Barbara Pepper
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1915-05-31
Day of Death
1969-07-18 (54 years old)
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Barbara Pepper
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barbara Pepper (born Marion B. Pepper; May 31, 1915 – July 18, 1969) was an American stage, television, radio, and film actress. She is best known as the first "Doris Ziffel" on the sitcom Green Acres. Pepper was born in New York City, the daughter of actor David Mitchell "Dave" Pepper, and his wife, Harrietta S. Pepper. At age 16 she started life in show business with Goldwyn Girls, a musical stock company where she met lifelong friend Lucille Ball.
Pepper began making movies. Among her later film parts were small roles in My Fair Lady and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. She also performed radio parts. In 1943, she married actor Craig Reynolds (né Harold Hugh Enfield), and the couple later had two sons. After Reynolds died in 1949 in a California motorcycle accident, Pepper was left to raise their children alone. She never remarried.
After gaining weight, her roles were mostly confined to small character parts on television, including several appearances on I Love Lucy, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Petticoat Junction, and The Jack Benny Program. She made four appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Martha Dale, mother of the title character, in the 1957 episode "The Case of the Vagabond Vixen".
A long-time friend of Lucille Ball, Barbara was considered for the role of Ethel Mertz on "I Love Lucy," but was passed over due to the fact that she was reportedly a drinker. William Frawley ("Fred Mertz") was, likewise, reportedly, a drinker and was already cast. It was felt that having two drinkers in the cast might eventually cause difficulties so they auditioned and found Vivian Vance to play Ethel instead.
She may be best remembered as the first Doris Ziffel on Petticoat Junction in 1964, although her character's name on the "Genghis Keane" episode of Petticoat Junction was Ruth Ziffel. Her role as Doris Ziffel continued on Green Acres from 1965 to 1968, until heart ailments finally forced her to leave that weekly series. Veteran actress Fran Ryan replaced her on Green Acres, which would continue to run for another three years. Her final performance was in the 1969 film Hook, Line & Sinker, in which she played Jerry Lewis's secretary.
Known For
Acting
(1964)
Kiss Me, Stupid
as Big Bertha
(1963)
Who's Minding the Store?
as Customer at Bargain Sale (uncredited)
(1963)
A Child Is Waiting
as Miss Brown (uncredited)
(1962)
The Music Man
as Mrs. Hawkes
(1962)
It's Only Money
as Fisherwoman
(1960)
Sex Kittens Go to College
as Circe
(1960)
The Bramble Bush
as Polly Welk
(1958)
Auntie Mame
as Mrs. Krantz (uncredited)
(1957)
The D.I.
as Woman Customer
(1956)
Dark Meeting
as Clara
(1954)
A Star Is Born
as Esther's Neighbor (uncredited)
(1953)
Inferno
as Waitress (uncredited)
(1953)
So This Is Love
as Fat Girl with Sailor in Nightclub (uncredited)
(1953)
The Eddie Cantor Story
as Beer Garden Patron
(1952)
Ghost Buster
as Mrs. Nolan
(1950)
No Way Out
as Woman (uncredited)
(1950)
The Fuller Brush Girl
as Wife Watching TV (uncredited)
(1950)
Unmasked
as Mrs. Schmidt
(1950)
My Blue Heaven
as Susan (uncredited)
(1949)
The Inspector General
as Buxom Villager (uncredited)
(1949)
(1948)
The Snake Pit
as Asylum Patient (uncredited)
(1946)
Terror Trail
as Karen Kemp, the Louisville Lady
(1945)
(1945)
Murder, He Says
as Bonnie Fleagle
(1945)
The Naughty Nineties
as Gilded Cage Hostess (uncredited)
(1945)
Trouble Chasers
as Goldie
(1944)
Once Upon a Time
as Cabbie (uncredited)
(1944)
Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid
as Miss LaRue ("Wild Rose")
(1943)
Aerial Gunner
as Blonde at Shooting Gallery (uncredited)
(1943)
A Maid Made Mad
as Blonde
(1943)
Let's Face It
as Daisy (uncredited)
(1943)
So This Is Washington
as Betty - Taxi Driver (uncredited)
(1943)
Girls in Chains
as Barbara Pepper
(1943)
Blonde and Groom
as Rex's Fiancée
(1942)
My Favorite Spy
as Speedy
(1942)
One Thrilling Night
as Lettie
(1942)
Sappy Pappy
as Female Customer
(1942)
Carry Harry
as Edith, Harry's Girl Friend
(1941)
South of Tahiti
as Julie
(1941)
The Lady Eve
as Lady Wrestler Type on Ship (uncredited)
(1941)
(1941)
Manpower
as Polly
(1941)
Birth of the Blues
as Maizie
(1941)
Three Sons o' Guns
as Francie LaRue
(1940)
Foreign Correspondent
as Dorine
(1940)
The Return of Frank James
as Nellie Blane
(1940)
Castle on the Hudson
as Goldie
(1940)
Forgotten Girls
as Eve Abbott
(1940)
Sailor's Lady
as Maude
(1940)
Framed
as Goldie Green
(1939)
The Women
as Tough Girl (uncredited)
(1939)
Of Mice and Men
as Second Girl (uncredited)
(1939)
They Made Me a Criminal
as Budgie Massey
(1939)
Bachelor Mother
as Dance-Hall Hostess (uncredited)
(1939)
The Amazing Mr. Williams
as Muriel - Wedding Guest (uncredited)
(1939)
Flight at Midnight
as Mildred
(1939)
Colorado Sunset
as Ginger Bixby
(1939)
Three Sons
as Viola
(1939)
Off the Record
as Flossie - Telephone Operator (uncredited)
(1938)
The Lady in the Morgue
as Kay Renshaw
(1938)
Army Girl
as Riki
(1938)
Hollywood Stadium Mystery
as Althea Ames
(1938)
The Girl Downstairs
as Woman at bar (uncredited)
(1938)
Wide Open Faces
as Belle
(1938)
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
as Mattie
(1938)
The Chaser
as Mabel, Drunken Girl
(1937)
Music for Madame
as Blonde on Bus (Uncredited)
(1937)
Portia on Trial
as Evelyn
(1937)
Many Unhappy Returns
as Sophie - Cigar Store Counter Girl
(1937)
Forty Naughty Girls
as Alice
(1937)
The Westland Case
as Agatha Hogan
(1937)
You Can't Buy Luck
as Store Clerk
(1937)
The Big Shot
as Mamie
(1937)
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
as Blonde Saloon Lady (uncredited)
(1937)
Too Many Wives
as Angela Brown
(1936)
After the Thin Man
as Party Guest (uncredited)
(1936)
(1936)
Winterset
as Girl
(1936)
What Becomes of the Children?
as Elsie Ford
(1936)
Wanted: Jane Turner
as Marge Sanders
(1936)
Taming the Wild
as Hazel White
(1936)
Mummy's Boys
as Mary Browning
(1936)
The Big Game
as Lois
(1936)
The Rogues' Tavern
as Marjorie Burns
(1936)
M'Liss
as Clytie Morpher
(1935)
Forced Landing
as Nancy 'Dusty' Rhodes
(1935)
The Sagebrush Troubadour
as Joan Martin
(1935)
Waterfront Lady
as Gloria Vance
(1935)
Frisco Waterfront
as The Blonde Stranger
(1935)
Let 'em Have It
as Milly Adams
(1935)
The Singing Vagabond
as Honey
(1934)
Our Daily Bread
as Sally
(1934)
Strictly Dynamite
as Party Girl (uncredited)
(1933)
Roman Scandals
as Goldwyn Girl (uncredited)