100 Fun Facts About The Beverly Hillbillies

On which network did The Beverly Hillbillies air from 1962 to 1971?

CBS followed the hit with a pair of rural sister comedies, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres, and the three shows went on to swap characters in crossover visits.

The Clampetts come from which mountain range?

The Ozarks were the show's seed: its creator first met hill folk as a Boy Scout camping in Missouri and built the Clampetts from those memories.

Which Petticoat Junction town do the Clampetts visit for the holidays in several crossover episodes?

Hooterville first welcomed the Clampetts in 1968, and the visits gave Granny a new interest: its storekeeper, Sam Drucker, became her would-be beau.

Which piece of mansion furniture do the Clampetts mistake for a formal dining table?

The billiard table hosts the family's meals in what they call the 'fancy eatin' room', with the pool cues pressed into service as 'pot passers'.

In The Beverly Hillbillies' opening credits, Jed discovers oil while doing what?

Shooting at a rabbit is how the credits tell it: the stray shot brings crude bubbling up, and an oil company is soon paying him $25 million for the right to drill.

In a 1984 radio ad, what did Jed's actor call Miss Jane's actress as she ran for Congress?

Too liberal, he said, in an ad for her Republican opponent: 'I love you dearly but you're too liberal for me.' She lost, and said he should have stayed out of it.

Granny is Jed's what?

Wife's mother: Granny's daughter Rose Ellen was Jed's late wife. The casting hid a joke of its own, as the actress was only about five years older than her screen son-in-law.

What is Granny's real name?

Daisy Moses is Granny's given name. Another actress in the cast tested for the part, though the show's creator thought her too buxom for the wiry little woman he had pictured.

Granny calls herself an 'M.D.', meaning what?

Mountain doctor is her own reading of the letters, and she practises accordingly, with potions brewed at home and a jug of 'rheumatiz medicine' for whatever ails the family.

Which actress played Elly May throughout the TV series The Beverly Hillbillies?

Donna Douglas barely had to act the part: she grew up poor 'way out in the country' in Louisiana and said she really was a country girl.

What is the name of the Clampett family's old bloodhound?

Duke embarrassed the banker's wife: the puppies she expected from her pedigree poodle, Claude, turned out to take after Jed's lazy bloodhound instead.

What does Elly May call the animals she collects at the mansion?

Her critters are what make city life bearable for Elly May, and the mansion fills with them, from cats and dogs to skunks and goats.

Who played Jethro Bodine throughout The Beverly Hillbillies' run on television?

Max Baer Jr. was no Jethro off screen: he held a business degree from Santa Clara University, and later made hit films of his own as a producer and director.

The family boasts about Jethro's education reaching which grade?

He spent three years in fourth grade and two in first, and prides himself on 'cipherin' and 'gazintas'.

The actor who played Jethro also appeared in a dress and wig as which of Jethro's relatives?

His sister Jethrine was the same actor in a dress and wig, with an actress dubbing her voice, and the gag had legs: a running first-season storyline followed her romance with a suitor, Jasper Depew.

Jethro's mother, Cousin Pearl, was played by which actress who went on to star in Petticoat Junction?

Bea Benaderet had hoped to play Granny; instead she played Cousin Pearl, and a year later the show's creator built Petticoat Junction around her.

Which exclamation is Jed Clampett's catchphrase?

Well, doggies! was Jed's answer to nearly everything, and it outlived the show: the actor went on signing his autographs with it.

What do the Clampetts call the swimming pool behind their mansion?

The cement pond, pronounced 'cee-ment', outlived the show itself: it is among the Clampett coinages that passed into America's pop-culture lexicon.

Miss Jane Hathaway, Drysdale's secretary, has a degree from which college?

Vassar polish makes Miss Jane the real brains of the bank: the 'highly efficient' assistant usually has to rescue her boss from his own schemes.

Who played Jane Hathaway?

Nancy Kulp had been a studio publicist until a director talked her into acting; she went on to earn an Emmy nomination as the prim Miss Jane.

Mrs. Drysdale describes herself as a blue-blooded native of which city?

Boston breeding is Mrs. Drysdale's proudest boast, yet her 'proper Bostonian' father turns up stranded and penniless in Las Vegas, a card sharp down on his luck.

Which future star of Valley of the Dolls played bank secretary Janet Trego?

Sharon Tate played her under a black wig: the producer who held her contract wanted her to gain experience on camera without being recognised before her film career began.

Which comedian played the recurring con man Shifty Shaffer, alias Honest John?

