Cast & creator
Barbara Pepper
Best known for Perry Mason, Perry Mason, Perry Mason
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.
97
film credits
36
television credits
133
1933–1968 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (133)
Showing 133 of 133 credits
Perry Mason
Martha Dale
1957Perry Mason
Mrs. Diamond
1957Perry Mason
Mrs. Dwyer - Fat Woman
1957Perry Mason
Mrs. Williamson
1957
Wagon Train
Mrs. Maybelle Gifford
1957
The Fugitive
Matty
1963
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Four Star Playhouse
Clara
1952
My Three Sons
1960
Petticoat Junction
Ruth Ziffel
1963Petticoat Junction
Doris Ziffel
1963
Studio One
Ellie
1948
The Untouchables
Mrs. Littlesmith
1959The Untouchables
Landlady
1959
Daniel Boone
Mrs. Shanks
1964
I Love Lucy
Nurse
1951I Love Lucy
Neighbor
1951I Love Lucy
Woman On Bus
1951I Love Lucy
Woman Shopper
1951I Love Lucy
Showgirl #2
1951
Burke's Law
Cleaning Woman
1963
Green Acres
Doris Ziffel
1965
Father Knows Best
Shopper
1954
The Texan
1958
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Mrs. Brody
1957Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Clara Chase
1957
M Squad
Landlady
1957
The Millionaire
Fat Woman
1955
Tales of Wells Fargo
Boxcar Annie
1957
Laredo
1965
Mister Ed
1961
Shirley Temple's Storybook
First Choir Lady
1958
Mayberry R.F.D.
Emma
1968The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
The Walter Winchell File
1957
A Star Is Born
Esther's Neighbor (uncredited)
1954
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Miss Buell
1951
A Child Is Waiting
Miss Brown (uncredited)
1963
The Music Man
Mrs. Hawkes
1962
The Women
Tough Girl (uncredited)
1939
Foreign Correspondent
Dorine
1940
After the Thin Man
Party Guest (uncredited)
1936
The Lady Eve
Lady Wrestler Type on Ship (uncredited)
1941
The Best Man
Delegate (uncredited)
1964
Of Mice and Men
Second Girl (uncredited)
1939
Auntie Mame
Mrs. Krantz (uncredited)
1958
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
Annie
1945
The Return of Frank James
Nellie Blane
1940
Who's Minding the Store?
Customer at Bargain Sale (uncredited)
1963
Out of the Fog
1941
No Way Out
Woman (uncredited)
1950
It's Only Money
Fisherwoman
1962
The Fuller Brush Girl
Wife Watching TV (uncredited)
1950
Kiss Me, Stupid
Big Bertha
1964
The Amazing Mr. Williams
Muriel - Wedding Guest (uncredited)
1939
They Made Me a Criminal
Budgie Massey
1939
The Inspector General
Buxom Villager (uncredited)
1949
The Snake Pit
Asylum Patient (uncredited)
1948
Forgotten Girls
Eve Abbott
1940
Sex Kittens Go to College
Circe
1960
Once Upon a Time
Cabbie (uncredited)
1944
So This Is Love
Fat Girl with Sailor in Nightclub (uncredited)
1953
Army Girl
Riki
1938
Castle on the Hudson
Goldie
1940
Our Daily Bread
Sally
1934
Bachelor Mother
Dance-Hall Hostess (uncredited)
1939
The Naughty Nineties
Gilded Cage Hostess (uncredited)
1945
The Crooked Way
1949
The Lady in the Morgue
Kay Renshaw
1938
You Can't Buy Luck
Store Clerk
1937
Birth of the Blues
Maizie
1941
Show Boat
1936
The Eddie Cantor Story
Beer Garden Patron
1953
Three Sons o' Guns
Francie LaRue
1941
Trouble Chasers
Goldie
1945
Roman Scandals
Goldwyn Girl (uncredited)
1933
The Westland Case
Agatha Hogan
1937
The Bramble Bush
Polly Welk
1960
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Blonde Saloon Lady (uncredited)
1937
Wanted: Jane Turner
Marge Sanders
1936
The Chaser
Mabel, Drunken Girl
1938
Let's Face It
Daisy (uncredited)
1943
My Blue Heaven
Susan (uncredited)
1950
What Becomes of the Children?
Elsie Ford
1936
Dark Meeting
Clara
1956
Inferno
Waitress (uncredited)
1953
Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid
Miss LaRue ("Wild Rose")
1944
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
Mattie
1938
So This Is Washington
Betty - Taxi Driver (uncredited)
1943
Off the Record
Flossie - Telephone Operator (uncredited)
1939
My Favorite Spy
Speedy
1942
Manpower
Polly
1941
I Love Lucy: The Movie
Party Guest (archive footage)
1953
Let 'em Have It
Milly Adams
1935
Too Many Wives
Angela Brown
1937
Mummy's Boys
Mary Browning
1936
A Maid Made Mad
Blonde
1943
Carry Harry
Edith, Harry's Girl Friend
1942
The Girl Downstairs
Woman at bar (uncredited)
1938
The D.I.
Woman Customer
1957
Unmasked
Mrs. Schmidt
1950
Music for Madame
Blonde on Bus (Uncredited)
1937
Forty Naughty Girls
Alice
1937
Murder, He Says
Bonnie Fleagle
1945
The Rogues' Tavern
Marjorie Burns
1936
Waterfront Lady
Gloria Vance
1935
Winterset
Girl
1936
Girls in Chains
Barbara Pepper
1943
Hollywood Stadium Mystery
Althea Ames
1938
One Thrilling Night
Lettie
1942
The Big Game
Lois
1936
Aerial Gunner
Blonde at Shooting Gallery (uncredited)
1943
Colorado Sunset
Ginger Bixby
1939
Sailor's Lady
Maude
1940
Taming the Wild
Hazel White
1936
Flight at Midnight
Mildred
1939
Three Sons
Viola
1939
Forced Landing
Nancy 'Dusty' Rhodes
1935
Strictly Dynamite
Party Girl (uncredited)
1934
The Big Shot
Mamie
1937
Framed
Goldie Green
1940
South of Tahiti
Julie
1941
Portia on Trial
Evelyn
1937
Ghost Buster
Mrs. Nolan
1952
The Singing Vagabond
Honey
1935
Wide Open Faces
Belle
1938Blonde and Groom
Rex's Fiancée
1943
Sappy Pappy
Female Customer
1942
Many Unhappy Returns
Sophie - Cigar Store Counter Girl
1937
M'Liss
Clytie Morpher
1936
Terror Trail
Karen Kemp, the Louisville Lady
1946
The Sagebrush Troubadour
Joan Martin
1935
Frisco Waterfront
The Blonde Stranger
1935