The producer wanted a Dolly Parton-lookalike, a blonde flower. Instead, he got a
brown-haired Daisy, a Daisy dressed unlike any woman on TV in low-cut tops, signature short-shorts -- "Daisy Dukes" -- and high heels.
Catherine's country-cousin Daisy attracted a large cadre of male city slickers who otherwise wouldn't have been caught dead watching a show about rubes.
She wasn't a blonde California girl like Suzanne Somers or a Lynda Carter Wonder Woman; she was country girl Daisy. Co-star John Schneider called her: "One of the most attractive women to ever grace the TV screen. She transcends social structure and geography."
“I think what made Daisy Duke stand out is that I am a 'sex symbol ' who never took her clothes off and never had a love scene,” Catherine told the CMT network. “I never did anything embarrassing.”
The “Dukes of Hazzard” was a rural-based, old-fashioned TV show, much like the B Westerns of Saturday matinee movies. The series revolved around three cousins – Daisy, Bo (Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat) – who raced cars and avoided the law in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia.
The program celebrated the theme of the Southern outlaw as a hero, romanticizing moonshining and fast cars. Even outlaw singer Waylon Jennings joined the fun, singing the theme song “Good Ol' Boys” and serving as the narrator The Balladeer. It was mindless TV but it was what the viewers wanted.
According to Catherine, she returned to the studio with her own outfit: a homemade T-shirt, a pair of cut off jean shorts and high heels. After a heated discussion, the executives allowed her to wear the short-shorts as long as she covered her legs with pantyhose.
But instead of detracting attention, the hose highlighted her legs and drew even more attention. Her legs, by the way, were once insured for one million dollars.
Daisy's short-shorts weren't her only sexy outfits. She also donned hot pants,tight jeans, and a red bikini, whenever situations called for them..
Whatever she was wearing, Daisy was a distraction to the males of Hazzard County. In one episode a flustered young man complained while she hovered over him as he attempted to change a tire: “Daisy, how do you expect a fella to get any work done when you're standing over him like that?”
Daisy's popularity helped her sell five million posters, and it was another case of Catherine imposing her will.
“They said, 'We want you in a bikini with lots of oil and inch-long fingernails with your hair wet and slicked back,'” she told the Canton, Ohio Republic. “I said, 'That's not my character, plus I'm an actress, not a beauty-pageant girl. I'm gonna wear my own clothes, do my own poster.' They said, 'Fine, we're not gonna pay for it.' So I made my own poster and I own it.”
When Schneider and Wopat walked off the set in a contract dispute and were replaced by lookalike cousins Coy and Vance.
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CATHERINE BACH as Daisy Duke in "The Dukes of Hazzard"
“The Dukes” hit a wall. The original Duke boys returned later in the season, but by then the program had lost its momentum. Creator Cy Waldon admitted that if Catherine had joined her co-workers' strike, he would have shut down the show.
Before joining "The Dukes," Catherine, a native of Warren, Ohio, had small parts in the “Matt Helm” TV series. She appeared in two Burt Reynolds movies, "Hustle" (1975) and "Cannonball Run II" (1984).
She also returned for two Dukes reunion films in 1997 and 2000.
Personally, Catherine sells a Daisy Duke line of clothing on her website, www.catherinebach.com.
Tragically, her husband, entertainment lawyer Peter Lopez committed suicide in 2010.
Only eight episodes were originally shot, but then “The Dukes” burst on the scene as the No. 9 program of the 1979-1980 season. The story goes that the network planned to dump the show the following season as part of its “rural purge,” which included “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Green Acres.”
Co-star Ben “Cooter” Jones recalled that when the CBS president returned from an extended vacation in Europe, “The Dukes” was the No. 1 rated show on TV. It finished No. 2 that season, only behind “Dallas,” and it was No. 6 in 1981-82.
Catherine believed the show's wholesomeness was a huge reason for its success.
"Everybody can watch this show, from 3 years old to 90 years old. You don't have to get up and turn your back or put your hands over your kids' eyes, because you know you're not going to be shocked or rudely taken aback by 'The Dukes of Hazzard.' You're just going to laugh, and you can just relax and have fun."
Catherine called the show “a piece of Americana,” and you could also make the same claim for her “Daisy Duke” outfit, which is on display at the Smithsonian.
If Catherine's hadn't been so stubborn about choosing her wardrobe, the “Daisy Duke” outfit wouldn't have never made it to the screen.
"The Dukes" producers initially requested that the character wear a tight white turtleneck, go-go boots, and a red and white poodle skirt. And because the executive producer had a huge crush on Dolly Parton, Catherine was asked to wear a blonde wig.
