Music, Marriage And Drama: Donna Douglas' Life Beyond Beverly Hillbillies

Donna Douglas' portrayal of Elly May Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies" was the first crush of a generation of TV viewers. While the show may not have had an almost perfect sitcom season, with her big eyes and even bigger hair, Douglas stole the hearts of viewers and seemed destined for a long and successful career in front of the camera, but her life would end up taking a number of unexpected turns. When "The Beverly Hillbillies" ended, Douglas married Robert M. Leeds, who directed 50 episodes of the classic sitcom. For a time, she ditched Hollywood for a surprisingly normal job, becoming a real estate agent, but, in her heart, she needed to keep performing.

Along with guest spots on shows like "Night Gallery" and a return to her iconic character for the TV movie "Return of the Beverly Hillbillies," Douglas released her first album, "Donna Douglas Sings Gospel," in 1982 before following it up with 1982's "Here Come the Critters," 1986's "Donna Douglas Sings Gospel II," and 1989's "Back on the Mountain." Douglas also took to writing children's books, and co-wrote a cookbook, "Southern Favorites with a Taste of Hollywood," which includes recipes from celebs like her "Beverly Hillbillies" co-star Buddy Ebsen and other icons like Phyllis Diller and Debbie Reynolds. While TV and movies had become a secondary part of her career, Douglas still had plans to return to the screen, and in 1985, she optioned Dorothy Gilman's novel, "A Nun in the Closet." Almost a decade later, Douglas found herself in the midst of a lawsuit over the story.

1992's "Sister Act" was a massive hit, making $231 million at the box office, earning Whoopi Goldberg a Golden Globe nomination and making Kathy Najimy a star. But to Donna Douglas, the movie seemed overly familiar. She couldn't help but notice how similar the film's story was to "A Nun in the Closet." Douglas and her team sat down and found over 100 moments in the film that they believed were taken from the book they had the rights to. Soon, they launched a lawsuit over "Sister Act," demanding that Walt Disney Pictures, Whoopi Goldberg, and others pay them $200 million for stealing their material. Disney offered to settle with Douglas, but she refused and took them to court. In the end, she lost her case, saying, per the New Yorker, "They would have had to copy our stuff verbatim for us to prevail."

In 2010, Mattel, in coordination with CBS, released a "Beverly Hillbillies" Barbie doll based on Elly May Clampett. The box included a photo of Douglas, and, according to the Los Angeles Times, the promotional material used Douglas' name to help sell the toy. While it wasn't the most controversial Barbie doll, all of this was done without Douglas' permission, and she sued Mattel and CBS, asking for $75,000. Douglas settled with Mattel and CBS for an undisclosed amount. After that, Douglas stepped out of the limelight and spent her remaining years gardening and answering fan mail, telling Senior Voice, "Life has been very good to me, and full of blessings for a little backwoods girl from Louisiana who never had any thoughts of a career in showbiz." Douglas died on January 1, 2015, at the age of 82.