Daisy Duke
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Image:Catherine Bach.jpg Image:Jeep CJ7 dixie.jpg
Daisy Mae Duke is a fictional character, played by Catherine Bach, from the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard. She was the cousin of Bo and Luke Duke, the main protagonists of the show, who were themselves cousins to each other. Daisy would frequently become involved in the Dukes' car chases, using one of her many cars. Daisy also worked in Boss Hogg's restaurant, "The Boar's Nest", as a waitress.
Her first car was a yellow and black 1971 Plymouth Road Runner. Although the car was intended to be a Plymouth Roadrunner, some early episodes used a 1974 Dodge Charger with a matching "Roadrunner stripe" painted behind the rear window. After losing that car over the side of a cliff (depicted in the second season episode "The Runaway"), she received her trademark white 1980 Jeep CJ-7 "Golden Eagle" with a Golden Eagle emblem on the hood, which she named "The Dixie".
Despite her appearance as a naive (and provocatively dressed) Southern belle, Daisy was a very outgoing person who could more than hold her own when the chips were down. In addition to fending off intoxicated would-be suitors at The Boar's Nest, she frequently found herself caught up in the ongoing war between Boss Hogg and her family, the Duke clan. Her job at Boss's restaurant gave her the opportunity to eavesdrop on private conversations between Boss and his stooges (usually Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane), often discovering important information that she could pass on to Uncle Jesse and the Duke boys. Her continued employment at the Boars' Nest in spite of her obvious loyalty to her family was seen on the TV show as both a sign of her status and popularity in Hazzard County, and a corresponding lack of intelligence on Boss Hogg's part.
Daisy had a long-standing crush on Enos Strate, the naive and shy Sheriff's deputy. After Enos left the show and starred in a short-lived spin-off series of his own, (Enos), Daisy remained independent; she never found a long-lasting beau of her own over the course of the series.
Daisy as a sex symbol
Daisy Duke was both the main female protagonist and the sex symbol on The Dukes of Hazzard. She frequently wore revealing clothing such as bikinis and tank tops. Her trademark was the Daisy Dukes, the name given to the short cutoff blue jeans that Daisy often wore.
Because network censors believed that her shorts alone would be too revealing, Daisy (along with other female characters) always wore pantyhose underneath her shorts. It may have had the opposite effect: The official Daisy Duke poster reportedly outsold those featuring the era's other sex symbols, Farrah Fawcett and Raquel Welch.
Daisy in the 2005 film
In the 2005 film The Dukes of Hazzard, Daisy Duke was portrayed by Jessica Simpson. Fans and film critics alike panned Simpson's performance, with many saying that her portrayal had little in common the character Catherine Bach created, and that she was merely cast because of her celebrity status.
Daisy's costume was modified for the film, to make her more overtly sexual. Her Daisy Dukes were shortened; her shirts were often changed from what Bach would have worn; and her pantyhose was taken away. Simpson's hair remained blonde.