Daisy Duke
Encyclopedia
Daisy Mae Duke is a fictional character
, played by Catherine Bach
, from the American
television series The Dukes of Hazzard
. She was the cousin
of Bo
and Luke
, the main protagonist
s of the show, who were also cousins, and the three lived on a farm on the outskirts of Hazzard County with their Uncle Jesse.
Although never mentioned in the series itself, some press material for the show suggests that Daisy's parents, along with Bo and Luke's, were killed in a car accident. However, in the 1997 reunion movie
, Daisy says her mother died when she was born.
Daisy would frequently become involved in the Dukes' car chases, using her Plymouth Road Runner
or later, more famously, her Jeep. Daisy also worked as a waitress at the Boar's Nest
, the local bar owned by Boss Hogg
that was the main meeting place in Hazzard. She also aspired to be both a singer, and a journalist, at various times.
, Daisy was a very outgoing person who could more than hold her own when the chips were down. For instance, during one adventure with a stolen armored personnel carrier, Daisy is able to accurately fire its main gun while the vehicle is in motion with barely any instruction from her Vietnam War
veteran cousin and Uncle Jesse
cheerfully decorates her as "Sharpshooter of the Week" for the feat. In addition to fending off intoxicated would-be suitors at The Boar's Nest, she frequently found herself caught up in the ongoing war between Boss Hogg and her family, the Duke clan. Her job at Boss's restaurant gave her the opportunity to eavesdrop on private conversations between Boss and his stooges (usually Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
), often discovering important information that she could pass on to Uncle Jesse and the Duke boys. Her continued employment at the Boars' Nest in spite of her obvious loyalty to her family was a sign of her status and popularity in Hazzard County, and a corresponding lack of intelligence on Boss Hogg's part. Boss did in fact fire her on a few occasions, but by various story twists, always ended up re-hiring her by the end of the episode.
Daisy never found a long-lasting beau of her own over the course of the series. In the reunion movie
, she is said to have left Hazzard to get married, but was subsequently divorced. After her marriage ended, she was pursuing a graduate degree at Duke University
, and upon her return to Hazzard agreed to marry Enos Strate
, who long had a crush on her, but backed out at the last minute due to both the sudden reappearance of her ex-husband, and for fear of another debacle like her first marriage.
with a black stripe along the sides and over the roof. Although the car was intended to be a Plymouth Road Runner, later appearances in the second season used a 1971 Plymouth Satellite
with a matching "Road Runner" stripe painted behind the rear window. The car met its demise when the accelerator stuck while Bo and Luke were driving it in the second season episode "The Runaway", sending it over a cliff. Due to the episodes being broadcast in a considerably different order to that of which they were filmed, the Plymouth made several returns after it was supposedly destroyed. (After the Plymouth had been destroyed on-screen, several models of the car appeared in various episodes with different paint jobs, serving as other vehicles within the context of the stories).
After losing that car, she received her trademark white 1980 Jeep CJ-7 "Golden Eagle" named (The) Dixie at the end of "The Runaway". The initial version of the Jeep seen at the end of this episode was noticeably different to what would become the normal version, with a slightly different paint job, doors with "Dixie" painted on, and "Golden Eagle" printed by on the hood on either side of an Eagle emblem. After this first appearance, the design changed to have a lighter paint job, no doors, and "Dixie" painted alongside the emblem on the hood. However, as with other vehicles in the show, there were different versions of the Jeep used for filming of various episodes. Sometimes the Jeep would have a slightly different paint scheme, and it would alternate between automatic and manual transmissions. The design of the roll-bars also varied across the seasons.
On a number of occasions, Daisy also drove Uncle Jesse's pick-up truck. Certain storylines occasionally called for her to drive the General Lee
.
on Dukes of Hazzard
. In two episodes Daisy wore a red bikini
to distract Cletus
and a truck driver. She appeared numerous times wearing tight and short denim shorts, which later became colloquially known as "Daisy Dukes".
