Elvis: Beverly Hillbillies star Donna Douglas ‘gave him something missing at home’
Elvis: Beverly Hillbillies star Donna Douglas ‘gave him something missing at home’
Elvis Presley had affairs with many of his leading ladies but he shared something very special with Beverly Hillbillies star Donna Douglas. Decades later, the actress hit headlines when she sued Disney for $200million over Sister Act.
Elvis Presley stars in 1966 trailer for Frankie and Johnny
Donna Douglas was one of the biggest stars on American TV in the 1960s playing Elly May Clampett in the smash hit show The Beverly Hillbillies. It was the top-rated series in the country for two years and remained hugely popular for all nine seasons from 1962-1971. During all that time, Donna only made one feature film, an epic musical with Elvis Presley which showed a new side of the rock ‘n roll star and allowed him to flex his comedic skills. Behind the scenes, the pair also shared a very special connection.
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Frankie and Johnny was an unusual choice for Elvis. The lavish historical movie was set on a Mississippi riverboat with the singer and Donna playing the title characters.
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Johnny is a charmer but a hopeless gambler and the whole plot revolves around a gypsy prediction that a woman with red hair will bring him the luck he needs.
Frankie, however, is blonde and does not take kindly to the arrival of the sexy redhead Nelly (Nancy Kovack). The film is a series of misunderstandings and mishaps, shoe-horned in between musical numbers that, unusually, stay away from Elvis’ core sound.
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Although it’s fun to see Elvis embrace the vaudeville tradition on comic numbers like Petunia, The Gardener’s daughter, the Frankie and Johnny was only a moderate hit at the box office and did not recoup its costs.
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During filming, however, Elvis found a kindred spirit in Donna. His friend and hairdresser Larry Geller later said that “several people thought sparks were flying.”
The two stars would spend all their breaks huddled together in deep conversation, but this wasn’t one of Elvis’ typical on-set flirtations. The King had found someone who shared something deeply important to him that he couldn’t find at home.
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Geller was also Elvis’ ‘spiritual adviser’ and is credited with introducing the star to Eastern philosophies beyond his childhood Christianity.
He said: “At lunch and at breaks, Elvis and Donna would get into some heavy spiritual conversations. They did have a lot in common, and several people thought sparks were flying.
“Even though Elvis respected Donna, he only regarded her in a professional capacity and held her in high esteem. I used to visit her in her dressing room, we would meditate and discuss various philosophic subjects that we shared.”
Donna Douglas in The Beverly Hillbillies 1963 (Image: GETTY)
The Beverly Hillbillies: 1962 trailer for sitcom
At Graceland, nobody shared Elvis’ interest in Eastern spirituality. His last girlfriend Ginger Alden said his former wife Priscilla Presley was openly dismissive of his cherished collection of books. She later apparently forced him to burn many of his spiritual books and magazines.
So the star was thrilled to discover somebody in Donna who shared his interests and beliefs.
Geller added: “Both were studying the works of Paramahansa Yogananda and were close to the president Daya Mata.”