| thefilmarchive.org DVD: www.amazon.com December 5, 1962 The Clampetts try to get Sonny to propose to Elly May, as Cousin Pearl steps up her efforts to get Jasper Depew to marry her daughter Jethrine. Jed's cousin Pearl Bodine, portrayed by Bea Benaderet, was Jethro's widowed mother. In the last season, Granny mentioned that her husband, Fred Bodine, had drowned in a fishing accident when Jethro was just a baby (although, in an earlier episode, Jethro shared some memories of his father with a psychiatrist). Pearl was a generally well-meaning mother to Jethro. She also was a popular character, often used as a foil for Granny, and became a regular part way through the first season (the end credits were even refilmed to include Pearl with the other family members). She disappeared after the first year because Benaderet had become the star of another Paul Henning series, Petticoat Junction. Like Elly May, Pearl's name came from that of a character (Pearl Lester) in the popular rural-life novel, play, and film Tobacco Road. Pearl Bodine appears in 22 of the first season's episodes, 1962--63, and later makes a cameo in the 1967 episode "Greetings From The President". In the episodes "The Clampetts Get Psychoanalyzed" & "The Psychiatrist Gets Clampetted" Herbert Rudley plays the psychiatrist Dr. Eugene Twombley. In the episodes Pearl is enamored with Dr. Twombley; Benaderet's real life husband is named Eugene Twombley. The role was first offered to Shirley Collie. Jethrine is ... |