Phil Silvers, TV's Sergeant Bilko, played another silver-tongued swindler here: Honest John 'sells' Jed Central Park, then comes back to offer him the Capitol.

Which TV writer both created The Beverly Hillbillies and wrote its theme song himself?

Paul Henning wrote the words and music of 'The Ballad of Jed Clampett' himself, though even one standard TV reference book credits it to the musicians who recorded it.

Which bluegrass duo took The Beverly Hillbillies' theme song to the top of the country chart?

Flatt and Scruggs had the hit in early 1963 and then joined the fun on screen, turning up year after year as themselves, old friends of the Clampetts.

Early Beverly Hillbillies episodes added extra verses of the theme song to plug which two sponsors?

Winston cigarettes and Kellogg's cereals paid the bills, so the ballad was re-recorded with new words for each, and the cast pitched both products in character.

Which Western film legend made a surprise cameo as himself in a 1967 Beverly Hillbillies episode?

John Wayne walked on for a moment in 'The Indians Are Coming' and waved away a fee: asked what he wanted for the cameo, he said a fifth of bourbon would square it.

After two seasons as America's most-watched show, The Beverly Hillbillies lost the top spot to which Western?

Bonanza took over in 1964-65 and stayed on top for three seasons, while the Hillbillies slid to 12th place that year.

In the highest-rated Beverly Hillbillies episode, which animal does Granny mistake for a giant jackrabbit?

A kangaroo, shipped to the banker next door as a practical joke, wanders into the Clampetts' yard; the January 1964 broadcast drew the biggest rating the series ever had.

Which rival sitcom beat The Beverly Hillbillies to the 1963 Emmy for best comedy programme?

The Dick Van Dyke Show won, and the pattern held: for all its huge ratings, the Hillbillies collected seven Emmy nominations over the years and not one win.

Why did its network drop The Beverly Hillbillies in 1971?

Advertisers wanted city viewers, so the network swept out its country shows together in what became known as the rural purge; Green Acres' Pat Buttram said it had cancelled 'everything with a tree'.

Jethro's ambition to be a 'double-naught spy' takes its name from which screen secret agent?

James Bond's 007 is the 'double naught': after seeing a spy film, Jethro drops his plan to become a brain surgeon and sets himself up as a secret agent instead.

The actor who played Jed Clampett lost which Wizard of Oz role when its makeup made him seriously ill?

The Tin Man's aluminium-dust makeup put him in hospital after ten days of filming and Jack Haley took over; he had first been cast as the Scarecrow and swapped parts.

After the Hillbillies, the actor who played Jed starred as which TV detective?

Barnaby Jones ran for eight seasons from 1973, and he revived the private eye one last time in the 1993 Hillbillies film, hired to track down a missing Granny.

Before the Hillbillies, the actor who played Jed was known as the sidekick to which Disney frontier hero?

Davy Crockett was nearly his own part, he later said: the director put him forward for the lead until Walt Disney spotted Fess Parker, and he was offered the part of the hero's friend instead.

Irene Ryan's last role, in 1972, was Berthe in which Bob Fosse Broadway musical?

Pippin gave her a show-stopping solo, 'No Time at All', and a Tony nomination; she was taken ill during a Saturday matinee in March 1973 and died weeks later.

Which future Hee Haw host turned up on The Beverly Hillbillies as a guitar-picking Clampett cousin?

Roy Clark took two parts at once: he played Cousin Roy and, in a dress and wig, the cousin's formidable mother, Myrtle, as well.

The actress who played Elly May is the face beneath the bandages in which classic Twilight Zone episode?

Eye of the Beholder used two actresses for one patient: Maxine Stuart spoke the lines under the wraps, and Elly May's actress appeared only once the bandages came off.

Jethro's actor produced and directed a 1976 film based on which hit song?

Ode to Billy Joe put Bobbie Gentry's 1967 hit on screen. Typecast as Jethro, he had moved behind the camera two years earlier with the low-budget success Macon County Line.

Who played Jed Clampett throughout The Beverly Hillbillies' run on television?

Buddy Ebsen came to the weathered mountaineer after decades as a song-and-dance man: he broke into films as a hoofer in the 1930s and danced on screen with Shirley Temple.

Jethro shows off his schooling by reciting his 'gazintas': which kind of sum does he mean?

Division is what he means: a gazinta is his 'goes into', as in 'two gazinta six three times', and he recites them beside his 'timeses' to prove how learned he is.

In the 1981 reunion movie, who played Granny's ancient 'Maw' after Irene Ryan's death?

