Today Cool Classics looks at the life and career of Nancy Kulp, who played Miss Jane Hathaway on the TV Show The Beverly Hillbillies. Her story is pretty amazing and you will be surprised at quite a lot of it 🙂
Her interaction with Mr. Drysdale was so heartwarming because those two had genuine chemistry. We will never forget Miss Hathaway reviving Drysdale from a faint with a wad of cash under his nose. That pair were the real gems of the show.
Raymond Bailey, who played the cantankerous old banker Milburn Drysdale. She and Mr. Bailey was good friends until his passing in 1980. Miss Jane Hathaway was the one who made the Beverly Hillbillies a great show. She called him chief, and Raymond Bailey called her slim, being her slender appearance.
@@oohyllab And Donna Douglas who was suppose to be "Daisy Mae" from "Lil Abner" was such a "Goddess" but played herself down to make everyone just see a "simple, little ole country innocent girl." That was talent.
Nancy was wonderful! Along with Vivian Vance ("Ethel"), Jean Stapleton ("Edith"), and Agnes Morehead ("Endora")I think Nancy Kulp was one of the truly great supporting actresses of the Golden Age of American Television. My parents adored her.
@@wendyhicks5685 Going to Palm Springs High School I graduated with Cathy Crosby, Bing Crosby's granddaughter, Ron Chaney, his great grandfather Lon Chaney and grandfather Lon Chaney jr.. My good friend Lori Calhoun, her dad was Rory Calhoun, and her mom Lita Barron. I used to see Jackie Coogan almost every day at the grocery store I worked at. I could go on and on. My friend lived next door to Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner. and lastly, my friend Punch Hyde-White's dad was Wilfrid Hyde-White who played Colonel Hugh Pickering in My Fair Lady.
When I was in middle school (mid-1960's - Baton Rouge, LA), I had a science teacher who was Nancy Kulp's age and had gone to college with her at Florida State College for Women. Naturally we students we asked a volley of questions about Nancy Kulp's college days. Our teacher didn't reveal or share too much, but said Nancy Kulp was heavily into dramatics/theatre and all fellow alumnae would say to one another : "She'll be a Hollywood Star someday, if not a New York Broadway stage actress!" I loved her on Beverly Hillbillies and Sanford and Son (the cast of which she did not join till late in the show's original run). I've often felt the run-away success of Beverly Hillbillies was due to the superb and perfect casting. I have read about some of the other actors/actresses who were considered for the BH roles; I am glad they were not cast!
As anyone can see by my name, I am male, but I was nicknamed at a job I once held because everyone thought that Miss Hathaway was synonymous with efficiency. I wore that name as a badge of honor.
She may have not been much to look at but was very talented, intelligent & very sociable person that was always having parties & entertaining people. They say she was so sociable & extrovert is how she won people over to get her roles & into Hollywood. Shows you don’t have to have beauty to to have good self esteem & be comfortable in who you are
Many years ago, my sister and I asked our dad to make a really nice wooden sign for our backyard garden. We called the garden "The Jane Hathaway Memorial Garden". We had no idea if Nancy was around, but we felt sad that her signature character would speak no more after the series ended. We were admittedly strange kids. As old adults, we both identify strongly with the TV show YOUNG SHELDON. LOL
Both these roles on I Love Lucy and Sanford and Son are mentioned in the video. On Lucy, her maid character taught Lucy the proper way to curtsy, to prepare her for meeting the Queen.
@@pattyamato8758 This may have been the proper way to curtsy in the early 50's, but no one is expected to swoop down to the floor in the presence of the Queen anymore.
I am so happy to hear that both Nancy Kulp and Buddy Epsen reconciled before her passing on. I really like her character in the Beverly Hillbillies..... she played her roll really good. :) Love that show....
She wasn't a Hollywood good-looker by any means compared to most of the starlets, but as they say beauty is only skin deep. She had something that went beyond that and she proved it.!
