Where is Linda Kaye Henning today? Net Worth, Children, Bio

• Linda Kaye Henning is an American actress, dancer and singer born in 1944.
• She is best known for portraying Betty Jo in the sitcom “Petticoat Junction”.
• She also acted in “Green Acres”, “Mork & Mindy”, and “Happy Days”.
• She was married to Mike Minor from 1968 to 1973 and to Ashby Adams from 1994 onwards.
• Her father Paul Henning was the creator of “Petticoat Junction”.

Known for movies

Petticoat Junction (1963-1970)
as Betty Jo Bradley

The Nurse Killer (1975)
as Beth

Kudzu (1983)
as Mavis DuBose

The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (1981)
as Linda (Secretary)

Linda Kaye Henning is an American actress, dancer and singer, born on 16 September 1944, in Los Angeles, California USA. She’s known perhaps still best known for portraying Betty Jo’s character in the sitcom “Petticoat Junction”.

Early Life

Linda Kay Henning is the first daughter of Paul and Ruth Henning, and older sister of Carol Alice and Paul Anthony. In an effort to overcome her shyness, Linda Kay was enrolled by her mother into “The Peter Pan Players”, a theater club for children in which Linda acted in various plays inspired by fairy tales such as “Cinderella”, “Snow White” and “Pinocchio”. During her teens, she continued her acting activities, as well as studying dance.

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There’s no information about Linda’s primary education, though it’s known she attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but it’s unknown in which year she graduated.

Early Career

Acting Debut and Petticoat Junction

Linda Kay’s first appearance on TV was as Penelope, a minor role in the comedy series “Mr. Ed”, then appearing as a teenage dancer in the film “Bye Bye Birdie”. Despite only being cast in small roles at the time, actress Bea Benaderet suggested Paul Henning, Linda Kay’s father and producer of “Petticoat Junction”, to include her as one the three main girls of the show.

However, her father suspected he would be accused of nepotism if his daughter was cast in the show, so he didn’t participate in the casting, and after Linda obtained a role as one the Bradley sisters, he even asked her to change her middle name to Kaye so people wouldn’t know they were related.

Known as Linda Kaye Henning, her character Betty Jo became the role she’s mostly known for, but concurrently she was in other productions, such as “Green Acres” and “The Beverly Hillbillies”. She also made her debut as singer in the TV series “Toast of the Town” in 1964.

Other famous series Linda acted in were “Family Affair”, “Mork & Mindy” and “Happy Days”, also appearing as Mrs Osbourne in the movie “Mad About You”.

Her most recent role in TV was in 2007, when she portrayed Mrs Mallory’s character in “Sliders”. However, since then she hasn’t been active as actress.

Personal Life

First Marriage

Linda Kaye met actor Mike Minor on the set of “Petticoat Junction”, in which he acted as Steve Elliott. As Betty and Steve’s characters fell in love on set, the actors also fell in love in real life, becoming engaged in early 1967, to be wed on 9 September that year, the exact date their characters in the series were going to be wedded. However, in spring that year the couple surprisingly called off their engagement.

Later that year, Minor would reveal the break-up’s reason as the couple’s fight caused by his insecurities about their careers, though Mike assured he never stopped loving Linda Kaye during the time they were separated. After their TV marriage, the couple reconciled and cleared their differences, marrying in real life in 1968.

Minor, who was previously married to Monyeen Rae Martini until 1966, played roles in various series such as “My Three Sons” and “All My Children”. He was also a singer, whose debut album was “This Is Mike Minor” from 1966, and he released multiple other singles. In his time in “Petticoat Junction”, he performed several songs with the cast of the series, and sung the theme song of “The Smiths Family”.

Minor and Henning’s marriage ended in 1973, for reasons undisclosed.

Second Marriage

Linda Kaye married actor Ashby Adams in 1994, though the pair’s love story is unknown. Adams is also an actor, known for his roles in “The Doctors”, “Santa Barbara” and “The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.”.

Famous Father

Linda Kaye’s father Paul Henning was a successful director and writer of several TV shows, including the creator of “Petticoat Junction”, getting the idea of the show from a childhood story his wife told him: ‘My wife had been telling me about her early days in Missouri, where her grandparents had a hotel beside the railroad tracks. Traveling salesmen would come because the rates were very reasonable and there was home cooking.’

