LA Times: Before 'Hillbillies,' Donna Douglas traveled 'The Twilight Zone'

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-before-hillbillies-donna-douglas-traveled-the-twilight-zone-20150102-story.html


By PATRICK KEVIN DAY

Donna Douglas, who died Thursday, found lasting fame in her role as Elly May Clampett on the CBS sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies." But it was a small role she had two years before that has arguably had a more lasting impact. It was her first, but not her only, trip to "The Twilight Zone."

Photo gallery at link.

Douglas appeared for just a few minutes in the final moments of the second season episode, "The Eye of the Beholder," written by series creator Rod Serling. The episode aired in 1960, years before "The Beverly Hillbillies" in 1962. But unlike "Hillbillies," where her good looks were used as a punch line, here they became part of a ghoulish twist. In fact, it was one of the best, and most memorable, twist endings in the show's history.

The episode recounted the recovery of a woman named Janet Tyler after a series of medical procedures attempting to fix a face that has apparently been completely deformed. While she deals with the doctors and nurses in the hospital, we see her head wrapped completely in bandages.

In fact, it was actress Maxine Stuart who played Tyler for these scenes. But in the episode's final moments, the bandages are removed and Tyler's face is revealed to be Douglas'.

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[Control-Z]

1. I remember that one so well.

I really only saw a few episodes in total. I wasn't allowed to watch the program but would sometimes sneak out of bed and watch quietly from the hall.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. How very strange, watched this episode just last night.

There was a Twilight Zone marathon, on Syfy, IIRC. And I was thinking how very pretty she was, which of course was important in the episode.