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vrijdag 30 december 2011

'Beverly Hillbillies' Star and Mattel Settle Lawsuit Over 'Elly May' Barbie

'Beverly Hillbillies' Star and Mattel Settle Lawsuit Over 'Elly May' Barbie

Former sitcom star Donna Douglas, now 78, was unhappy over her resemblance to the buxom backwoods doll.


Actress Donna Douglas has settled her legal dispute with toymaker Mattel over a Barbie doll named based off of her Beverly Hillbillies character, Elly May Clampett.

Reuters reports that the consumer product division of CBS Corp. had licensed the rights for Mattel to replicate Elly May, something it argued it had exclusive rights to do. Douglas, now 78, had sued both companies claiming they were "engaging in the unauthorized use" of her name and likeness to sell the product.

She sought a minimum of $75,000 in damages. Neither her attorney or Mattel would comment on the details or figure, but documents filed in Louisiana on Tuesday indicate that it had been settled.

Douglas played the beautifully dim Elly May on the CBS television series from 1962 to 1971. The fish-out-of-water tale about Appalachian family that struck oil and moved to a Los Angeles mansion was later adapted for a 1993 film of the same name.