Imogene Coca's 'Maw' was there because the plot needed her: with Granny written out as dead, her even older mother was the only one left who knew the recipe for her 'white lightning'.

In the 1981 reunion movie, Jane Hathaway works for which government department, seeking Granny's moonshine recipe?

Energy was the worry of 1981: with fuel short, Washington hoped Granny's fiery 'white lightning' might stand in for petrol, so Miss Jane was sent to track down the recipe.

Who played Jed Clampett in the 1993 feature film?

Jim Varney, the 'Hey, Vern' man, had the original Jed's blessing: he was welcomed to 'a very exclusive club' of two, with one complaint, about how he drawled the catchphrase.

Which two celebrities made cameos as themselves in the 1993 Beverly Hillbillies film?

Dolly Parton and Zsa Zsa Gabor both play themselves, Parton sweeping down the mansion staircase to sing Jed a birthday song; a third cameo brought back the original Jed in another role.

Which real theme park hosted a run of Beverly Hillbillies episodes filmed on location in 1969?

Silver Dollar City, near Branson in Missouri, played the Clampetts' home country when the family went back so that Granny could find Elly May a husband among the hill folk.

Which Bel Air house stood in for the Clampett home in exterior shots?

The Chartwell Mansion was then the home of hotel magnate Arnold Kirkeby, who let the crew film its exterior; in 2018 it came up for sale at $245 million.

Which Hollywood gossip columnist played herself in a 1964 episode later ranked among TV Guide's 100 greatest?

Hedda Hopper drives in to stop the banker flattening the film studio Jed owns; TV Guide placed the episode 62nd on its 1997 list, rare praise for a show critics had dismissed.

Weird Al Yankovic set the Beverly Hillbillies' story to the tune of which Dire Straits hit?

Money for Nothing got the Clampett treatment for his 1989 film UHF, on one condition from Mark Knopfler: that he play the guitar on the parody himself.

What is the screen name of the vain movie star who spends years chasing Elly May?

Dash Riprock is a studio invention: the hunk was born plain Homer Noodleman, and he is under contract to the film studio that Jed himself owns.

Elly May's actress from The Beverly Hillbillies starred opposite which singer in Frankie and Johnny?

Elvis Presley played Johnny to her Frankie in the 1966 musical, her only starring role in a feature film. She had beaten some 500 actresses to the part of Elly May.

Jethro's actor on The Beverly Hillbillies was the son of a world champion in which sport?

Boxing ran in the family: his father held the world heavyweight title, and his uncle was a boxer turned actor. The father took the crown in 1934 and lost it a year later to James J. Braddock.

On first arriving, the Clampetts of The Beverly Hillbillies mistake their new mansion for what?

A prison is what they take it for, with the groundskeepers as the convicts. A mix-up then gets the whole family arrested before their banker has them released.

Which sitcom flipped The Beverly Hillbillies' premise by sending a rich city couple to a farm?

Green Acres reversed the rags-to-riches, country-to-city formula. Its farm couple and their neighbours began turning up as guests in the Clampetts' world from season seven.

Jethro's actor from The Beverly Hillbillies planned what venue with a 200-foot mock oil derrick?

A casino was the plan, with 800 slot machines and a buffet named after Jethro. Zoning fights and lawsuits near Carson City, Nevada, stalled the project for years.

Before The Beverly Hillbillies, Jed's actor danced with which child star in Captain January?

Shirley Temple was his partner in the 1936 musical. He had started out as a dancer, arriving in New York in 1928 with under $27 in his pocket.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, what does loyal Miss Jane Hathaway call her boss, Mr. Drysdale?

Chief is her name for the banker, however badly he treats her. She is genuinely fond of the Clampetts and often has to rescue her boss from his own schemes.

What kind of Beverly Hillbillies revival was planned in 2002 but dropped after Appalachian protests?

A reality show would have moved a real rural family into a Beverly Hills mansion for a year. Trade unions and members of the House of Representatives joined the objections, and it never aired.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, Jethro's endless job hunt includes plans for which medical career?

Brain surgeon heads a wish list that also runs to fry cook, sculptor, soda jerk and Air Force general. His real goal is usually just to meet pretty girls.

Elly May's actress on The Beverly Hillbillies sued Disney, saying which Whoopi Goldberg hit copied her script?

Sister Act, she argued, was lifted from A Nun in the Closet, a book she and a partner had turned into a screenplay. They refused a $1 million settlement, and the judge then ruled against them.

What is the full title of The Beverly Hillbillies' theme song, also a hit single?

