Here’s something guaranteed to make you feel old: Donna Douglas, who played Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, has just died at age 81. As Elly May, Douglas played a hillbilly tomboy who loved her critters and didn’t realize she was seen by others as a bombshell.
Douglas also appeared in a classic Twilight Zone episode, “Eye of the Beholder.” [If you’ve never seen it, here’s a SPOILER ALERT.] She played Miss Janet Tyler, a woman so hideously deformed that she has to undergo surgery in order to be permitted to live among normal people. In the photo above right, the bandages have been removed and Miss Tyler sees that the surgery has been unsuccessful. Here’s the ironic twist you’ve been waiting for: Everyone thinks Donna Douglas is ugly! Also, they all have pig snouts. Condemned to life as a freak, Miss Tyler is exiled to a colony of similarly disfigured individuals.
Douglas’s death leaves Max Baer, who played Jethro, as the sole surviving member of The Beverly Hillbillies main cast.
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- ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ Actress Donna Douglas Dies at 81 (hollywoodreporter.com)
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