Nancy Kulp
Nancy Kulp, 1960s
Born
Nancy Jane Kulp

(1921-08-28)August 28, 1921
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedFebruary 3, 1991(1991-02-03) (aged 69)
Palm Desert, California, U.S.[1][2]
Resting placeWestminster Presbyterian Cemetery, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania[3]
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian, writer
Years active1951–1989
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Charles M. Dacus
​
​
(m. 1951; div. 1961)​
Military service
ServiceUnited States Naval Reserve
Years of service1944–1946
RankLieutenant, junior grade
Wars
AwardsAmerican Campaign Medal

Nancy Jane Kulp (August 28, 1921 – February 3, 1991) was an American character actor, writer and comedian best known as Miss Jane Hathaway on the CBS television series The Beverly Hillbillies.

Early life

Kulp was born to Robert Tilden and Marjorie C. (née Snyder) Kulp in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She was their only child. Kulp's father was a traveling salesman, and her mother was a schoolteacher and later a principal.[4] The family moved from Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, to Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, sometime before 1935.[5]

In 1943, Kulp graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from Florida State College for Women (now Florida State University).[6] She continued her studies for a master's degree in English and French at the University of Miami, where she was a member of the sorority Pi Beta Phi. Early in the 1940s, she also worked as a feature writer for the Miami Beach Tropics newspaper, writing profiles of celebrities such as Clark Gable and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.[7][8]

Military service

In 1944, during World War II, Kulp left the University of Miami to join the United States Naval Reserve. She attained the rank of lieutenant, junior grade, and received several decorations while in the service, including the American Campaign Medal. She was honorably discharged in 1946.

Career

Film

In 1951, not long after marrying Charles Malcolm Dacus, Kulp moved to Hollywood, California, to work in MGM's publicity department. At the studio, director George Cukor soon convinced her that she should be an actress, so the same year she began her MGM publicity job, she also made her film debut as a character actress in The Model and the Marriage Broker.[9] She then appeared in other films, including Shane,[10] Sabrina,[11] and A Star is Born.[12] After working in television on The Bob Cummings Show and on Perry Mason in "The Case of the Deadly Toy" in 1959, Kulp returned to movies in Forever, Darling,[13] The Three Faces of Eve,[14] The Parent Trap,[15] Who's Minding the Store?,[16] and The Aristocats.[17] In 1966, she appeared as Wilhelmina Peterson in the film The Night of the Grizzly, starring Clint Walker and Martha Hyer.[18]

Television

Kulp (center) with Max Baer Jr. and Sharon Tate in The Beverly Hillbillies, 1965

In 1955 Kulp joined the cast of The Bob Cummings Show (Love That Bob) with Bob Cummings, portraying pith-helmeted neighborhood bird watcher Pamela Livingstone. In 1956, she appeared as a waitress in the episode "Johnny Bravo" of the ABC/Warner Brothers series Cheyenne, with Clint Walker. Kulp played the role of Anastasia in three episodes of the NBC sitcom It's a Great Life in 1955 and 1956. In 1958, she appeared in Orson Welles' little-known pilot episode "The Fountain of Youth" in the television series Colgate Theatre. In 1960, she appeared as Emma St. John in the episode "Kill with Kindness" of the ABC/WB detective series Bourbon Street Beat, starring Andrew Duggan.

Kulp appeared on I Love Lucy in the 1956 episode "Lucy Meets the Queen", performing as an English maid, who shows Lucy and Ethel how to curtsy properly before Queen Elizabeth. Kulp also appeared in episodes of The Real McCoys, Perry Mason ("The Case of the Prodigal Parent", 1958, and "The Case of the Deadly Toy", 1959), The Jack Benny Program ("Don's 27th Anniversary with Jack"), 87th Precinct ("Killer's Choice"), Pete and Gladys, The Twilight Zone (as Mrs. Gann in "The Fugitive"), and Outlaws ("The Dark Sunrise of Griff Kincaid, Esquire"). Kulp portrayed a slurring-drunk waitress in a scene with James Garner and Jean Willes in the 1959 Maverick episode "Full House". She played a housekeeper in a pilot for The William Bendix Show, which aired as the 1960–1961 season finale of CBS's Mister Ed under the title "Pine Lake Lodge". On the series My Three Sons in 1962, she portrayed a high school math and science teacher in two episodes under different character names, Miss Harris and Miss Fisher.[19]

Guest star Jim Backus with Kulp in The Beverly Hillbillies (1963)

Shortly after her performances on My Three Sons in 1962, Kulp landed her breakout role as Jane Hathaway, the love-starved, bird-watching, perennial spinster, on the CBS television series The Beverly Hillbillies. In 1967, she received an Emmy Award nomination for her role, and she remained with the show until its cancellation in 1971.[20] In 1978, she appeared on The Love Boat in the episode "Mike and Ike / The Witness / The Kissing Bandit" and she played Aunt Gertrude in the episode "Tony and Julie / Separate Beds / America's Sweetheart". On April 7, 1989, she played a nun in the Quantum Leap season 1 episode "The Right Hand of God". Kulp also appeared on The Brian Keith Show and Sanford and Son.

