Actress Donna Douglas, best known for her role on The Beverly Hillbillies, has died. She was 81.
Family members confirmed the news to WAFB. Her granddaughter also told TMZ that she died on Thursday at her Louisiana home. She was surrounded by friends and family.
Douglas was best known for playing Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies from 1961 to 1971. Her other credits include Frankie and Johnny with Elvis Presley and the Rock Hudson/Doris Day movie Lover Come Back.
She was born in Pride, Louisiana on Sept. 26, 1933 and was Miss New Orleans of 1957.
In recent years, Douglas stayed in the headlines because of lawsuits. Back in 1993, she sued Disney over Sister Act, which was a rip-off of a novel she still had the film rights to.
Then, in 2011, she settled a lawsuit against Mattel, which produced an Elly May Clampett Barbie doll without her permission. She had sought $75,000 in damages, but the terms of the settlement were not made public.