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The actresses who almost became part of the Bradley family are another source of fascination, particularly Sharon Tate. Tate was considered for Billie Jo and participated in early publicity activity, but she ultimately did not play the character in the broadcast series. Jeannine Riley received the role when Petticoat Junction went into production. Over the years, various explanations have circulated about why Tate did not continue, including stories involving provocative photographs and concerns about the show’s family-friendly image. Those explanations should be treated cautiously because they are not established with the same certainty as the basic casting history. A more defensible account is simply that Tate was considered for the role but did not ultimately take it, with accounts also pointing to producer Martin Ransohoff’s view that she was not yet ready for such a central television part. Distinguishing documented history from long-repeated Hollywood legend is especially important when discussing a program more than six decades after its premiere.
Cast changes were not limited to the Bradley sisters. The Cannonball crew changed as well, sometimes because of circumstances far more serious than an actor simply pursuing another opportunity. Smiley Burnette, who played railroad man Charley Pratt, died in 1967. Rufe Davis, familiar to viewers as Floyd Smoot, consequently carried more of the railroad duties before additional changes were made. Byron Foulger later appeared as engineer Wendell Gibbs. In a sad coincidence, Foulger died on April 4, 1970, the same day CBS broadcast the final original episode of Petticoat Junction. Those losses remind modern viewers that the show’s seven seasons represented a substantial period in the lives and careers of the people who made it.
No loss affected Petticoat Junction more deeply than the illness and death of Bea Benaderet. Kate Bradley was not simply another member of an ensemble when the program began; she was its emotional and practical center. Benaderet was already a highly experienced performer before becoming Kate, with an extensive career in radio, television and film. Paul Henning had worked with her on The Beverly Hillbillies, where she appeared as Cousin Pearl Bodine, and Petticoat Junction finally gave her a starring television vehicle. Kate could be patient, firm, amused or exasperated depending on what her daughters and Uncle Joe had created that week. The character gave the series stability. When Benaderet’s health deteriorated, the writers faced the difficult problem of continuing a show whose central figure could no longer work regularly.