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.
121 acting credits
Acting · 121
Perry Mason
1957
The Fugitive
1963
Wagon Train
1957
Petticoat Junction
1963
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
My Three Sons
1960
Four Star Playhouse
1952
Daniel Boone
1964
Burke's Law
1963
The Untouchables
1959
I Love Lucy
1951
Green Acres
1965
Studio One
1948
Mister Ed
1961
Father Knows Best
1954
The Texan
1958
M Squad
1957
Laredo
1965
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
The Millionaire
1955
Mayberry R.F.D.
1968
Shirley Temple's Storybook
1958
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
The Walter Winchell File
1957
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
The Women
1939
A Star Is Born
1954
Foreign Correspondent
1940
The Music Man
1962
Auntie Mame
1958
The Lady Eve
1941
Manpower
1941
The Return of Frank James
1940
After the Thin Man
1936
The D.I.
1957
The Inspector General
1949
The Crooked Way
1949
Castle on the Hudson
1940
No Way Out
1950
Kiss Me, Stupid
1964
Bachelor Mother
1939
Who's Minding the Store?
1963
Once Upon a Time
1944
Inferno
1953
Unmasked
1950
The Fuller Brush Girl
1950
Hollywood Stadium Mystery
1938
Out of the Fog
1941
A Child Is Waiting
1963
Roman Scandals
1933
Winterset
1936
Our Daily Bread
1934
The Snake Pit
1948
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
1945
My Favorite Spy
1942
It's Only Money
1962
Of Mice and Men
1939
The Eddie Cantor Story
1953
The Naughty Nineties
1945
Sailor's Lady
1940
Wanted: Jane Turner
1936
Show Boat
1936
Murder, He Says
1945
My Blue Heaven
1950
They Made Me a Criminal
1939
Music for Madame
1937
The Lady in the Morgue
1938
The Girl Downstairs
1938
Waterfront Lady
1935
Aerial Gunner
1943
South of Tahiti
1941
So This Is Love
1953
The Big Shot
1937
Off the Record
1939
One Thrilling Night
1942
The Amazing Mr. Williams
1939
So This Is Washington
1943
Forced Landing
1935
Birth of the Blues
1941
M'Liss
1936
Mummy's Boys
1936
The Westland Case
1937
Three Sons
1939
Army Girl
1938
The Big Game
1936
Forty Naughty Girls
1937
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
1938
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
1937
Ghost Buster
1952
The Chaser
1938
Let's Face It
1943
The Sagebrush Troubadour
1935
What Becomes of the Children?
1936
Framed
1940
Flight at Midnight
1939
Girls in Chains
1943
Strictly Dynamite
1934
The Rogues' Tavern
1936
Sex Kittens Go to College
1960
The Bramble Bush
1960
Wide Open Faces
1938
You Can't Buy Luck
1937
Let 'em Have It
1935
Many Unhappy Returns
1937
Forgotten Girls
1940
Blonde and Groom
1943
Three Sons o' Guns
1941
Too Many Wives
1937
Taming the Wild
1936
Terror Trail
1946
Frisco Waterfront
1935
Portia on Trial
1937
Trouble Chasers
1945
Colorado Sunset
1939
Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid
1944
Sappy Pappy
1942
Carry Harry
1942
The Singing Vagabond
1935
Dark Meeting
1956
A Maid Made Mad
1943