The network censors believed that Daisy's famous cut-off shorts alone would be too revealing. The shorts were so short, that the only way the producers could get them on air was for Catherine Bach to wear flesh-colored pantyhose
with them, to ensure that the shorts didn't reveal more of her than intended. Bach herself had concerns about the shorts saying she couldn't wear them in the restaurant scene. The producers' answer was for her to visit the restaurant across the street; there Bach found the waitresses were wearing "little miniskirts that matched the tablecloths!". Bach made many of Daisy's costumes herself, especially the early ones, including the red bikini in the first episode, seen during the show's opening credits.
Bach posed for a poster as Daisy Duke at the suggestion of the show's producers, which sold 5 million copies. The poster once caused a stir when Bach visited the White House
to visit one of her former school teachers who was then working there.
The Dukes of Hazzard
, Daisy Duke was portrayed by Jessica Simpson
. Film critics panned Simpson's performance, claiming that her portrayal had little in common with the character Catherine Bach created, and that she was merely cast because of her celebrity status.
Daisy's costume
was slightly modified for the film to make her more overtly sexual: her Daisy Dukes were shorter than they had been on the series, and her shirts showed much more cleavage
than Bach's ever had. She also didn't wear pantyhose under her shorts, going bare legged in the film. Another difference in her appearance was that Simpson's hair remained blonde, whereas Bach's was brunette. Simpson did, however, wear a brunette wig as a disguise during the film.
, Daisy starts out as an innocent Bible school girl and does not dress particularly attractively. She wears large flannel shirts, jeans, big glasses, and wears her hair in a bun. To get a job as a waitress at the Boar's Nest and to attract Hughie Hogg (Boss's nephew), she decides to change her look. She goes through several outfits before finally settling on her signature look. She is also a brunette in this movie. Daisy is played by April Scott
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, played by Catherine Bach
Catherine Bach
Catherine Bach is an American actress. She is known for playing Daisy Duke in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard and Margo Dutton in African Skies.-Career:...
, from the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...
. She was the cousin
Cousin
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
of Bo
Bo Duke
Beauregard "Bo" Duke is a fictional character in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard, which ran from 1979 to 1985. He was played by John Schneider. The name of Beauregard may have been chosen after the famous Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard.Bo and his cousin Luke Duke live in...
and Luke
Luke Duke
Lucas K. "Luke" Duke is a fictional character in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard which ran from 1979 to 1985. Luke was played by Tom Wopat....
, the main protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s of the show, who were also cousins, and the three lived on a farm on the outskirts of Hazzard County with their Uncle Jesse.
Although never mentioned in the series itself, some press material for the show suggests that Daisy's parents, along with Bo and Luke's, were killed in a car accident. However, in the 1997 reunion movie
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! is a made-for-television film from 1997 which aired on CBS and reunites the surviving cast members of the American TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard...
, Daisy says her mother died when she was born.
Daisy would frequently become involved in the Dukes' car chases, using her Plymouth Road Runner
Plymouth Road Runner
The Plymouth Road Runner was a muscle car built by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation in the United States between 1968 and 1980. In 1968, the first muscle cars were, in the opinion of many, moving away from their roots as relatively cheap, fast cars as they gained options...
or later, more famously, her Jeep. Daisy also worked as a waitress at the Boar's Nest
Boar's Nest
The Boar's Nest is the local restaurant and watering hole in the television series, The Dukes of Hazzard.It is the oldest establishment in Hazzard County, and is owned by Boss Hogg. It is the main social gathering place for the Duke family—cousins Bo, Luke and Daisy, and their Uncle Jesse—and their...
, the local bar owned by Boss Hogg
Boss Hogg
Jefferson Davis "J.D." Hogg, better known as "Boss" Hogg, is a fictional character featured in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He was the greedy, unethical commissioner of Hazzard County. A stereotypical villainous glutton, Boss Hogg always wore an all-white suit with a white...
that was the main meeting place in Hazzard. She also aspired to be both a singer, and a journalist, at various times.
Personal character
Despite her appearance as a naive (and provocatively dressed) Southern belleSouthern belle
A southern belle is an archetype for a young woman of the American Old South's upper class....
