Granny Clampett, unsung matriarch of the 1960s, takes the 9-spot

9. Granny, “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Yes, there was Jethro Bodine, who surely rates at least a mention on a list like this one. And then there’s Ellie Mae, Mr. Drysdale and Miss Hathaway.

But Irene Ryan’s Granny was the glue that cemented the Hillbillies’ bond. Proud matriarch, proud cook and proud of her self-described “rheumatiz medicine” (a k a moonshine), Granny’s backwoods pluck and wise-woman spunk has been described as "the great Mass Contagion of the psychedelic era, though in a trip-free way that left you zooming, man. Just zooming. Road up ahead & we're going. Load up the truck, freaks and freakettes – Californey is the place we oughtta be.” *

Without Granny, where would Jed Clampett himself have been, besides in a fix? Raising a mentally challenged manchild nephew with a voracious appetite for vittles would have been difficult enough, but there was also the matter of his own vivacious young daughter - a woman so in tune with the natural rhythms of the world that she could communicate with her critters like some curvier version of Dr. Doolittle. Where indeed would Jed have been without Granny?

Certainly he would not have been capable of maintaining his Beverly Hills mansion without hired help. But with Granny as their quasi-shamanic priestess guide, their solid rock in the great sea of rapidly changing Vietnam-era America, the Hillbillies always lived to play another day, and America was a better nation for it.

Press play on the image above to see Ryan in character as Granny in this cast ad for Winston cigarettes.

Up Next at No. 8: If you didn't watch professional wrestling in the 1970s or early'80s, you missed one of the nation's finest acting talents - not to mention THE all-time greatest pro wrestling figure - of the last half century.

*Citation courtesy of National University Library League's (NULL) graduate research paper division, philosophy sector. “Oh Granny My Granny: 100 Years After Walt WhitmanWalt Whitman’s ‘60s,” Tetherington, Rachel Linus; William & Mary 1980.

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