The Ballad of Jed Clampett was the first bluegrass record to top Billboard's country chart, staying at number one for three weeks.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, what is the first name of Mr. Drysdale, the Clampetts' money-mad banker?

Milburn Drysdale will do almost anything to keep the Clampett millions in his bank. A running gag has him snarl into the phone, then turn sweet the moment he hears Jed's voice.

Away from the bank on The Beverly Hillbillies, Miss Jane Hathaway is devoted to which outdoor hobby?

Bird-watching is her passion, pursued in a scout-style uniform. Her actress had already played a pith-helmeted bird spotter on The Bob Cummings Show in the 1950s.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, the family cringes whenever Elly May tries which household task?

Cooking is the one thing the tomboy cannot do, though she can throw a fastball and out-wrestle most men. Her kitchen disasters became a running joke.

In later seasons of The Beverly Hillbillies, Jed inherits a castle in which country?

England is where Clampett Castle stands, in the county of Kent. Jethro wants everyone to travel dressed as royalty, and the passport clerk takes the family for a hidden-camera prank.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, Granny proudly hails from which state, home of her feuding clan?

Tennessee is home to her clan, who feuded with a rival family and drove them out of the town of Napoleon. Late in the run she names Limestone as her birthplace.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, Elly May's helpful pet Cousin Bessie is what kind of animal?

A chimpanzee, Cousin Bessie is once found swinging from the chandelier to dust it. Elly May's menagerie also takes in a bear named Fairchild.

Before The Beverly Hillbillies, Jed's actor played Audrey Hepburn's abandoned husband in which film?

Breakfast at Tiffany's cast him as Doc Golightly, the older country vet deserted by his young wife. It was a rare break from his steady run of Westerns and rural roles.

In the pilot of The Beverly Hillbillies, how much oil money is deposited for Jed at the bank?

$25 million is the opening fortune, and it keeps growing: by the later seasons the family is worth more than $90 million without ever changing how they live.

Which hill town do the Clampetts of The Beverly Hillbillies call home before they strike oil?

Bugtussle is the backwoods home the family leaves behind, and Jed moves back there in the 1981 reunion film. One later episode stages a movie premiere at its Bijou Theater.

The Clampetts' truck on The Beverly Hillbillies began as a 1921 car of which American make?

Oldsmobile made the 1921 car behind the family's open jalopy. The original truck went to the Ralph Foster Museum in Point Lookout, Missouri.

Which actor, once a real banker, played scheming Mr. Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies?

Raymond Bailey had worked as a stockbroker and a banker while failing to break into films. He also sailed the world as a merchant seaman before Hollywood finally gave him parts.

Miss Jane's actress on The Beverly Hillbillies ran for Congress in 1984 in which home state?

Pennsylvania's 9th district was a Republican stronghold, and she took about a third of the vote as the Democratic nominee. She then became artist-in-residence at Juniata College.

Jethro's actor on The Beverly Hillbillies sued and won when blocked from filming which Madonna hit?

Like a Virgin was the song whose film rights he pursued, having already turned another chart hit into a 1976 box-office success. The court awarded him more than $2 million.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, a con man sells Jed which landmark, where the family starts a log cabin?

Central Park is where they pick a spot beside a lake and start on a cabin. The swindler is so touched by their kindness that he hands back all the money he took.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, the Clampetts offer the President their fortune to fight which problem?

Smog is the enemy, after Jethro's own cures (a steam truck, then an electric one on a very long cord) fail. In Washington a swindler collects their cheques instead.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, Granny decides Elly May's Navy diver beau is half man and half what?

Frog, she decides, because he is a Navy frogman, and the sight of his swim fins settles it. Several episodes pass before she accepts that he is fully human.

Which future star played a bit part under her own first name in Return of the Beverly Hillbillies?

Heather Locklear, soon to be famous on Dynasty, is credited simply as Heather. The 1981 film was meant as the pilot for a revived series that never came.

Which entertainer plays an Irish-named police sergeant when The Beverly Hillbillies visit New York?

Sammy Davis Jr. plays Sergeant Patrick Muldoon, who comes to inspect the family's cabin only to find a note saying they have already gone home to California.

Which pop singer plays himself on The Beverly Hillbillies, mistaken for a hill man down on his luck?

Pat Boone wanders over after smelling Granny's collard greens and fatback simmering by the pool. A policeman recognises the star, who asks him to keep it quiet.

Which silent-film legend plays herself on The Beverly Hillbillies when the Clampetts think her broke?

