Actress, Donna Douglas, who played Elly May Clampett, in the hit 1960s television series “The Beverly Hillbillies,” is suing Mattel over its “Elly May Barbie” doll.
The company “licensed the rights to ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ for this product through the appropriate channels,” Mattel’s spokesman said.
Donna Douglas’ federal lawsuit, filed in Louisiana, claims the toy-maker is “engaging in the unauthorized use of her name, likeness, image and attributes” as Elly May.
Douglas says she neither gave Mattel permission to market the doll nor to use her endorsement to promote it, per court papers.
The suit states that a photo of Douglas in character as Elly May is used in the packaging, and Mattel makes claims in its promotional material that the doll “captures the essence of the classic ’60s TV character and show.”
“The Beverly Hillbillies,” starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Max Baer Jr. and Douglas, ran on CBS for nine years, from 1962 through 1971.
The Beverly Hillbillies was about a rural Southern family that strikes it rich in oil, when Jed Clampett was aiming to shoot a rabbit. Once they were rich, they move to the glitz and glamour of Beverly Hills.
Got to love the ce-ment pond in the back yard!