Bach was born in Warren, Ohio, the daughter of Norma Jean Kucera (née Verdugo), an acupuncturist, and Bernard Bachman, a rancher. Her mother was of Mexican descent and her father was of German ancestry. She is descended from the Verdugo family, one of California\'s earliest landed families. She grew up on a ranch in South Dakota, where she visited her grandparents in Faith, South Dakota, and graduated from \n', 'Stevens High School (1970) in Rapid City, South Dakota. She studied arts at UCLA where she supplemented her income by making clothes for friends and theatre groups.\n', '

Bach\'s professional debut was as one of the children in a production of The Sound of Music. 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 the murdered coed, Natalie Claiburn. Her next role was Melody in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.\n', '

Bach heard about the audition for The Dukes of Hazzard through her husband. 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. 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. 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!". She starred on that show, opposite Tom Wopat, John Schneider and James Best.\n', '

Return to Catherine Bach Autograph Profile