Theatre

Kulp also performed in the Broadway production of Morning's at Seven in 1980 to 1981 as Aaronetta Gibbs as a replacement for Elizabeth Wilson[21] in the Lyceum Theatre.[22]

Politics, academia and retirement

In 1984, after working with the Democratic state committee in her home state of Pennsylvania "on a variety of projects" over a period of years, Kulp ran unopposed as the Democratic nominee for the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district.[23] As an opponent of the Republican incumbent Bud Shuster in a Republican-dominated district, Kulp was the decided underdog. Sixty-two years old at the time, Kulp said some voters might feel her background as an actress was "frivolous"; but she noted that Ronald Reagan had taken the route from screen to politics, and she said anyone who "listens and cares" can do well.[23]

To her dismay, her Hillbillies co-star Buddy Ebsen contacted the Shuster campaign and volunteered to make a radio campaign ad in which he called Kulp "too liberal".[24] Kulp said of Ebsen, "He's not the kindly old Jed Clampett that you saw on the show ... It's none of his business and he should have stayed out of it." She said Ebsen and she "didn't get along because I found him difficult to work with. But I never would have done something like this to him." Garnering 59,449 votes—just 33.6% of the ballots cast in the election—to Shuster's 117,203 votes and 66.4%, she lost.[25] After this, according to her close friends and family, Ebsen was regarded as persona non grata to Kulp and she made it clear to people not to bring him up in conversation around her with the exception of interviews related to her time on Hillbillies. In his later years, especially after Kulp's death, Ebsen privately expressed remorse for doing the ad and they only reconciled shortly before Kulp's death.[26]

After her defeat, she worked at Juniata College, a private liberal arts college in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, as an artist-in-residence.[27] Later she taught acting.

Personal life

Kulp in Tallahassee wearing a button supporting FSU football

Kulp married Charles Malcolm Dacus on April 1, 1951, in Dade County, Florida; they divorced in 1961.[28] After her retirement from acting and teaching, she moved first to a farm in Connecticut and later to Palm Springs, California, where she became involved in several charity organizations, including the Humane Society of the Desert, the Desert Theatre League, and United Cerebral Palsy.[6]

In 1989, Kulp gave an interview to author and LGBT activist Boze Hadleigh in which she said,

As long as you reproduce my reply word for word, and the question, you may use it ... I'd appreciate it if you'd let me phrase the question. There is more than one way. Here's how I would ask it: "Do you think that opposites attract?" My own reply would be that I'm the other sort — I find that birds of a feather flock together. That answers your question.[29]

Death

Kulp, a cigarette smoker,[30] was diagnosed with cancer in 1990 and received chemotherapy. By 1991 the cancer had spread, and she died on February 3, 1991, aged 69, in Palm Desert, California.[7][31] Her remains are interred at Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania.[3]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1951 The Model and the Marriage Broker Hazel Gingras Uncredited
1952 Steel Town Dolores
The Marrying Kind Edie Uncredited
1953 Shane Mrs. Howells
The Caddy Emma Uncredited
Here Come the Girls Washwoman Uncredited
1954 Sabrina Jenny, maid Uncredited
A Star is Born Esther's neighbor in rooming house Uncredited
1955 The Shrike Mrs. Coleman Uncredited
Not as a Stranger Deirdre Uncredited
You're Never Too Young Marty's Mother
Count Three and Pray Matty Miller
1956 Anything Goes A bobby soxer Uncredited
Forever, Darling Amy
1957 Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend Cleaning Woman Uncredited
God Is My Partner Maxine Spelvana
The Three Faces of Eve Mrs. Black
Kiss Them for Me WAVE Telephone Operator Uncredited
1958 The High Cost of Loving Miss Matthews, Cave's Secretary Uncredited cameo
1959 Five Gates to Hell Susette
1961 The Parent Trap Miss Grunecker
The Last Time I Saw Archie Miss Willoughby Uncredited
The Two Little Bears Emily Wilkins
1962 Moon Pilot Space Flight Nutritionist Uncredited
1963 Who's Minding the Store? Emily Rothgraber
1964 The Patsy Helen, Theatergoer
1965 Strange Bedfellows Aggressive Woman
1966 The Night of the Grizzly Wilhelmina Peterson
1970 The Aristocats Frou-Frou Voice

Television

Year Title Role Episode(s)
1954 Lux Video Theatre Daisy "To Each His Own"
Topper Guest "The Seance"
December Bride Louella "Lily Hires a Maid"
1955–1959 The Bob Cummings Show Pamela Livingstone 15 episodes
1955 It's a Great Life Mrs. Bell "The Missing Stamp"
The Life of Riley Charlotte Lindsay "Love Comes to Waldo Binney"
Svengali and the Blonde Honorine TV movie
Schlitz Playhouse Guest 2 episodes
Topper Mrs. Bandle "The Neighbors"
TV Reader's Digest Ruth "Around the Horn to Matrimony"
Schlitz Playhouse Guest "The Girl Who Scared Men Off"
The Life of Riley Charlotte Lindsay "Waldo's Mother"
It's a Great Life Gloria "The Crystal Ball"
General Electric Theater Miss Lamb "The Seeds of Hate"
1956 It's a Great Life Anastasia "Beauty Contest"
I Love Lucy Maid "Lucy Meets the Queen"
Navy Log Guest "Web Feet"
It's a Great Life Girl "Kid Sister"
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre Guest "Shoot the Moon"
December Bride Florence "Lily the Matchmaker"
Cheyenne Waitress "Johnny Bravo"
The Gale Storm Show Helga Petersen "Passenger Incognito"
Our Miss Brooks Lucretia Hannibal Recurring (3 episodes)
The 20th Century Fox Hour Miss Gillis "The Hefferan Family"
The Red Skelton Show Witch "The Magic Shoes"
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Nancy "The Balloons"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Nurse "Jonathan"
1957 Date with the Angels Dolly Cates Recurring (4 episodes)
The Thin Man Desk clerk, uncredited cameo "The Angel Biz"
1958 The Loretta Young Show Helen "Dear Milkman"
Perry Mason Sarah Winslow "The Case of the Prodigal Parent"
Cheyenne Waitress, uncredited "Noose at Noon"
Perry Mason Sarah Winslow "The Case of the Prodigal Parent"
Colgate Theatre Guest "Adventures of a Model"
Stella Morgan, credited as Nancy Culp "The Fountain of Youth
The Real McCoys Harriet Reynolds "The Dancin' Fool"
77 Sunset Strip Landlady "Casualty"
1959 December Bride Librarian "The Hi-Fi Show"
The Dennis O'Keefe Show Miss Mansfield "Teacher's Pest"
Playhouse 90 Leona "A Marriage of Strangers"
Perry Mason Katherine Collins "The Case of the Deadly Toy"
Maverick Waitress, uncredited "Full House"
Sunday Showcase Girl at Well "The Milton Berle Special"
1960 Bourbon Street Beat Emma St. John "Kill with Kindness"
The Gale Storm Show Gertrude "Captain Courageous"
The Comedy Spot[32] Guest "Adventures of a Model"
1961 Shirley Temple's Storybook Guardian "The Little Mermaid"
Mister Ed Martha "Pine Lake Lodge"
Pete and Gladys Miss Hotchkiss "Gladys' Political Campaign"
The Jack Benny Program Elocution Teacher "Don's 27th Anniversary with Jack"
1962 Outlaws Jennifer Veasy "The Dark Sunrise of Griff Kincaid"
Pete and Gladys Vickie "Office Wife"
87th Precinct Miss Fitzhenry "Killer's Choice"
The Twilight Zone Agnes Gann "The Fugitive"
The Danny Thomas Show Mrs. Keltner "The P.T.A. Bash"
The Joey Bishop Show Guest "A Man's Best Friend"
My Three Sons Miss Harris "Robbie Valentino"
General Electric Theater Miss Lamb "The Free Wheelers"
My Three Sons Miss Fisher "The Big Game"
The Jack Benny Program Jeanette "Alexander Hamilton Show"
King of Diamonds Sergeant Vadolski "Backlash"
Hawaiian Eye Edie Barnes "'V' is for Victim"
The Comedy Spot[32] Woman "The Soft Touch"
Ernestine Woman Made-for-TV movie.[33]
The Lucy Show Jane Corey "Lucy Becomes an Astronaut"
1962–71 The Beverly Hillbillies Jane Hathaway 246 episodes
1963 77 Sunset Strip Eloise "The Checkmate Caper"
1966 Password Herself Game show contestant / Celebrity guest star
1968 Petticoat Junction Jane Hathaway "A Cake from Granny"
1971 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Guest "Ver-r-r-ry Interesting"[34]
1973–74 The Brian Keith Show Mrs. Gruber Recurring (8 episodes)
1975–76 Sanford and Son May Hopkins Recurring (5 episodes)
1978 The Love Boat Gert "Mike and Ike / The Witness / The Kissing Bandi"
1979 CHiPs Herself, uncredited "Roller Disco: Part 2"
The Love Boat Sylvia McTigue "Spider Serenade, The / Next Door Wife / Harder They Fall"
1981 Aunt Gert "Tony and Julie / Separate Beds / America's Sweetheart"
Return of the Beverly Hillbillies Jane Hathaway Made-for-TV movie directed by Robert M. Leeds.[35]
1983 The Wilder Summer Camp Director Made-for-TV movie directed by Deborah Reinisch.
Fantasy Island Mrs. Potroy "Revenge of the Forgotten / Charo"
1986 Simon & Simon Shirley Graham "Still Phil After All These Years"
Scarecrow and Mrs. King Dr. Claudia Joyce "Billy's Lost Weekend"
1989 Quantum Leap Sister Sarah Episode: "The Right Hand of God" (S 1:Ep 4)
ABC Afterschool Special Aurora "Private Affairs", final appearance

Theatre

Year Title Role Venue Notes
1980–81 Morning's at Seven Aaronetta Gibbs Lyceum Theatre (April 10, 1980 – August 16, 1981)

Awards and nominations

List of acting awards and nominations
Year Award Category Title Role Result Ref.
1967 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The Beverly Hillbillies Jane Hathaway Nominated [20]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary: Nancy Kulp". Arrange Online. Jonesboro, Arkansas: Continental Computer Corporation. Archived from the original on February 3, 2004. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Obituary: Nancy Kulp". Los Angeles Times. January 21, 2000. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Did You Know? Nancy Kulp". Harrisburg Magazine. November 29, 2016.
  4. ↑ 1930 U.S. Federal Census Record, viewed on Ancestry.com on June 7, 2010.
  5. ↑ US Federal Census Record, viewed on Ancestry.com on June 7, 2010.
  6. 1 2 Associated Press Staff (February 4, 1991). "Nancy Kulp, Who Played Secretary on 'Beverly Hillbillies,' Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Nancy Kulp, 69, Dies; Film and TV Actress". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 5, 1991. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Nancy Kulp; Foil in 'Beverly Hillbillies'". Los Angeles Times. January 21, 2000. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  9. ↑ "The Model and the Marriage Broker". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Shane". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Sabrina 1954". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  12. ↑ "A Star is Born 1954". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Forever, Darling". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  14. ↑ "The Three Faces of Eve". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  15. ↑ "The Parent Trap". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Who's Minding the Store?". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  17. ↑ "The Aristocats". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  18. ↑ "The Night of the Grizzly". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Robbie Valentino" and "The Big Game", My Three Sons (S02E21 and S02E24), episodes originally broadcast respectively on February 22 and March 15, 1962. Internet Movie Database (IMDb), an affiliate of Amazon.com, Seattle Washington. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  20. 1 2 "19th Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners". Emmys. North Hollywood, Los Angeles: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  21. 1 2 "Nancy Kulp". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  22. 1 2 "Morning's at Seven". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  23. 1 2 "Campaign Notes – Actress in Pennsylvania To Run for Congress". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 2, 1984. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Feudin' Hillbillies. Jed Clampett Opposes Miss Hathaway's House Bid". The Palm Beach Post. November 4, 1984. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Former 'Hillbilly' Loses". The New York Times. November 8, 1984. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Nancy Kulp-Buddy Ebsen Feud - 1984". The Retro Site. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  27. ↑ "Kulp Goes From Miss Hathaway to Pennsylvania College Professor". The Ledger. Lakeland, Florida: New Media Investment Group. November 29, 1985. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  28. ↑ Marriage license on Ancestry.com, which cites the marriage of Nancy Jane Kulp and Charles Malcolm Dacus as occurring in Dade County, Florida, in 1951. The marriage certificate number is 1315 and is held in Volume 7097.
  29. ↑ Hadleigh, Boze (1994). Hollywood Lesbians. Fort Lee, New Jersey: Barricade Books. ISBN 9781569800140.
  30. ↑ See Twilight Zone Episode "The Fugitive"
  31. ↑ Johns 2004, p. 126.
  32. 1 2 Brooks 2007, p. 276.
  33. ↑ Irvin 2014, p. 110.
  34. ↑ "Ver-r-r-ry Interesting". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Return of the Beverly Hillbillies". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 7, 2016.

Sources

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