Barbara Pepper

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

Born: New York City, New York, USA, 1915-05-31

Died: 1969-07-18

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1933	Roman Scandals	Goldwyn Girl (uncredited)	60
2	1934	Strictly Dynamite	Party Girl (uncredited)	53
3	1934	Our Daily Bread	Sally	68
4	1935	Let 'em Have It	Milly Adams	70
5	1935	Waterfront Lady	Gloria Vance	40
6	1935	The Sagebrush Troubadour	Joan Martin	55
7	1935	Forced Landing	Nancy 'Dusty' Rhodes	0
8	1935	Frisco Waterfront	The Blonde Stranger	0
9	1935	The Singing Vagabond	Honey	70
10	1936	Taming the Wild	Hazel White	55
11	1936	Show Boat		68
12	1936	The Rogues' Tavern	Marjorie Burns	58
13	1936	M'Liss	Clytie Morpher	50
14	1936	Mummy's Boys	Mary Browning	47
15	1936	The Big Game	Lois	58
16	1936	Winterset	Girl	57
17	1936	What Becomes of the Children?	Elsie Ford	50
18	1936	Wanted: Jane Turner	Marge Sanders	53
19	1937	Too Many Wives	Angela Brown	67
20	1937	The Outcasts of Poker Flat	Blonde Saloon Lady (uncredited)	60
21	1937	You Can't Buy Luck	Store Clerk	45
22	1937	The Big Shot	Mamie	50
23	1937	Forty Naughty Girls	Alice	52
24	1937	Music for Madame	Blonde on Bus (Uncredited)	50
25	1937	Many Unhappy Returns	Sophie - Cigar Store Counter Girl	0
26	1937	The Westland Case	Agatha Hogan	60
27	1937	Portia on Trial	Evelyn	54
28	1938	Hollywood Stadium Mystery	Althea Ames	57
29	1938	Wide Open Faces	Belle	85
30	1938	The Lady in the Morgue	Kay Renshaw	63
31	1938	The Chaser	Mabel, Drunken Girl	60
32	1938	Army Girl	Riki	60
33	1938	The Strange Case of Dr. Meade	Mattie	50
34	1938	The Girl Downstairs	Woman at bar (uncredited)	45
35	1939	They Made Me a Criminal	Budgie Massey	61
36	1939	Off the Record	Flossie - Telephone Operator (uncredited)	60
37	1939	Bachelor Mother	Dance-Hall Hostess (uncredited)	71
38	1939	Colorado Sunset	Ginger Bixby	0
39	1939	Flight at Midnight	Mildred	45
40	1939	The Women	Tough Girl (uncredited)	71
41	1939	Three Sons	Viola	32
42	1939	The Amazing Mr. Williams	Muriel - Wedding Guest (uncredited)	58
43	1939	Of Mice and Men	Second Girl (uncredited)	73
44	1940	Castle on the Hudson	Goldie	68
45	1940	Framed	Goldie Green	58
46	1940	Forgotten Girls	Eve Abbott	50
47	1940	Sailor's Lady	Maude	40
48	1940	The Return of Frank James	Nellie Blane	63
49	1940	Foreign Correspondent	Dorine	70
50	1941	The Lady Eve	Lady Wrestler Type on Ship (uncredited)	72
51	1941	Out of the Fog		64
52	1941	Three Sons o' Guns	Francie LaRue	50
53	1941	Manpower	Polly	67
54	1941	South of Tahiti	Julie	60
55	1941	Birth of the Blues	Maizie	55
56	1942	One Thrilling Night	Lettie	52
57	1942	My Favorite Spy	Speedy	52
58	1942	Carry Harry	Edith, Harry's Girl Friend	0
59	1942	Sappy Pappy	Female Customer	0
60	1943	A Maid Made Mad	Blonde	0
61	1943	Aerial Gunner	Blonde at Shooting Gallery (uncredited)	44
62	1943	Blonde and Groom	Rex's Fiancée	0
63	1943	Girls in Chains	Barbara Pepper	47
64	1943	So This Is Washington	Betty - Taxi Driver (uncredited)	50
65	1943	Let's Face It	Daisy (uncredited)	45
66	1944	Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid	Miss LaRue ("Wild Rose")	0
67	1944	Once Upon a Time	Cabbie (uncredited)	58
68	1945	Trouble Chasers	Goldie	0
69	1945	The Naughty Nineties	Gilded Cage Hostess (uncredited)	68
70	1945	Murder, He Says	Bonnie Fleagle	66
71	1945	The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry	Annie	63
72	1946	Terror Trail	Karen Kemp, the Louisville Lady	0
73	1948	The Snake Pit	Asylum Patient (uncredited)	71
74	1949	The Crooked Way		62
75	1949	The Inspector General	Buxom Villager (uncredited)	65
76	1950	Unmasked	Mrs. Schmidt	52
77	1950	No Way Out	Woman (uncredited)	69
78	1950	The Fuller Brush Girl	Wife Watching TV (uncredited)	60
79	1950	My Blue Heaven	Susan (uncredited)	70
80	1952	Ghost Buster	Mrs. Nolan	60
81	1953	So This Is Love	Fat Girl with Sailor in Nightclub (uncredited)	45
82	1953	Inferno	Waitress (uncredited)	62
83	1953	The Eddie Cantor Story	Beer Garden Patron	50
84	1954	A Star Is Born	Esther's Neighbor (uncredited)	71
85	1956	Dark Meeting	Clara	0
86	1957	The D.I.	Woman Customer	71
87	1958	Auntie Mame	Mrs. Krantz (uncredited)	70
88	1960	The Bramble Bush	Polly Welk	55
89	1960	Sex Kittens Go to College	Circe	32
90	1962	The Music Man	Mrs. Hawkes	71
91	1962	It's Only Money	Fisherwoman	61
92	1963	A Child Is Waiting	Miss Brown (uncredited)	68
93	1963	Who's Minding the Store?	Customer at Bargain Sale (uncredited)	69
94	1964	Kiss Me, Stupid	Big Bertha	70