He also worked as the director of “The Ezio Pinza Show”, “The Bob Cummings Show” and “Green Acres”. He’s also credited for being the screenwriter of “Where’s Raymond?” and “The RCA Victor Show”.

He along Linda’s mother Ruth founded in Missouri “The Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area”.

Net Worth

Linda Kaye Henning’s net worth is estimated at $1 Million, as a result of her long career as an actress.

Appearance

Linda Kaye Hennings is regarded as a beautiful red haired woman, of white ethnicity. She is 5ft 3ins (1,60m) tall, but her weight is unknown, though she’s always had a slender figure.

Interesting Facts

Besides her love for dance and acting, Linda Kaye Hennings also showed strong interest in science while young.

Mike Minor’s first time in “Petticoat Junction” was actually in 1964, playing a minor character. During that unique appearance, he developed a crush on Linda Kaye, though the red-head never noticed him as they never acted together in a scene. He, however, was still married at the time to his first wife.

In her marriage to Mike Minor, Linda wore the same dress she wore during their fictional marriage on TV.

Linda Kaye Hennings is a member of California Artists Radio Theatre.

She shares her birth date with her father.

Bea Benaderet was Linda’s TV mom during “Petticoat Junction”. Unfortunately Benaderet died in 1968 of lung cancer, two years before the show’s cancellation. In an interview, Linda recalled a sad experience during the show after Benaderet’s death: ‘The toughest day was when they had a letter written from Kate to Betty Jo. They had recorded Bea reading it, and I just tried not to burst out into tears during the scene’.

Marks

#	Marks / Signs
1	High Pitched Voice
2	Red Hair

Quotes

#	Quote
1	I've been fortunate enough. I had good parents and I had good values, and when you grow up with that they never leave you. That always stays with you and there's just so little of that today.

Facts

#	Fact
1	Her first husband, actor Mike Minor developed a crush on Linda when he first played a small guest part in the second season of Petticoat Junction (1963). She did not know him, however, because they didn't share any scenes together. Once he was a regular on the series, plans were to have his character and the character of older sister Billie Jo fall in love and get married. However, when Mike and Linda fell in love on the set, the producers decided to go with it and fit it into the show instead of the original idea.
2	Because her father Paul Henning, who shares her birth date, was afraid of being accused of nepotism, he was not involved in the casting of Linda. Once she was cast, she dropped her last name at the request of her father and used her middle name of Kay instead. He wryly suggested she add an "e" to make it "Kaye" so people might think she was the daughter of fellow redheaded comedian Danny Kaye.
3	Took classes at UCLA for years with her TV sister Meredith MacRae.
4	Appeared in a number of musical theatre plays including "Brigadoon," "Carousel" (with John Raitt), "Best Foot Forward," "Applause," "The Pajama Game," "I Do! I Do!" and "Damn Yankees." Legitimate plays include "Born Yesterday" and "Mary, Mary.".
5	Enjoyed science very much while young, particularly physiology. Later married a man who had a masters in physiology and was a research scientist for several years.
6	Appears frequently at TV nostalgia conventions with her former TV sisters Lori Saunders and Gunilla Hutton.
7	Belonged to the California Artists Radio Theatre, which was set up at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
8	Once worked as a docent at the Los Angeles Zoo.
9	Her mother enrolled her in the children's theater group, The Peter Pan Players, to help her overcome her extreme shyness where she performed in a number of fairy tale pieces such as Cinderella, Pinocchio and Snow White. It worked and she stayed with it into her teen years. Actress Bea Benaderet saw her in one of their productions and told Paul Henning, the Petticoat Junction (1963) creator, that she would be ideal for the role of one of the daughters on their upcoming TV series. She auditioned and got the part of youngest sister Betty Jo Bradley.
10	Like her character of Betty Jo, Linda was a tomboy growing up. She liked climbing trees and animals.
11	Dubbed in the voice of Jethrine on the Beverly Hillbillies.
12	Along with Cleavant Derricks, she is one of only two actors to appear in both the pilot and finale of Sliders (1995): Sliders: Pilot (1995) and Sliders: The Seer (2000).
13	She played the same character (Betty Jo Elliott) on three different series: The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Petticoat Junction (1963) and Green Acres (1965).
14	Because of her being credited as 'Linda Kaye' early in her career, in the 1990s some reference books and online guides mixed up and combined her credits with those of another Linda Kaye.
15	Ex-sister-in-law of Gregg Fedderson.
16	Ex-stepdaughter-in-law of Yvonne Lime.
17	Daughter of producer Paul Henning and Ruth Henning.
18	Only actress that starred in Petticoat Junction (1963) for the duration of its seven year run on television.
19	Ex-daughter-in-law of Don Fedderson and Tido Fedderson.

