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Barbara Marie Nickerauer (December 10, 1928[1] – October 5, 1976), known professionally as Barbara Nichols, was an American actress who often played brassy or comic roles in films in the 1950s and 1960s.
Barbara Nichols | |
|---|---|
 Nichols in 1956 | |
| Born | Barbara Marie Nickerauer December 10, 1928 Mineola, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 5, 1976 (aged 47) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Pinelawn Memorial Park |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1953–1976 |
Early life and career
editNichols was born Barbara Marie Nickerauer to George and Julia Nickerauer and was raised in Queens, New York.[citation needed]
Early in her career, Nichols was a showgirl when a club owner offered her a much higher salary to perform striptease. She declined the offer, keeping her focus on becoming an actress.[2] She began modeling for cheesecake magazines in the late 1940s and eventually was considered a minor rival to Marilyn Monroe. On Broadway, she appeared in the 1952 revival of Pal Joey (she also appeared in the 1957 film version) and in Let It Ride (1961).[3] In the mid-1950s, she moved to Hollywood and began appearing in showy supporting roles in A-films, such as Miracle in the Rain (1956), The King and Four Queens (1956), The Naked and the Dead (1958), The Pajama Game (1957), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), That Kind of Woman (1958), and Where the Boys Are (1960), with high-profile actors, including Clark Gable, Susan Hayward, Sophia Loren, and Doris Day. One of her few starring roles was in the 1965 science-fiction film The Human Duplicators. Her final film was Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood in 1976.
Nichols was a frequent guest star on many television series, including It's a Great Life, The Jack Benny Television Show, The Twilight Zone (in the episode "Twenty Two" S2 E17 1961), The Untouchables, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, Going My Way, Batman (episodes 35 and 36), Hawaii Five-O, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies.
Death
editNichols died on October 5, 1976, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from liver failure due to complications of a damaged spleen and liver reportedly sustained in separate automobile accidents many years earlier.[4][5] She is interred at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale, New York.[6]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | River of No Return | Blonde dancer | Uncredited |
| 1956 | Manfish | Mimi | |
| 1956 | Miracle in the Rain[broken anchor] | Arlene Parker née Witchy | |
| 1956 | Beyond a Reasonable Doubt | Dolly Moore | |
| 1956 | The Wild Party | Sandy | |
| 1956 | The King and Four Queens | Birdie McDade | |
| 1957 | Sweet Smell of Success | Rita | |
| 1957 | The Pajama Game | Poopsie | |
| 1957 | Pal Joey | Gladys | |
| 1958 | Ten North Frederick | Stella | |
| 1958 | The Naked and the Dead | Mildred Croft | |
| 1959 | Woman Obsessed | Mayme Radzevitch | |
| 1959 | That Kind of Woman | Jane | |
| 1960 | Who Was That Lady? | Gloria Coogle | |
| 1960 | Where the Boys Are | Lola Fandango | |
| 1961 | The George Raft Story | Texas Guinan | |
| 1962 | House of Women | Candy Kane | |
| 1964 | Looking for Love | Gaye Swinger | |
| 1964 | Dear Heart | June Loveland | |
| 1964 | The Disorderly Orderly | Miss Marlowe | |
| 1965 | The Human Duplicators | Gale Wilson | (Alternative title: Jaws of the Alien) |
| 1965 | The Loved One | Sadie Blodgett | |
| 1966 | The Swinger | Blossom LaTour | |
