Donna Douglas, the actress best known for her role as Elly May Clampett in the CBS television series "The Beverly Hillbillies," died Friday at 81, family members told WAFB, the network's Baton Rouge, Louisiana, affiliate.

Douglas was a "Miss Baton Rouge" and "Miss New Orleans" before her TV career. She had a home near the Pelican State's capital, the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune added, where she lived since her return from California in 2009.

She had previously said she wanted to be near her only child, a son who owned horses in Zachary, Louisiana.

"Cutting grass, baling hay -- I grew up doing all that stuff," she said. "I don't mind getting sweaty and dirty. I enjoy being outside."

Born in Pride, Louisiana, in 1933, Douglas was chosen for the "Beverly Hillbillies" from more than 500 other actresses. She said she felt at ease playing the role because of the similarities with the character: She, too, grew up a poor Southern tomboy.

"I had milked cows before," she once said. "I figured they were equipped the same, so I just went on over and did it."

"The Beverly Hillbillies," which aired from 1962 to 1971, told the tales of the Clampett family after the family moved from the Ozarks to Beverly Hills after its members strike oil and become millionaires. Beside Douglas, the show starred Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan and Max Baer Jr.

Long after the show ended, Douglas still "embodied" Elly May Clampett, the mountain beauty daughter of Jed and Rose Ellen Clampett, the Clarion-Ledger noted.

"Elly has always been good for me," she once said. "That was a slice out of my life, a very happy slice out of my life."

Douglas's acting career, however, was not limited to the CBS show. She had a featured role in the 1959 movie "Career," starring Anthony Franciosa, Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine, and she starred opposite Elvis Presley in the 1966 movie "Frankie and Johnny."