Pictures

Movies

Actress

Title	Year	Status	Character
Return to Peyton Place	1972	TV Series 1973
Adam-12	1971	TV Series	Hilary Warner
Family Affair	1970	TV Series	Kathy Prentiss
Petticoat Junction	1963-1970	TV Series	Betty Jo Bradley
The Beverly Hillbillies	1962-1970	TV Series	Jethrine Bodine Betty Jo Bradley Elliott
Green Acres	1966	TV Series	Betty Jo Bradley
My Living Doll	1964	TV Series	Guest at party
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	1963	TV Series	Elsa
Bye Bye Birdie	1963		Teenager (uncredited)
Mister Ed	1962	TV Series	Penelope
Wrangling Coach Rankin	2007	Short	Linda
Sliders	1995-2000	TV Series	Mrs. Mallory
Room for Two	1992	TV Series	Corrine
Mad About You	1989		Mrs. Osbourne
Hunter	1989	TV Series	Mrs. Kessler
The New Gidget	1987-1988	TV Series
The Facts of Life	1987	TV Series	Margaret Parks
CBS Schoolbreak Special	1984	TV Series	Carol Anastas
Happy Days	1977-1984	TV Series	Jean Kelly / Army Lt. Quinlan
Double Trouble	1984	TV Series	Karen
ABC Weekend Specials	1984	TV Series	Mrs. Cane
Kudzu	1983	TV Movie	Mavis DuBose
Capitol	1982	TV Series	Lenore Clemmons (1987)
The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies	1981	TV Movie	Linda (Secretary)
Mork & Mindy	1979	TV Series	Pam Stockhaus / Margaret
Blansky's Beauties	1977	TV Series	Miss Lawler
Barnaby Jones	1976	TV Series	Joyce Elkins
The Nurse Killer	1975	TV Movie	Beth
The ABC Afternoon Playbreak	1973	TV Series	Marian
Love, American Style	1973	TV Series	Peggy (segment "Love and the Crisis Line")

Soundtrack

Title	Year	Status	Character
Petticoat Junction	1963-1970	TV Series performer - 39 episodes
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	1963	TV Series performer - 1 episode

Thanks

Title	Year	Status	Character
The Night Before Christmas		Short special thanks post-production

Self

Title	Year	Status	Character
TV Land Moguls	2004-2009	TV Mini-Series documentary	Herself
CMT: The Greatest - 20 Greatest Country Comedy Shows	2006	TV Special	Herself
The History of Hooterville	2005	Video documentary	Herself
Paul Henning & The Hillbillies	2005	Video documentary	Herself
E! True Hollywood Story	2001	TV Series documentary	Herself
Television: The First Fifty Years	1999	Video documentary	Herself - Interviewee / Betty Jo Bradley
Vicki!	1992	TV Series	Herself
Body Language	1984	TV Series	Herself
The $10,000 Pyramid	1984	TV Series	Herself
Family Feud	1983	TV Series	Herself
Password Plus	1979	TV Series	Herself
Showoffs	1975	TV Series	Herself
Tattletales	1975	TV Series	Herself
You Don't Say	1975	TV Series	Herself
Rhyme and Reason	1975	TV Series	Herself
Password All-Stars	1974	TV Series	Herself
The New High Rollers	1974	TV Series	Assistant (1975)
All-Star Baffle	1973-1974	TV Series	Herself
Match Game 73	1974	TV Series	Herself - Panelist / Herself
The Weird World of Weird	1970	TV Movie documentary	Herself (as Linda Kaye Henning)
He Said, She Said	1970	TV Series	Herself
Funny You Should Ask	1969	TV Series	Herself
The Hollywood Squares	1969	TV Series	Herself / Herself - Panelist
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	1968	TV Series	Herself - Guest
The Song Is You	1968	TV Movie	Herself
Dateline: Hollywood	1967	TV Series	Herself
The Hollywood Stars of Tomorrow Awards	1967	TV Special	Herself
The Ed Sullivan Show	1964	TV Series	Singer