Career Highlights: The Lady in the Morgue, Hollywood Stadium Mystery, The Westland Case
First Major Screen Credit: Our Daily Bread (1934)
Biography
A specialist in hard-boiled dame roles, Barbara Pepper made her first film appearances as a Goldwyn Girl; she was prominent among the nubile slaves who were garbed only in floor-length blonde wigs in Goldwyn's Roman Scandals (1933). Pepper's one shot at stardom came in King Vidor's Our Daily Bread, in which she played the sluttish vamp who led hero Tom Keene astray; unfortunately, the film was not successful enough, nor her performance convincing enough, to lead to larger parts. She spent the next 30 years in supporting roles and bits, most often playing brassy goodtime girls. A radical weight gain in the 1950s compelled Pepper to alter her screen image; she quickly became adept at portraying obnoxious middle-aged tourists, snoopy next-door neighbors, belligerent landladies, and the like. Pepper's best friend in Hollywood was Lucille Ball, another alumna of the Goldwyn Girl ranks. At one point in 1951,Pepper was a candidate for the role of Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy. In her last decade, Barbara Pepper gained a whole new crop of fans thanks to her recurring appearances as Doris Ziffel on the TV sitcom Green Acres. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Barbara Pepper (May 31, 1915 – July 18, 1969) was an American actress.
Born as Marion Pepper in New York City, she started in show business at the age of 16 as one of the Goldwyn Girls where she met lifelong friend Lucille Ball. Pepper began making movies and did radio parts.
In 1943 she married an actor, Craig W. Reynolds; they had two sons. They separated in 1949, and after Reynolds died the same year in a motorcycle accident, leaving Pepper to raise their children alone, she reportedly developed a drinking problem.[citation needed]
Later years
After that her roles were mostly confined to small movie parts, among them My Fair Lady and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Ball cast her in several episodes of I Love Lucy. She may be best remembered as the first Doris Ziffel on Green Acres. However, her heart ailments forced her to leave the series and she was replaced by Fran Ryan.