Before playing Ozark girl Elly May Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies, actress Donna Douglas was a southern girl through and through. Though Douglas is best remembered for the nine seasons starring in the CBS sitcom, there is way more to the actress than just her time playing the blonde tomboy on television. Doris Smith (changed later to Donna Douglas) was born in 1932 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was an active athlete at her high school, loving softball, and basketball before she started participating in beauty contests. Douglas had married her first husband, Roland Bourgeois, Jr., in 1949, but they divorced after the birth of her only child, Danny P. Bourgeois, in 1954. Shortly after, she was named Miss Baton Rouge and Miss New Orleans and decided it was time to pack her bags for New York City. Douglas started out with appearances in print ads for various toothpaste brands before starting to land some acting work which encouraged her to start taking acting classes. She appeared on The Perry Como Show, The Steve Allen Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show before Hollywood producer Hal B. Wallis saw her on TV and cast her in Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine film, Career. This really opened doors for Douglas who also appeared in the Doris Day and Rock Hudson film, Lover Come Back as well as more television appearances on The Twilight Zone, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and more. Despite a full resume of acting work, Douglas was definitely not a household name when she beat over 500 women to land the role of Elly May Clampett in the early 60s. Producer Paul Henning asked if she would be right for the part. "I just looked at him and grinned," Douglas told AP Hollywood reporter Bob Thomas in 1965. "Could I handle Elly May? Why, it was just like my own life." Despite her newfound fame from The Beverly Hillbillies, Douglas never became a movie star. Her one starring film role was opposite Elvis Presley in the musical Frankie and Johnny. She really came