Catherine Bach
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png
American actress (born 1954)

Catherine Bach (born Catherine Bachman; March 1, 1954)[1] 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.[2] In 2012, she joined the cast of the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Anita Lawson.[3]

Early life

[edit]

Bach was born in Cleveland, Ohio,[1] the daughter of Norma Jean Kucera (née Verdugo), an acupuncturist, and Bernard P. Bachman, a rancher.[4] Her mother was a daughter of Antonio L. Verdugo, of Bisbee, Arizona, a baker born in Mexico,[5] while her father was of German ancestry. She was raised in Warren, Ohio.[6][7] Her mother, born into the Verdugo family,[8] claimed to be descended from one of California's earliest landed families.[9]

She spent some of her childhood on a ranch in South Dakota,[10] and she visited her grandparents in Faith, South Dakota. In 1970, Bach graduated from Stevens High School in Rapid City, South Dakota. She briefly majored in drama at UCLA, where she supplemented her income by making clothes for friends and theater groups.[10]

Career

[edit]

Bach's professional debut was as one of the children in a production of The Sound of Music.[11] Bach's first screen appearance was in the Burt Lancaster murder mystery, The Midnight Man, shot in upstate South Carolina in 1973, in which she played murder victim Natalie Claiburn. Her next role was Melody in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.

Bach heard about the audition for The Dukes of Hazzard through her husband.[12] When she arrived there, she found the producers were looking for a Dolly Parton-lookalike; despite not looking like what they were searching for, she was hired on the spot.[13] One of the earliest costume ideas from the producers was that she wear a tight white turtleneck, go-go boots and a poodle skirt, but Bach asked if she could bring her own outfit, which was a homemade T-shirt, a pair of cut-off denim shorts and high heels.[14] Bach had concerns about the appropriateness of the cut-off shorts at first, saying she could not wear them in a restaurant scene. When prompted by the producers to visit a restaurant across the street, Bach found the waitresses were wearing "little miniskirts that matched the tablecloths!"[12] This style of cut-off denim shorts is now popularly known as "Daisy Dukes" in reference to Bach's character of that name from the show. She starred on The Dukes of Hazzard opposite Tom Wopat, John Schneider and James Best.

At the suggestion of the show's producers, Bach posed as Daisy Duke for a poster, which sold 5 million copies.[15] The poster once caused a stir when Nancy Reagan took a liking to it after Bach visited the White House with one as a gift for one of her former schoolteachers then working there.[16]

While she was starring on The Dukes of Hazzard, her legs were insured for $1,000,000.[17] In 1985, she served as the model for the figurehead for the schooner Californian.[9]

After the series ended, Bach had roles in a number of low-profile films. From 1992 to 1994, she starred in the Canadian family drama series, African Skies.[18] In 2006, she guest-starred on Monk, and in 2010 had a small cameo in the comedy film You Again. In 2012, Bach joined the cast of CBS daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless in the recurring role of Anita Lawson.[3]

In 2002, Bach launched a line of diamond jewelry at Debenhams.[10]

Personal life

[edit]

Bach married David Shaw (stepson of Angela Lansbury)[11] in 1976; the couple divorced in 1981. Bach married entertainment lawyer Peter Lopez in August 1990. They had two daughters. On April 30, 2010, 60-year-old Lopez was found shot dead in an apparent suicide.[19]

Bach is Catholic.[20]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]

Year Title Role Notes 1974 The Midnight Man Natalie Clayborne Thunderbolt and Lightfoot Melody 1975 Hustle Peggy Summers 1978 Crazed Sue 1984 Cannonball Run II Marcie Thatcher 1987 Street Justice Tamarra 1989 Criminal Act Pam Weiss Driving Force Harry 1990 Masters of Menace Kitty Wheeler 1992 The Nutt House Benefit Reporter Rage and Honor Captain Murdock 2004 Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real Biologist 2010 You Again Daisy 2013 Chapman Mother 2015 The Breakup Girl Ellen Book of Fire Bibiana

Television

[edit]

Year Title Role Notes 1975 Matt Helm Alice Episode: "Matt Helm" Strange New World Lara Television film 1977 Murder in Peyton Place Linda Television film 1977–1978 Police Woman Episodes: "Screams" and "A Shadow on the Sea" 1979–1985 The Dukes of Hazzard Daisy Duke Series regular, 145 episodes 1980-1983 The Love Boat Pamela Hodgekins / Pat Bigelow Episodes: "No Girls for Doc/Marriage of Convenience/The Caller/The Witness" and "Going to the Dogs/Putting on the Dog/Women's Best Friend/Whose Dog Is It Anyway" 1981 Enos Daisy Duke Episode: "One Daisy Per Summer" 1983 White Water Rebels Trisha Parker Television film The Dukes Daisy Duke Voice, 20 episodes 1992–1994 African Skies Margo Dutton Series regular, 52 episodes 1995 Space Ghost Coast to Coast Herself Episode: "Urges" 1997 The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! Daisy Duke Television film 2000 The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood Daisy Duke Television film 2006 Monk Sara Jo Episode: "Mr. Monk Meets His Dad" 2012-2019 The Young and the Restless Anita Lawson Recurring role 2014 Almost Royal Herself Episode: "Nashville" 2015 Hawaii Five-0 Amy Harlan Episode: "Luapo'i" 2016 My Best Friend Pearl Television film

References

[edit]