, Daisy was a very outgoing person who could more than hold her own when the chips were down. For instance, during one adventure with a stolen armored personnel carrier, Daisy is able to accurately fire its main gun while the vehicle is in motion with barely any instruction from her Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran cousin and Uncle Jesse
Uncle Jesse
Uncle Jesse may refer to any of several fictional characters, including:* Jesse Duke, a character from the TV series and movie The Dukes of Hazzard* Jesse Katsopolis, from the television series Full House...
cheerfully decorates her as "Sharpshooter of the Week" for the feat. In addition to fending off intoxicated would-be suitors at The Boar's Nest, she frequently found herself caught up in the ongoing war between Boss Hogg and her family, the Duke clan. Her job at Boss's restaurant gave her the opportunity to eavesdrop on private conversations between Boss and his stooges (usually Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
On the American TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, Rosco Purvis Coltrane is the bumbling sheriff of Hazzard County and right-hand man of its corrupt county commissioner, Jefferson Davis "J.D." Hogg ....
), often discovering important information that she could pass on to Uncle Jesse and the Duke boys. Her continued employment at the Boars' Nest in spite of her obvious loyalty to her family was a sign of her status and popularity in Hazzard County, and a corresponding lack of intelligence on Boss Hogg's part. Boss did in fact fire her on a few occasions, but by various story twists, always ended up re-hiring her by the end of the episode.
Daisy never found a long-lasting beau of her own over the course of the series. In the reunion movie
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! is a made-for-television film from 1997 which aired on CBS and reunites the surviving cast members of the American TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard...
, she is said to have left Hazzard to get married, but was subsequently divorced. After her marriage ended, she was pursuing a graduate degree at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, and upon her return to Hazzard agreed to marry Enos Strate
Enos Strate
Enos Strate is a character on the television series, The Dukes of Hazzard played by Sonny Shroyer.-Fictional biography:Enos was born in Hazzard County to a loving family, and grew up as friends with Bo and Luke Duke. At the age of sixteen, he enrolled at the Hazzard Police Academy, graduated at the...
, who long had a crush on her, but backed out at the last minute due to both the sudden reappearance of her ex-husband, and for fear of another debacle like her first marriage.
Personal vehicles
Daisy's first car in the series was a yellow 1974 Plymouth Road RunnerPlymouth Road Runner
The Plymouth Road Runner was a muscle car built by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation in the United States between 1968 and 1980. In 1968, the first muscle cars were, in the opinion of many, moving away from their roots as relatively cheap, fast cars as they gained options...
with a black stripe along the sides and over the roof. Although the car was intended to be a Plymouth Road Runner, later appearances in the second season used a 1971 Plymouth Satellite
Plymouth Satellite
The Plymouth Satellite is an automobile introduced in 1965 as the top model in Plymouth's mid-size Belvedere line. The Satellite remained the top of the line model until the 1967 model year, where it became the mid-price model with the GTX taking its place as the top model. The Fury name was moved...
with a matching "Road Runner" stripe painted behind the rear window. The car met its demise when the accelerator stuck while Bo and Luke were driving it in the second season episode "The Runaway", sending it over a cliff. Due to the episodes being broadcast in a considerably different order to that of which they were filmed, the Plymouth made several returns after it was supposedly destroyed. (After the Plymouth had been destroyed on-screen, several models of the car appeared in various episodes with different paint jobs, serving as other vehicles within the context of the stories).
After losing that car, she received her trademark white 1980 Jeep CJ-7 "Golden Eagle" named (The) Dixie at the end of "The Runaway". The initial version of the Jeep seen at the end of this episode was noticeably different to what would become the normal version, with a slightly different paint job, doors with "Dixie" painted on, and "Golden Eagle" printed by on the hood on either side of an Eagle emblem. After this first appearance, the design changed to have a lighter paint job, no doors, and "Dixie" painted alongside the emblem on the hood. However, as with other vehicles in the show, there were different versions of the Jeep used for filming of various episodes. Sometimes the Jeep would have a slightly different paint scheme, and it would alternate between automatic and manual transmissions. The design of the roll-bars also varied across the seasons.