The Beverly Hillbillies was a great TV 📺 show. Nancy Kulp, as Miss Jane was hilarious. She wanted Jethro, but Jethro was clueless. Thanks for this video 📹.
I enjoyed hearing about Nancy Kulp. I also enjoyed the Beverly Hillbillies. My mother was born in 1920, so Nancy would have been a year younger than my mother, except my mother missed her 95th birthday, by 3 weeks.
Great video. Dude she was one of my favorite characters on that show it was hilarious that she had this big crush on Jethro. The amount of comedy that she brought to that show will forever be etched in stone. Being an actor is a great way to leave your craft on this Earth for the generations that will never meet you. I’m 31 and I know her. Job well done Miss Jane!!
She is wonderful and very good actress and artist and is underestimated as you mentioned. Great job celebrating her life & bio. Strong performance always. Wow yes. We can't forget these people. Well done.
I use to run into here all thee time at the Palm Springs Library. One time, she and I didn’t see each other as we were walking through a door and got comically stuck.
Nancy Kulp apparently stayed at a place near High Falls, NY for a while too. I met her in a nearby Ford dealership. I also meet Liza Todd (Elizabeth Taylor's daughter) and Joe Pepitone there. I was a sales office clerk there after high school in the late '70s... Kulp was the best as I grew up watching her on the Hillbillies!
That was another wonderful story I had no idea all your videos are excellent I watched all these shows growing up as a child I'm 64 years old and this brings back so many wonderful memories I love Miss Jane she was great I keep watching all your videos they are so good thank you so much for making them
I remember the Twilight Zone episode she was in called The Fugitive. She played the keeper of a crippled girl, I think her aunt. It was a totally different role than Jane Hathaway as she was mean to the girl.
I saw that in a theatre, 24 years after it was made. Made 10 years before I was born. Class project. All I remember are 2 scenes. The final tree uprooting and the quick draw in the saloon.
I loved Nancy Kulp. Her character, Jane Hathaway, was always a joy to watch. Nancy did the dinner theatre circuit, and in the 1980's performed in my city. cannot remember what the play was, but I was thrilled to see her.
I didn't know her name until now. She was perfect as Miss Jane Hathaway! She really had a huge crush on Jethro. She was really classy and good at her job. She liked the Clampetts and they liked her. RIP Miss Jane 🙏
Nancy’s portrayal of Miss Jane Hathaway was brilliant. The perfect nerdy female secretary. How many actresses today would be willing to take a role where they needed to look their worst? She had to stay as skinny as possible and wear that ridiculous haircut and weather insult after insult about her looks, but it was her acting that made the role iconic. Always barking out that high falsetto, “Chief!” in disapproval of Mr. Drysdale’s greedy schemes. Her crush on Jethro led to some of the funniest scenes in the show. The time she hid the transistor radio on her person because Jethro thought if he heard music it was true love, only to have her radio play commercials or sporting events whenever she turned it on. Great stuff! Nancy is one of my favorite character actresses from the classic era of television.
@@CoolClassics Aside from being huge classic TV fans, my brother and I are also big football fans. Back in the 70s we made a joke that Miss Jane’s favorite NFL team had to be the “Chiefs!”. So when Kansas City made it to the Super Bowl again this year, we once again could picture Miss Jane, decked out in KC gear, sitting on the 50 yard line and hollering, “Go....Chiefs!!” in that high pitched yell she had when barking at Mr. Drysdale. When people are still referring to your character nearly 60 years later, you know that you’ve created an icon. Miss Jane and Barney Fife, two of my favorite TV characters of all time. No one creates characters like that anymore and cannot create such funny characters in our PC culture. I really miss that brand of humor.
I am related to her on my grandmother's side. Our common family arrived on the Allen of Rotterdam in 1729 in Philadelphia. It's passengers were from the Palatinate area in Germany. Her real name is Kolb. From Dielman Kolb. The spelling changed as it was customary for the census takers to go door to door and hand write phonetically name spelling as they heard it. She became a Kulp and they all settled in Penn except for my other side which moved and became Culp in N Carolina.
