Barbara Pepper
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Perry Mason
Martha Dale
1957
Series
Perry Mason
Mrs. Diamond
1957
Series
Perry Mason
Mrs. Dwyer - Fat Woman
1957
Series
Perry Mason
Mrs. Williamson
1957
Series
The Fugitive
Matty
1963
Series
Wagon Train
Mrs. Maybelle Gifford
1957
Series
Father Knows Best
Shopper
1954
Series
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Series
Daniel Boone
Mrs. Shanks
1964
Series
Petticoat Junction
Ruth Ziffel
1963
Series
Petticoat Junction
Doris Ziffel
1963
Series
My Three Sons
1960
Series
The Untouchables
Mrs. Littlesmith
1959
Series
The Untouchables
Landlady
1959
Series
I Love Lucy
Nurse
1951
Series
I Love Lucy
Woman On Bus
1951
Series
I Love Lucy
Neighbor
1951
Series
I Love Lucy
Woman Shopper
1951
Series
I Love Lucy
Showgirl #2
1951
Series
Tales of Wells Fargo
Boxcar Annie
1957
Series
Four Star Playhouse
Clara
1952
Series
Burke's Law
Cleaning Woman
1963
Series
Green Acres
Doris Ziffel
1965
Series
Studio One
Ellie
1948
Series
Mayberry R.F.D.
Emma
1968
Series
Mister Ed
1961
Series
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Mrs. Brody
1957
Series
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Clara Chase
1957
Series
The Millionaire
Fat Woman
1955
Series
The Texan
1958
Series
Shirley Temple's Storybook
First Choir Lady
1958
Series
Laredo
1965
Series
M Squad
Landlady
1957
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
Series
The Walter Winchell File
1957
Film
The Women
Tough Girl (uncredited)
1939
Film
Auntie Mame
Mrs. Krantz (uncredited)
1958
Film
A Star Is Born
Esther's Neighbor (uncredited)
1954
Film
The Westland Case
Agatha Hogan
1937
Film
The Music Man
Mrs. Hawkes
1962
Film
Foreign Correspondent
Dorine
1940
Film
A Child Is Waiting
Miss Brown (uncredited)
1963
Film
The Lady Eve
Lady Wrestler Type on Ship (uncredited)
1941
Series
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Miss Buell
1951
Film
No Way Out
Woman (uncredited)
1950
Film
The Return of Frank James
Nellie Blane
1940
Film
It's Only Money
Fisherwoman
1962
Film
After the Thin Man
Party Guest (uncredited)
1936
Film
The Snake Pit
Asylum Patient (uncredited)
1948
Film
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
Annie
1945
Film
The Inspector General
Buxom Villager (uncredited)
1949
Film
Sex Kittens Go to College
Circe
1960
Film
Trouble Chasers
Goldie
1945
Film
The Naughty Nineties
Gilded Cage Hostess (uncredited)
1945
Film
Kiss Me, Stupid
Big Bertha
1964
Film
Who's Minding the Store?
Customer at Bargain Sale (uncredited)
1963
Film
Inferno
Waitress (uncredited)
1953
Film
Our Daily Bread
Sally
1934
Film
Manpower
Polly
1941
Film
Army Girl
Riki
1938
Film
Show Boat
1936
Film
Carry Harry
Edith, Harry's Girl Friend
1942
Film
Of Mice and Men
Second Girl (uncredited)
1939
Film
Hollywood Stadium Mystery
Althea Ames
1938
Film
Girls in Chains
Barbara Pepper
1943
Film
My Blue Heaven
Susan (uncredited)
1950
Film
The Fuller Brush Girl
Wife Watching TV (uncredited)
1950
Film
Too Many Wives
Angela Brown
1937
Film
Dark Meeting
Clara
1956
Film
Roman Scandals
Goldwyn Girl (uncredited)
1933
Film
Mummy's Boys
Mary Browning
1936
Film
The Girl Downstairs
Woman at bar (uncredited)
1938
Film
The Crooked Way
1949
Film
The Amazing Mr. Williams
Muriel - Wedding Guest (uncredited)
1939
Film
Winterset
Girl
1936
Film
Sailor's Lady
Maude
1940
Film
Forgotten Girls
Eve Abbott
1940
Film
The Big Game
Lois
1936
Film
Castle on the Hudson
Goldie
1940
Film
Forty Naughty Girls
Alice
1937
Film
The D.I.
Woman Customer
1957
Film
Bachelor Mother
Dance-Hall Hostess (uncredited)
1939
Film
You Can't Buy Luck
Store Clerk
1937
Film
Let 'em Have It
Milly Adams
1935
Film
Flight at Midnight
Mildred
1939
Film
Waterfront Lady
Gloria Vance
1935
Film
Murder, He Says
Bonnie Fleagle
1945
Film
So This Is Love
Fat Girl with Sailor in Nightclub (uncredited)
1953
Film
They Made Me a Criminal
Budgie Massey
1939
Film
A Maid Made Mad
Blonde
1943
Film
Once Upon a Time
Cabbie (uncredited)
1944
Film
One Thrilling Night
Lettie
1942
Film
Music for Madame
Blonde on Bus (Uncredited)
1937
Film
Taming the Wild
Hazel White
1936
Film
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
Mattie
1938
Film
The Chaser
Mabel, Drunken Girl
1938
Film
Wanted: Jane Turner
Marge Sanders
1936
Film
Let's Face It
Daisy (uncredited)
1943
Film
Out of the Fog
1941
Film
South of Tahiti
Julie
1941
Film
Colorado Sunset
Ginger Bixby
1939
Film
The Bramble Bush
Polly Welk
1960
Film
My Favorite Spy
Speedy
1942
Film
Wide Open Faces
Belle
1938
Film
Many Unhappy Returns
Sophie - Cigar Store Counter Girl
1937
Film
Portia on Trial
Evelyn
1937
Film
Three Sons o' Guns
Francie LaRue
1941
Film
Off the Record
Flossie - Telephone Operator (uncredited)
1939
Film
Aerial Gunner
Blonde at Shooting Gallery (uncredited)
1943
Film
I Love Lucy: The Movie
Party Guest (archive footage)
1953
Film
The Eddie Cantor Story
Beer Garden Patron
1953
Film
Frisco Waterfront
The Blonde Stranger
1935
Blonde and Groom
Rex's Fiancée
1943
Film
Forced Landing
Nancy 'Dusty' Rhodes
1935
Film
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Blonde Saloon Lady (uncredited)
1937
Film
So This Is Washington
Betty - Taxi Driver (uncredited)
1943
Film
The Sagebrush Troubadour
Joan Martin
1935
Film
The Big Shot
Mamie
1937
Film
The Lady in the Morgue
Kay Renshaw
1938
Film
M'Liss
Clytie Morpher
1936
Film
The Rogues' Tavern
Marjorie Burns
1936
Film
Birth of the Blues
Maizie
1941
Film
Unmasked
Mrs. Schmidt
1950
Film
Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid
Miss LaRue ("Wild Rose")
1944
Film
Terror Trail
Karen Kemp, the Louisville Lady
1946
Film
Sappy Pappy
Female Customer
1942
Film
Strictly Dynamite
Party Girl (uncredited)
1934
Film
The Singing Vagabond
Honey
1935
Film
Ghost Buster
Mrs. Nolan
1952
Film
Three Sons
Viola
1939
Film
Framed
Goldie Green
1940
Film
What Becomes of the Children?
Elsie Ford
1936