Nancy Kulp

Nancy Kulp is an American actress best known as the proper Miss Hathaway on the 1960s sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies." Kulp was born the daughter of a traveling salesman who moved the family to Florida during her teen years. She earned a B.A. in journalism from Florida State University, and left the University of Miami in 1944 to volunteer for United States Naval Reserve during World War II. While she was working in publicity at Twentieth Century Fox director George Cukor told Kulp that she should consider acting. She got her first onscreen credit in the 1952 drama "Steel Town" and appeared in numerous films and television programs through the '50s, including playing the mother of the mentally ill Eve in 1957's "The Three Faces of Eve." In the late '50s, Kulp had a recurring role in "The Bob Cummings Show," and played a camp counselor in the 1961 comedy "The Parent Trap" but it was her role as bank secretary Miss Jane Hathaway in the hit CBS sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies" that gave Kulp an enduring fame. Nominated for an Emmy in 1967, she appeared on the show through all of its nine seasons. After the program's cancellation in 1971, Kulp had recurring roles on the sitcoms "The Brian Keith Show" in 1973 and "Sanford and Son" in 1975. She appeared infrequently by the late 70's, and ran an unsuccessful campaign for a House of Representatives seat in 1984. Kulp died of cancer at age 69.