| 1968 | The Power | Flora | |
| 1968 | Criminal Affair | (Alternative titles: Seven Men and One Brain and Sette uomini e un cervello) | |
| 1973 | Charley and the Angel | Sadie | |
| 1974 | The Photographer | Mrs. Wilde | |
| 1976 | Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood | Nick's Girl |
| Year | Title | Role | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Studio One in Hollywood | First Pretty Girl | Season 6 Episode 11: "Complications of a Nervous Man" |
| 1954 | The Mask | Season 1 Episode 1: "Murder in the Burlesque House" | |
| 1954 | The United States Steel Hour | Bridie | Season 1 Episode 17: "Good for You" |
| 1954 | The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse | Ruth | Season 6 Episode 24: "The Man in the Middle of the Ocean" |
| 1954 | Center Stage | Season 1 Episode 9: "Heart of a Clown" | |
| 1954 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | Bar Patron / Party Flirt / Bobsey Baxter | Season 5 Episode 10: "Fred Allen's Sketchbook" |
| 1955 | Danger | Scheherazade | Season 5 Episode 32: "Sandy River Blues" |
| 1956 | Chevron Hall of Stars | Rosie | Episode: "Double Cross" |
| 1956 | It's a Great Life | Caroline Cabot | Season 2 Episode 29: "Glamour Doll" Season 2 Episode 32: "The Return of Caroline" |
| 1956 | The Bob Cummings Show | Sheila | Season 2 Episode 29: "The Con Man" |
| 1957 | Matinee Theater | Season 3 Episode 62: "The Gentleman Caller" | |
| 1957 | The Thin Man | Jeri Ames | Season 1 Episode 14: "Unwelcome Alibi" |
| 1958 | The Bob Cummings Show | Marian Billington | Season 5 Episode 1: "Bob and Schultzy Reunite" Season 5 Episode 2: "Bob and the Dumb Blonde" |
| 1958 | Maverick | Blanche | Season 1 Episode 15: "The Third Rider" |
| 1958 | Love That Jill | Ginger | 13 episodes |
| 1958 | Shower of Stars | Miss Kim O'Day | Season 4 Episode 7 |
| 1958 | Climax! | Dale Benson | Season 4 Episode 30: "The Push-Button Giant" |
| 1958 | Dragnet | Season 8 Episode 3: "The Big Star" | |
| 1958 | The Milton Berle Show | Guest | Episode dated November 19, 1958 |
| 1958 | The Red Skelton Hour | Gertie, Bolivar's Girlfriend | Season 7 Episode 26: "Bolivar Gets Amnesia" Season 8 Episode 3: "Bolivar - the Quiz Champ" |
| 1958 | The Jack Benny Program | Mildred Meyerhouser | Season 9 Episode 8: "Christmas Gift Exchange" |
| 1959 | The Jack Benny Program | Mildred Meyerhouser | Season 10 Episode 4: "The Jimmy Stewart Show" (uncredited) |
| 1959 | The Thin Man | Rita Fay | Season 2 Episode 12: "The Case of the Baggy Pants" |
| 1959 | The Red Skelton Hour | Myrtle, Bolivar's Girlfriend | Season 9 Episode 10: "Bolivar the Songwriter" |
| 1959 | The Scarface Mob | Brandy LaFrance | Television movie |
| 1959 | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Brandy LaFrance | Season 1 Episode 20: "The Untouchable: Part 1" Season 1 Episode 21: "The Untouchable: Part 2" |
| 1959 | The Real McCoys | Gladys Slade | Season 3 Episode 11: "The Politician" |
| 1959 | The Untouchables | Brandy LaFrance | Pilot Episode Season 1 Episode 1: "The Empty Chair" |
| 1959 | The Dennis O'Keefe Show | Season 1 Episode 10: "There Goes the Groom" | |
| 1960 | The Red Skelton Hour | Gertie, Bolivar's Girlfriend | Season 9 Episode 19: "Bolivar and the Roaring Twenties" |
| 1960 | The Jack Benny Program | Mildred Meyerhouser | Season 10 Episode 14: "Easter Show" Season 11 Episode 8: "Jack Goes to Concert" |
| 1960 | Stagecoach West | Sadie Wren | Season 1 Episode 6: "A Time to Run" |
| 1961 | The Twilight Zone | Liz Powell | Season 2 Episode 17: "Twenty Two" |
| 1961 | G.E. True Theater | Leslie Blaine | Season 9 Episode 24: "The Small Elephants" |
