Lori Saunders

About Lori Saunders

Lori Saunders (born Linda Marie Hines; October 4, 1941 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American film and television actress, probably best known for her role as Bobbie Jo Bradley in the television series Petticoat Junction (1965–1970).

Saunders played brunette middle-sister "Bobbie Jo Bradley" in 147 episodes of the rural sitcom Petticoat Junction. She took over the role in 1965 from Pat Woodell, who had left the show to focus on her singing career. Co-star Meredith MacRae, who joined the show in 1966, said in a 1960s interview that she and Lori were very close, "like the Bobbsey twins", since they were both married and had each replaced another actress on the series.

She played "Betty Gordon", one of Mr. Drysdale's secretaries, in the last season of The Beverly Hillbillies. In 1973–74, Saunders played "Betsy" on the situation-comedy western Dusty's Trail. Created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Bob Denver, the show was based on Gilligan's Island, but set in the wild west; her character "Betsy" was an ingénue drawn after Dawn Wells' character of "Mary Ann". Saunders quipped: "It was the same show, just no coconuts."

She said it was interesting to work with Jeannine Riley, who had also starred in Petticoat Junction (as Billie Jo Bradley), but not at the same time as Saunders. In 2015, she appeared in a MeTV commercial promoting Petticoat Junction, along with fellow cast members Linda Kaye Henning and Gunilla Hutton.

In her early television years, Saunders appeared five times as four different characters on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. She also appeared in Burke's Law, and the season four episode "The Prairie Elephant" of Rawhide (original air-date November 17, 1961). She appeared in the 1970 episode "Bringing Up Josh" of Daniel Boone, and also in the anthology series Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre.