NEW ORLEANS – The actress who played pigtailed, critter-loving Elly May Clampett on “The Beverly Hillbillies” has settled her lawsuit over a Barbie doll that uses the character’s name and likeness.
Actress Donna Douglas, who lives in a Baton Rouge suburb, settled with CBS and toymaker Mattel on Tuesday. Douglas’ lawsuit sought at least $75,000 from CBS Consumer Products Inc. and Mattel Inc., claiming they needed her approval to design the doll. Details of the settlement were confidential.
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“She was happy with the result,” said one of Douglas’ attorneys, Charles von Simson.
The doll, released in late 2010, is dressed in jeans with a rope belt. Its long blond hair is a curly mop with loose, long pigtails — a style that Douglas still sometimes wears. The package includes a photo of her and a promotional description of the doll names Douglas, the lawsuit said.
CBS and Mattel said in court documents that they didn’t need her OK because the network holds exclusive rights to the character.
“The matter was settled to mutual satisfaction,” said Lori Mince, an attorney for New York-based CBS and the El Segundo, Calif., toymaker. She said that was about all she could say under terms of the settlement.
Douglas was in all nine seasons of the comedy about a backwoods family that strikes oil and moves to Beverly Hills.
Von Simson said Douglas still makes regular public appearances.
“She’s very active in her church. What she does these days is, she makes appearances at church functions and as her personal ministry, talks about her Elly May role,” he said.
The Bridge-Logos Foundation, a religious publishing house, released “Miss Donna’s Mulberry Acres Farm,” a children’s book by Douglas, in November.
Wanted: technical assistant for Stephen Hawking
LONDON – Can you help make Stephen Hawking’s voice heard?
The famed British physicist is seeking an assistant to help develop and maintain the electronic speech system that allows him to communicate his vision of the universe.
An informal job ad posted to the famed physicist’s website said the assistant should be computer literate, ready to travel, and able to repair electronic devices “with no instruction manual or technical support.”
Hawking has long struggled against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that left him almost completely paralyzed.
He lost his real voice in a tracheotomy in 1985, but a wheelchair-mounted computer helps synthesize speech by interpreting the twitches of his face. The synthesizer’s robotic monotone has become nearly as famous as Hawking himself, but the computer – powered by batteries fastened to the back of Hawking’s wheelchair – isn’t just for speaking.
It can connect to the Internet over cellphone networks and a universal infrared remote enables the physicist to switch on the lights, watch television, or open doors either at home or at the office.
It’s a complicated, tailor-made system, as the ad makes clear. A photograph of the back of Hawking’s wheelchair, loaded with coiled wires and electronic equipment, is pictured under the words: “Could you maintain this?”
“If your answer is ‘yes,’ we’d like to hear from you!” the website says.
Hawking’s website says that the job’s salary is expected to be about $38,500 a year.
Wynonna Judd is engaged to her drummer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Wynonna Judd is engaged to her boyfriend, the drummer for the country group Highway 101. Judd, 47, and Cactus Moser, 54, got engaged Dec. 24. They are currently touring together as Wynonna and The Big Noise.
Judd has sold more than 30 million albums throughout her 28-year career and has won five Grammys. She and mother Naomi have performed as The Judds.
Patricia Clarkson heads up parade
NEW ORLEANS – Actress Patricia Clarkson will lead the Carnival parade of the Krewe of Muses in her hometown of New Orleans.
The star of the 2010 thriller “Shutter Island” and the 2003 drama “Pieces of April” will step into a whimsical limelight by riding on a red fiber-optic-lit float shaped like a high-heeled shoe.
The Krewe of Muses is an all-women’s organization that parades through New Orleans on Feb. 16.
The krewe traditionally selects an honorary rider who exemplifies a muse from Greek mythology, such as dance, poetry or music.
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