On a number of occasions, Daisy also drove Uncle Jesse's pick-up truck. Certain storylines occasionally called for her to drive the General Lee
The General Lee
The General Lee is the modified Dodge Charger driven by the Duke cousins Bo and Luke in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard. It is known for the chases and stunts, especially high jumps, in almost every episode, and for having the doors welded shut, leaving the Dukes to climb in and out...
.
As a sex symbol
Daisy Duke was both the main female protagonist and the sex symbolSex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
on Dukes of Hazzard
Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...
. In two episodes Daisy wore a red bikini
Bikini
The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
to distract Cletus
Cletus Hogg
Deputy Cletus Hogg is a fictional character featured in the American television series, The Dukes of Hazzard. He was played by Rick Hurst....
and a truck driver. She appeared numerous times wearing tight and short denim shorts, which later became colloquially known as "Daisy Dukes".
The network censors believed that Daisy's famous cut-off shorts alone would be too revealing. The shorts were so short, that the only way the producers could get them on air was for Catherine Bach to wear flesh-colored pantyhose
Pantyhose
Pantyhose are sheer, close-fitting legwear, covering the wearer's body from the waist to the feet. Mostly considered to be a woman's and girl's garment, pantyhose appeared in the 1960s, and they provided a convenient alternative to stockings...
with them, to ensure that the shorts didn't reveal more of her than intended. Bach herself had concerns about the shorts saying she couldn't wear them in the restaurant scene. The producers' answer was for her to visit the restaurant across the street; there Bach found the waitresses were wearing "little miniskirts that matched the tablecloths!". Bach made many of Daisy's costumes herself, especially the early ones, including the red bikini in the first episode, seen during the show's opening credits.
Bach posed for a poster as Daisy Duke at the suggestion of the show's producers, which sold 5 million copies. The poster once caused a stir when Bach visited the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
to visit one of her former school teachers who was then working there.
2005 version
In the 2005 feature filmFeature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard (film)
The Dukes of Hazzard is a 2005 comedy film based on the American television series of the same name. The film was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and released on August 5, 2005 by Warner Bros. Pictures...
, Daisy Duke was portrayed by Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...
. Film critics panned Simpson's performance, claiming that her portrayal had little in common with the character Catherine Bach created, and that she was merely cast because of her celebrity status.
Daisy's costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
was slightly modified for the film to make her more overtly sexual: her Daisy Dukes were shorter than they had been on the series, and her shirts showed much more cleavage
Cleavage (breasts)
Cleavage, anatomically known as the intramammary cleft, is the space between a woman's breasts lying over the sternum. Cleavage is exposed by a garment with a low neckline, such as ball gowns, evening gowns, swimwear, casual tops and other garments....
than Bach's ever had. She also didn't wear pantyhose under her shorts, going bare legged in the film. Another difference in her appearance was that Simpson's hair remained blonde, whereas Bach's was brunette. Simpson did, however, wear a brunette wig as a disguise during the film.
2007 film
In the 2007 film, The Dukes of Hazzard: The BeginningThe Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning
The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning is a prequel to the 2005 theatrical-release film The Dukes of Hazzard. An edited version of the film debuted on the ABC Family cable television channel on March 4, 2007. 'R'-rated and unrated versions were released on DVD March 13.- Plot :Bo Duke is arrested for...
, Daisy starts out as an innocent Bible school girl and does not dress particularly attractively. She wears large flannel shirts, jeans, big glasses, and wears her hair in a bun. To get a job as a waitress at the Boar's Nest and to attract Hughie Hogg (Boss's nephew), she decides to change her look. She goes through several outfits before finally settling on her signature look. She is also a brunette in this movie. Daisy is played by April Scott
April Scott
April Scott is an American actress and model. She has appeared on television programs such as Deal or No Deal and CSI: Miami, she also starred in the direct-to-video prequel to the Dukes of Hazzard movie, and the films, Living Will, The Penthouse, I Do...I Did, Coma, Nitetales: The Movie, and...
.