Gloria Swanson is simply moving east and auctioning her things for charity, but the family rallies round. Jed has a film studio shoot a new silent picture with her to lift her spirits.

Which Dodgers coach plays himself on The Beverly Hillbillies, keen to sign Jethro as a pitcher?

Leo Durocher loses interest on learning that Jethro can only throw a ball smeared with possum fat. By then one of those pitches has knocked him into the swimming pool.

Which future director plays a campus protester who leaves with Elly May on The Beverly Hillbillies?

Rob Reiner plays Mitch, one of three students Jethro brings home who turn out to be protesters. Elly May soon reappears dressed as a hippie and carrying a placard.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, Mr. Drysdale buys which money-losing film studio for Jed?

Mammoth Pictures is in the red when Jed becomes its owner, so the family tries to help by working there. Elly May promptly throws a film's Mr. Hyde through a window.

Why can budget video labels freely sell dozens of early Beverly Hillbillies episodes?

Copyrights were not renewed on 55 episodes, the whole first season and part of the second, so they fell into the public domain. The theme song did not, so cheap copies often swap in generic music.

Which future president told The Beverly Hillbillies' creator, then a teenage drugstore clerk, to study law?

Harry S. Truman gave the advice, and the boy did go on to the Kansas City School of Law. What he really wanted was to sing on the radio, which is how he drifted into writing.

The Beverly Hillbillies' creator co-wrote Bedtime Story, later remade as which Steve Martin comedy?

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels reworked his 1964 script in 1988, with Michael Caine as Martin's partner in crime. The story was filmed a third time in 2019 as The Hustle.

Before The Beverly Hillbillies, its creator spent years writing radio and TV for which comedy duo?

Burns and Allen kept him on their writing staff as they moved from radio into television. He also wrote for The Real McCoys and The Andy Griffith Show.

In the Second World War, the future Jed of The Beverly Hillbillies was an officer in which service?

Coast Guard service came after the Navy turned him down several times, though he sailed well enough to teach seamanship. His frigate recorded the weather far out in the Pacific.

Unlike dim Jethro, his actor on The Beverly Hillbillies held a university degree in which subject?

Business administration was his major at Santa Clara University, with a minor in philosophy. He went on to write, produce and direct his own low-budget films.

Which production company, also the maker of Mister Ed, produced The Beverly Hillbillies?

Filmways became known for its rural comedies of the 1960s, having started out a decade earlier making television commercials and documentaries.

Which singer, a stockbroker at the time, sang The Beverly Hillbillies' theme over the credits?

Jerry Scoggins had spent a dozen years singing with Gene Autry on radio and television. In 1993 he sang the theme on camera for a reunion special.

Jethro's actor from The Beverly Hillbillies wrote and produced which hugely profitable drive-in film?

Macon County Line turned a tiny budget into more than $30 million, reportedly the best cost-to-gross return of any 1974 film. He also played its small-town lawman.

Which Steve Allen Show regular played the banker's spoiled stepson Sonny on The Beverly Hillbillies?

Louis Nye made Sonny an eternal student, still a sophomore after 19 years at college. The role brought him more mail than anything else he had done on television, yet it was dropped.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, what was the name of Jed Clampett's late wife, the mother of Elly May?

Rose Ellen is never seen, having died before the story begins. Early on, Jed tells Elly May that she is the spitting image of her mother.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, which rival from back in the hills must Granny never be outdone by?

Elverna Bradshaw only has to marry off a daughter for Granny to haul the family back to the hills in search of a husband for Elly May. Elvia Allman played her.

Which future film historian and TV host had a bit part in The Beverly Hillbillies' 1962 pilot?

Robert Osborne was then a contract actor with Lucille Ball's company. Ball urged him to write about films instead, and he became the host of Turner Classic Movies for over twenty years.

On The Beverly Hillbillies, the Clampetts fortify a beach against invading grunion, which are what?

Small fish that spawn on California beaches, grunion are caught by hand, which baffles a family braced for fierce fighters. The Clampetts take the surfers offshore for the enemy.

Which comedian played Mrs. Drysdale's Air Force nephew Jetstream on The Beverly Hillbillies?

Soupy Sales plays Lance Bradford, still a second lieutenant after ten years. His uncle grudgingly makes him a bank vice president, and the bank is robbed during his hero's welcome.

Which Broadway veteran played snobbish neighbour Mrs. Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies?

Harriet MacGibbon first acted on Broadway in 1925, aged 19. Her film debut was a wordless bit as a snooty woman walking a dog across a golf course in a W.C. Fields short.