Nancy Kulp

Nancy Kulp was an American character actress, discovered by director George Cukor, who made her film debut in The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951) and went on to appear in Shane (1953), Sabrina (1954), A Star Is Born (1954), and The Parent Trap (1961), as well as a Broadway run in Morning's at Seven (1980). She is best known as Miss Jane Hathaway -- the efficient, nature-loving secretary -- on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). She ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Pennsylvania in 1984, and her former co-star Buddy Ebsen publicly spoke against her candidacy. She was lesbian and lived with her partner for many years, later acknowledging in life that she was attracted to both men and women; her sexuality was known among colleagues but was not publicly disclosed during her career. Her story represents the absolute silence required of LGBTQ+ performers in American mainstream television's earliest decades.