Brainy sister Bobbie Jo in ‘Petticoat Junction’ dies in California

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Pat Woodell, a former actress and singer who played the brainy sister Bobbie Jo Bradley for two seasons in the 1960s sitcom “Petticoat Junction,” has died.

She was 71 and died of cancer on Sept. 29 at her home in Fallbrook, Calif., her widower, Vern McDade, said on Monday.

Woodell had guested on TV shows like “Cheyenne” and “77 Sunset Strip” before landing the role on “Petticoat Junction.” The series about the Shady Rest Hotel in the farming town of Hooterville aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. Woodell was the brunette of a group of three sisters whose romantic lives were a key part of the series.

She left the series after two years because she wanted to return to singing, McDade said. She toured as part of comic Jack Benny’s show and acted in a handful of movies including “Twilight People” and “The Big Doll House.”

Woodell left acting in the mid 1970s.