logo
Source: Wikipedia.
Source: Wikipedia.

Here's What Happened to 'Petticoat Junction' Actress Bea Benaderet When Her Character 'Left Town'

Odette Odendaal
Jun 20, 2019
02:37 P.M.

Bea Benaderet became best known for her comedic performances in “The Flintstones,” “The Beverly Hillbillies,” and “Petticoat Junction.”

Advertisement

Fans of the country hotel keeper at “Petticoat Junction,” which began its run in 1963, will know that Bea suddenly became absent on the show in 1967. Producers of the show eased concerns and said that she was “out of town.”

Bea resumed her role as Kate Bradley in 1968, but after filming five episodes for the 1968-69 season, she left again, and this time, she didn’t return.

The world had been unaware that Bea got diagnosed with lung cancer in 1967. When she left “Petticoat Junction” the first time, she underwent treatment for the condition, and a recurrence of the illness in February 1968 sent her back to the hospital.

Advertisement

On October 13, 1968, at the age of sixty-two, Bea lost her battle with cancer at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. Married to her second husband, Gene Twombly at the time, he passed four days after her death from a heart attack.

The couple had no children together, but Bea had two children, Margaret, and Jack from her first marriage to Jim Bannon, whom she divorced in 1950. In the years before her death, Bea had a remarkable career in radio and television.

Advertisement

After she graduated from St. Rose Academy in San Francisco, Bea attended the Reginald Travis School of Acting. Her career in radio began in 1936 when she became part of the Orson Welles’ performing company on “The Campbell Playhouse.”

In 1939, Bea got her break into comedy on the Jack Benny’s show and only broke into television eleven years later when she got cast in the 1950 series, “Burns and Allen.”

Advertisement

During her career, Bea received 125 acting credits, mostly in television series and includes voice-over work.

The actress appeared in 179 episodes of “Pennicoat Junction” wherein she as hotelkeeper of the Shady Rest Hotel, also had three daughters to manage.

The show revolved around Kate Bradley’s family where they lived in the fictional town of Hooterville, with the only transportation in or out town being an old steam engine.

Advertisement
Bea Benaderet in 1966. | Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Bea Benaderet in 1966. | Source: Wikimedia Commons.

“Pennicoat Junction” became a beloved and successful series and remained a favorite long after the last episode aired in 1969. A success one of Bea’s co-stars, Linda Henning, who played Betty Jo, attributed to the content of the show.

"I tell you the people who watched it really identified with it because they lived those lives," she told the LA Times in 2008. "That was what they wanted to see. It meant a lot to them.”

In a remarkably similar story, another comedienne from the same era got diagnosed with cancer while in the midst of starring in a comedic television series.

Alison Pearce from “Bewitched” had an impressive career until her life got cut short, but not before she met the love of her life.

Advertisement
info
Please fill in your e-mail so we can share with you our top stories!
By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy
Advertisement
Related posts

This Man Stood in for His Famous Actress Wife When She Got Her Citizenship - After Marrying Him She Intentionally Kept a Low Profile

February 26, 2024

David Sanov Is Alison Sweeney's Husband of More Than 2 Decades

January 22, 2024

Brian Keith’s 3 Spouses Were All Actresses — Facts about His Marriages

December 13, 2023

Peter Falk's Daughter Was Banned from Dad's Funeral - Years Later She Fought for the Rights of Other Families

January 16, 2024

Alison Berns Became Howard Stern's Ex-spouse after Decades of Marriage

November 21, 2023

This Girl Was Told She Was 'Not Pretty Enough' for Film Yet She Won 2 Oscars & Raised Sons Following in Her Footsteps

November 08, 2023

Fans Amazed by Alison Arngrim's 'Terrific' Look At 62 with Pixie Cut as She Poses on Magazine Cover

January 26, 2024

Terri Garr Disappeared from Hollywood — For More than 20 Years She Has Struggled with Diagnosis

December 18, 2023

'All in the Family' Star Sally Struthers Reveals How Her Life 'Turned Upside Down' after Starring on the Show

February 05, 2024

Shelley R Bonus Was Richard Pryor's Wife in the Late 60s – More about Her

January 15, 2024

Parents Leave Daughter with Neighbor, Return to Find Both Mysteriously Vanished – Story of the Day

December 12, 2023

Olivia Williams Manning Is Archie Manning's Wife Who Once Became Homecoming Queen

November 10, 2023

Cara Whitney Is a Book Author & Mom of Larry the Cable Guy's Two Kids

December 01, 2023

Parents Leave Child with Neighbor, Return to Find Both Mysteriously Vanished – Story of the Day

January 22, 2024