and Mr. Drysdale would look the other way--and probably set up a company to build a solar plant on his land, one that he and Jed would get sweetheart government loans for.
Nature-girl Elly would be far more out of the closet about being gay than the frigid Miss Hathaway.
Granny would make millions more with her all-natural potions and open a chain of farm-to-table organic vittles while Jed would be become a Zen monk, making even more millions from books and personal appearances.
Jethro would still be Jethro, smoking' crawdads.
That scene from Captain January was indeed "supremely charming."
"You see, Elly, I raised you like a boy, and I was wrong to do it."
Change the name to "Shiloh" to complete the quote. You think Brad Pitt will ever say that when his little girl is all grown up and wants to be a girl again?
Just asking!
My favorite "Billies episode is "The Gorilla", where they get the notion to get a goh-rilla as an unpaid hired hand, and Mr. Drysdale sends over a movie gorilla actor.
They name him "Herbie". They make him chop wood, and iron clothes.
A laugh riot ensues.
Oh, the transgender oppression:
"You see, Elly, I raised you like a boy, and I was wrong to do it."
The Beverly Hillbillies would be boycotted today.
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