| 1961 | Michael Shayne | Topaz McQueen | Season 1 Episode 26: "Marriage Can Be Fatal" |
| 1961 | The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor | Abby Landis | Season 2 Episode 34: "Duty Date" |
| 1961 | Miami Undercover | Kitty | Season 1 Episode 18: "Kitty" |
| 1961 | Westinghouse Playhouse | Lorraine Hadley | Season 1 Episode 23: "House Guest" |
| 1962 | The Dick Powell Show | Bunny Easter | Season 1 Episode 29: "No Strings Attached" |
| 1963 | Alcoa Premiere | Willy Simms | Season 2 Episode 17: "Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks" |
| 1963 | Going My Way | Marie | Season 1 Episode 21: "Has Anyone Seen Eddie?" |
| 1963 | Vacation Playhouse | Barbara Adams | Season 1 Episode 7: "All About Barbara" |
| 1963 | Arrest and Trial | Ginny | Season 1 Episode 2: "Isn't It a Lovely View" |
| 1963 | Grindl | Wilma Bryan | Season 1 Episode 8: "Grindl, Witness for the Defense" |
| 1963 | The Beverly Hillbillies | Chickadee Laverne | Season 2 Episode 6: "Jethro's First Love" Season 2 Episode 7: "Chickadee Returns" |
| 1964 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Ann Hilts | Season 1 Episode 15: "My Enemy, This Town" |
| 1964 | The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters | Mamie | Season 1 Episode 25: "The Day of the Dark Deeds" |
| 1965 | Laredo | Princess | Season 1 Episode 7: "A Question of Discipline" |
| 1966 | The Wild Wild West | Bessie | Season 1 Episode 20: "The Night of the Whirring Death" |
| 1966 | Batman | Maid Marilyn | Season 2 Episode 1: "Shoot a Crooked Arrow" Season 2 Episode 2: "Walk the Straight and Narrow" |
| 1967 | Green Acres | Wanda | Season 2 Episode 20: "Never Take Your Wife to a Convention" |
| 1967 | The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. | Ida Martz | Season 1 Episode 25: "The Phi Beta Killer Affair" |
| 1967 | The Jackie Gleason Show | Kitty, Big Sam's Moll | Season 2 Episode 11: "The Honeymooners: Two Faces of Ralph Kramden" |
| 1969 | Hawaii Five-O | Betsy | Season 2 Episode 1: "A Thousand Pardons - You're Dead!" |
| 1971 | The Smith Family | Effie | Season 1 Episode 14: "Greener Pastures" |
| 1971 | The Doris Day Show | Mrs. Hollister | Season 4 Episode 9: "Have I Got a Fellow for You!" |
| 1971 | Love, American Style | Gladys | Season 3 Episode 14 (Segment: "Love and the Doctor's Honeymoon") |
| 1971 | Adam-12 | Ginger Stephens | Season 4 Episode 7: "Truant" |
| 1972 | Adam-12 | Janice Walker | Season 5 Episode 9: "Vendetta" |
| 1973 | Adam-12 | Elizabeth Mitchell | Season 6 Episode 4: "West Valley Division" |
| 1974 | Emergency! | Ginger | Season 4 Episode 12: "Details" |
| 1974 | The Rookies | Marie Antionette | Season 3 Episode 13: "Blue Christmas" |
References
edit- ^ Some sources formerly cited December 30, 1929, as her date of birth, although December 10, 1928, is accurate.
Search under Barbara Nickerauer Archived October 15, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, death-records.mooseroots.com; accessed March 20, 2016. - ^ "Her Career Is a Teaser". Chattanooga Daily Times. Tennessee, Chattanooga. Associated Press. May 10, 1959. p. 24. Retrieved July 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Barbara Nichols at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ "Barbara Nichols, 'dizzy blonde' actress, is dead". Lodi News-Sentinel. October 7, 1976. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- ^ "Barbara Nichols Dies at 47". The New York Times. October 7, 1976. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "Obituary for Actress Barbara Nichols (Aged 47)". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). October 7, 1976.
