Watched several episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies in preparation for a talk at my Toastmasters club. Wow-- quite enjoyable! Nicely written by producer Paul Henning. The actors are so solid, never going over the top even though they're doing farce. And you gotta check out how peaceful Southern California looks back in 1963. Have to admit I got a kick out of Ms. Hathaway, the nerdy assistant to the greedy banker Mr. Drysdale. Ms. Hathaway was played by Nancy Kulp. Just looked at her bio. She moved to Hollywood to work in a publicity department and got discovered by George Cukor! He told her to move in front of the cameras. Her nickname was Slim, appropriately enough. Her character was always pining after Jethro, played by Max Baer Jr.. who felt that getting typecast as Jethro ruined his career for future roles. Not sure Max would have achieved Al Pacino-style greatness. With the death of Donna Douglas, Max Baer is the last surviving cast member.
After her acting career wound down, Nancy Kulp ran for public office in Pennsylvania. Here's an interesting development. She got dissed by Buddy Ebsen, her fellow cast member, during the election. Here's what the Inter-web had to say:
"In 1984, she ran as a Democrat for Pennsylvania's Ninth Congressional
District, but lost to Republican incumbent "Bud Shuster". She blamed her
The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) co-star Buddy Ebsen
for her defeat, because Ebsen taped a radio ad in support of Shuster,
and deemed her "too liberal". She did not speak to Ebsen for several
years afterward, but eventually made peace with him."
So old Jed, the mountaineer who "barely kept his family fed," managed to keep Ms. Hathaway from getting elected. That made me pissed at the guy, but now I like Nancy Kulp even more. And as for Jethro.... well, you gotta love Jethro.
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