Donna Douglas passed away January 2; she was 81. She gained fame as Ellie May Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies, which premiered in 1962 and ran until 1971. Before that she worked everywhere on TV from Route 66 to 77 Sunset Strip. She even worked in the Twilight Zone.

Donna Douglas in 1967.

Her first Twilight Zone episode, “The Eye of the Beholder”, aired in 1960.

The plot: Janet Tyler is undergoing her eleventh treatment (the maximum number legally allowed) in an attempt to look like everybody else. Will it work?

Nope. Failure. When the bandages are removed she looks like blonde actress Donna Douglas…and everyone else has a hogsnout instead of a nose.

Her other appearance in the series was “Cavender Is Coming” (1962), a backdoor pilot for a comedy that enjoys the odd distinction of being the only episode of Twilight Zone originally broadcast with a laugh track.

After “Hillbillies” ended, Douglas guested on Serling’s Night Gallery, and Project UFO, among others. In addition to Hillbillies revival projects, she appeared as herself on CBS’ sitcom The Nanny in 1999.

Postscript: She also appeared as a character in The Beverly Hillbillies comic, and one issue even had a vaguely stfnal theme, John King Tarpinian points out.

[Via SF Site News.]