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Kate’s daughters were Betty Jo, Bobbie Jo and Billie Jo Bradley, and keeping track of the actresses who portrayed them is part of the show’s history. Linda Kaye Henning remained Betty Jo throughout the series, while the other two roles changed performers. Jeannine Riley portrayed Billie Jo during the first two seasons, Gunilla Hutton took over in Season 3, and Meredith MacRae played Billie Jo from Season 4 through the end of the series.
Pat Woodell played Bobbie Jo for the first two seasons, after which Lori Saunders assumed the role and remained with the program. Those changes could easily have disrupted a family-centered sitcom, yet the Bradley sisters continued to function as one of the show’s central attractions. Their personalities also evolved as the series matured and the actresses changed.
Linda Kaye Henning had an especially interesting connection to the program because creator Paul Henning was her father. That relationship could easily lead to the assumption that she simply received the role through family connections, but Linda later recalled a more complicated story. According to a Los Angeles Times retrospective, Bea Benaderet encouraged Paul Henning to allow Linda to audition for Betty Jo. Henning was reportedly concerned that hiring his daughter would look like nepotism, so she still went through screen tests and the approval process before receiving the part.
The result became one of the most durable casting decisions in the show’s history. Linda Kaye Henning stayed with Petticoat Junction for nearly its entire 222-episode journey and appeared in all but two episodes. The Shady Rest Hotel was presented as charming precisely because it was so far removed from conventional city life. Reaching it was closely associated with the Hooterville Cannonball, the little train that became almost as important to the show’s identity as the human characters.