I can't believe I never saw this until now. Still, better late than never! I absolutely have always adored Nancy J. Culp. Both as an actress and as a person. You are very correct, she was indeed very under rated and should have been a bigger presence in Hollywood. I don't think she was given the chance to become what she could have. She accomplished much in her life and gave a lot back to her community and fellow actors. What a wonderful person and someone who is very much missed.
Ahh Miss Jane, with her french language twist in the early Beverly Hillbillies shows. This explains alot, thanks 👍👍👍👍👍 I lived in Palm Springs at the time of her death. There was a local ceremony in the desert as well. Max Baer jr. ( Jethro) lived in Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage area as well.
I loved Nancy Kulp. She added so much to the Beverly Hillbillies. They were all perfect for the show and you’re right - there would be no replacement for Nancy. The only sad thing was the dirty deed done by Buddy Ebson. He always seemed wise but in real life it was another story it seems. Was he jealous of her? Did he have an issue with her sexual preference? That was just plain mean. What a kind soul she was to even forgive him.
What an amazing person he was to admit what he believed was his wrong, humble himself and ask her for forgiveness. How much better this world would be if more people did that.
Yep that's what I was thinking with some of the other videos I'd mentioned that she was lesbian. I mean when we need role models with all the prejudice and ignorance that goes on in this world. Letting people know whether someone's gay or lesbian would be a great positive way to feel about being gay or lesbian while we were growing up.. sadly many straight people for granted well we gave lesbians and everyone else have to struggle and prove ourselves to be worthy human beings because the other side just would rather see us dead it's playing simple you know just get us out of the way.. we can't show affection we can't be Who We Are we have to constantly stay in the closet till we get covered in the grave. People people who are out should be respected. With the constant prejudices of gay and lesbian people it's important to have role models once you know who they are.. at the age of 71 I was attacked in a Brooklyn pizzeria by homophobic store owner damn prejudice is never going to go away. It will never go away we have to keep fighting while making examples and where the best is we can be with humanity and perseverance never to make the other side make us feel like nothing.. our value our lives have value and we're here to show it no matter how many permanent injuries we receive from prejudice violent individuals.. one of the worst aspects of this violence is the police who every time I gone to the police station four times this year I'm referred to another police officer at the station who also refuse to make a police report so I can get victims compensation for a bill that was over $130,000 now.. For a shattered meniscus words constantly bone on bone pain now I'm developing scoliosis because I'm is this the way I want to end my life with somebody's damn prejudice and the police are only protecting store owners and they don't give a damn about us luckily have Medicare that covers almost 80%.or l would be stuck with a bill of over 120,000 of medical bills and it's still growing . Horribly huge bill and that doesn't even include knee replacement... so this is American justice this is what our fathers fought wars for America? Makes one proud to be an American.
These Cool Classics videos are the best thing on RU-vid. No matter who they are about, even if it's someone I never heard of, they are always entertaining and informative. And I love the fact that they are narrated by a real person, not some dumb machine. Keep up the good work, it's much appreciated!
Thanks for this video--she was indeed an amazing person and a fabulous actor. I lived in Harrisburg PA when she ran for office and recall being so delighted that she did so. While Bud Schuster might have won that election, he ended his life on live TV--an event I watched happen at that moment. He went down in infamy, while Nancy Kulp left a legacy that was truly amazing.
She was a fabulous character actor. The wealth-experience of the actors during her career will never be replicated. I'm four-score years in age and I still remember her delightful appearances.
Nancy was one of the most courageous people. She stood up for good and what she knew was right. And a gifted performer who created a unique TV character - the would be aesthete who had to work for a bourgeois money grubber, but always kept the dream alive. I loved Miss Jane, and Nancy.