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1948	Studio One	Ellie	50
2	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Miss Buell	73
3	1951	I Love Lucy	Nurse	79
4	1951	I Love Lucy	Neighbor	79
5	1951	I Love Lucy	Woman On Bus	79
6	1951	I Love Lucy	Woman Shopper	79
7	1951	I Love Lucy	Showgirl #2	79
8	1952	Four Star Playhouse	Clara	63
9	1954	Father Knows Best	Shopper	65
10	1955	The Millionaire	Fat Woman	50
11	1957	Tales of Wells Fargo	Boxcar Annie	63
12	1957	Richard Diamond, Private Detective	Mrs. Brody	62
13	1957	Richard Diamond, Private Detective	Clara Chase	62
14	1957	Have Gun, Will Travel		74
15	1957	M Squad	Landlady	52
16	1957	Perry Mason	Martha Dale	77
17	1957	Perry Mason	Mrs. Diamond	77
18	1957	Perry Mason	Mrs. Dwyer - Fat Woman	77
19	1957	Perry Mason	Mrs. Williamson	77
20	1957	The Walter Winchell File		50
21	1958	Shirley Temple's Storybook	First Choir Lady	62
22	1958	The Texan		55
23	1960	My Three Sons		65
24	1961	Mister Ed		68
25	1963	The Greatest Show on Earth		50
26	1963	The Fugitive	Matty	72
27	1963	Burke's Law	Cleaning Woman	60
28	1963	Petticoat Junction	Ruth Ziffel	58
29	1963	Petticoat Junction	Doris Ziffel	58
30	1964	Daniel Boone	Mrs. Shanks	69
31	1965	Green Acres	Doris Ziffel	73
32	1965	Laredo		63
33	1968	Mayberry R.F.D.	Emma	57

Barbara Pepper

Film

Television