On Friday nights in 1979 I was virtually glued to CBS on the TV – especially when The Dukes of Hazzard came on.
As a young boy, I loved ‘Daisy Duke’. Hell, I think every guy that grew up in the late ’70s had a crush on her. The curvaceous brunette was portrayed by the naturally beautiful Catherine Bach.
The former TV star is now 68 years old – try not to smile when you see the latest photos of her…
American actress Catherine Bach, who played Daisy Duke in the US television series ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’, circa 1985.
How many TV characters inspire a sense of fashion that lasts decades after the show is gone? Catherine Bach, best known by the public for her role as Daisy Duke, has written herself into pop culture history forever.
The beautiful actress, with legs worth insuring, rose to fame in the late 1970s and ’80s. The Cleveland, Ohio native became iconic for her daring outfits – she was one of the first girls to wear short shorts on TV.
But those who believe that Catherine was only a simple actress – and mostly eye candy – couldn’t be more wrong.
Catherine had the integrity, knowledge, and courage to shape the character that laid the entire foundation for her successful career.
Catherine Bach (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
For example, producers on Dukes of Hazzard wanted her to wear a tight white turtleneck, go-go boots, and a poodle skirt for her role. But Catherine insisted on creating her own outfit instead. She handmade many of the costumes she wore as Daisy Duke, and the rest is history.
Cut-off denim shorts are still referred to as “Daisy Dukes,” and I think there are girls still wearing the iconic hotpants today – referring to them by name without knowing anything about the TV show. That’s pretty remarkable.
A Dolly Parton-lookalike
Catherine Bach was born in Warren, Ohio in 1954. Her upbringing was a split one. After her parents divorced, she spent most of her childhood with her father at their ranch in South Dakota. In the summers, she visited her mother in California.
While spending her holidays in The Golden State, Catherine went to drama school and fell in love with the stage. Two days after graduating high school, she boarded a plane, determined to make it in Hollywood.
Flickr / Gerard Van der Leun
She got a list of all the agents in Tinseltown and went to see every one of them until she found one that would accept her as a client.
The aspiring actress set her sights on a movie career and landed some minor roles before hearing about an audition for a show named The Dukes of Hazzard. It was her then-husband, David Shaw (stepson of Angela Lansbury), who tipped her off.
“My husband was a contractor… and he liked to hire a lot of out-of-work writers, struggling actors and producers. So he hired this fellow to paint the house and he was writing this show about an old moonshiner called ’The Dukes of Hazzard’”, Catherine told Beaver Country Times in 1981.
According to Catherine, the producers were looking for a Dolly Parton look-a-like to play the role of Daisy. They wanted a girl with lots of blonde hair, big boobs, and an hourglass figure. Nevertheless, Catherine went in for the audition and nailed it. CBS hired her that same night.
Flickr/ThomasHawk
The Dukes of Hazzard became an instant hit and was a top-rated television series in the late 1970s, ranking second only to Dallas at one point. Even though critics hated it, the average American loved it. The show had all the ingredients – car chases, corny jokes, and a very good-looking leading lady.
As the naturally beautiful Daisy Duke, Catherine became one of the most famous faces on television. Her character was loved by many, and Daisy was the reason a lot of us watched the show.
“The character is a conglomeration of many people I know. She is half the wildest girl I ever knew in high school. She is part of a couple of girls I was real close to in Georgia. Se’s a lot of Dolly Parton and she’s a lot of me when I was a waitress. She is independent. She is physical. And she can do anything the guys can do,” Catherine explained in 1979.
