Barbara Nichols

Barbara Nichols
in 1956
Born	Barbara Marie Nickerauer December 10, 1928 Mineola, New York, U.S.
Died	October 5, 1976 (aged 47)

Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged the tv channels across my head. And there was an old Twilight Zone episode--one I'd never seen before . . . or at least one I didn't remember seeing before.  I wasn't really interested in watching it . . . just background noise that makes you feel like you're not alone when you're alone . . . but then I heard a voice that sounded familiar.  It sounded like Joanne Woodward as Rhoda Shillitoe in A Fine Madness (a movie which would be excellent if not for the horrific misogyny, but if you can put up with that then you do get to see Sean Connery as a tough guy poet, which is mos def worth the time).  Or maybe the "No One's Ever Called Me Pouty Mouth Before secretary from the same movie.  Anyway, I knew it couldn't be Joanne Woodward, because she's way too big to have been in a Twilight Zone episode, but I looked to see who it was.

It was Barbara Nichols, as you probably guessed.  And when I saw that she died at age 47 I wondered why, so I took a look for that. And Wikipedia told me that it was "from complications of a damaged spleen and liver which had initially occurred about twenty years earlier in an automobile accident."  Wow.  And then I looked to see what other shows she'd been in, and it was an impressive list:

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1954	River of No Return	Blonde dancer, Uncredited
1956	Manfish	Mimi
1956	Miracle in the Rain	Arlene Parker née Witchy
1956	Beyond a Reasonable Doubt	Dolly Moore
1956	The King and Four Queens	Birdie McDade
1956	The Wild Party	Sandy
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
1964	The Human Duplicators (Alternative title: Jaws of the Alien)	Gale Wilson
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

Television

Year	Title	Role	Episodes
1953	Studio One in Hollywood	First Pretty Girl	Episode: "Complications of a Nervous Man"
1954	The Mask		Episode: "Murder in the Burlesque House"
1954	The United States Steel Hour	Bridie	Episode: "Good for You"
1954	The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse	Ruth	Episode: "The Man in the Middle of the Ocean"
1954	Center Stage		Episode: "Heart of a Clown"
1954	Armstrong Circle Theatre	Bar Patron/Party Flirt/Bobsey Baxter	Episode: "Fred Allen's Sketchbook"
1955	Danger		Episode: "Sandy River Blues"
1956	Chevron Hall of Stars	Rosie	Episode: "Double Cross"
1956	It's a Great Life	Caroline Cabot	2 episodes
1956-1958	The Bob Cummings Show	Marian Billington	3 episodes
1957	Matinee Theater		Episode: "The Gentleman Caller"
1957-1959	The Thin Man	Various roles	2 episodes
1958	Maverick	Blanche	Episode: "The Third Rider"
1958	Love That Jill	Ginger	13 episodes
1958	Shower of Stars	Miss Kim O'Day	Episode #4.7
1958	Climax!	Dale Benson	Episode: "The Push-Button Giant"
1958	Dragnet		Episode: "The Big Star"
1958	The Milton Berle Show	Guest	Episode dated November 19, 1958
1958-1960	The Red Skelton Hour	Gertie - Bolivar's Girlfriend	4 episodes
1958-1960	The Jack Benny Program	Mildred Meyerhouser	4 episodes
1959	The Scarface Mob	Brandy LaFrance	Television movie
1959	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse	Brandy LaFrance	2 episodes
1959	The Real McCoys	Gladys Slade	Episode: "The Politician"
1959	The Untouchables	Brandy LaFrance/Barbara Ritchie	2 episodes
1959	The Dennis O'Keefe Show		Episode #1.10
1960	Stagecoach West	Sadie Wren	Episode: "A Time to Run"
1961	The Twilight Zone	Liz Powell	Episode: "Twenty Two"
1961	G.E. True Theater	Leslie Blaine	Episode: "The Small Elephants"
1961	Michael Shayne	Topaz McQuuen	Episode: "Marriage Can Be Fatal"
1961	The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor	Abby Landis	Episode: "Duty Date"
1961	Miami Undercover	Kitty	Episode: "Kitty"
1961	Westinghouse Playhouse	Lorraine Hadley	Episode: "House Guest"
1962	The Dick Powell Show	Bunny Easter	Episode: "No Strings Attached"
1963	Alcoa Premiere	Willy Simms	Episode: "Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks"
1963	Going My Way	Marie	Episode: "Has Anyone Seen Eddie?"
1963	Vacation Playhouse	Barbara Adams	Episode: "All About Barbara"
1963	Arrest and Trial	Ginny	Episode: "Isn't It a Lovely View"
1963	Grindl	Wilma Bryan	Episode: "Grindl, Witness for the Defense"
1963	The Beverly Hillbillies	Chickadee Laverne	2 episodes
1964	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Ann Hilts	Episode: "My Enemy, This Town"
1964	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters	Mamie	Episode: "The Day of the Dark Deeds"
1965	Laredo	Princess	Episode: "A Question of Discipline"
1966	The Wild Wild West	Bessie	Episode: "The Night of the Whirring Death"
1966	Batman	Maid Marilyn	2 episodes (35 and 36)
1967	Green Acres	Wanda	Episode: "Never Take Your Wife to a Convention"
1967	The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.	Ida Martz	Episode: "The Phi Beta Killer Affair"
1967	The Jackie Gleason Show	Kitty - Big Sam's Moll	Episode: "The Honeymooners: Two Faces of Ralph Kramden"
1969	Hawaii Five-O	Betsey	Episode: "A Thousand Pardons - You're Dead!"
1971	The Smith Family	Effie	Episode: "Greener Pastures"
1971	The Doris Day Show	Mrs. Hollister	Episode: "Have I Got a Fellow for You!"
1971	Love, American Style	Gladys	Segment: "Love and the Doctor's Honeymoon"
1971-1973	Adam-12	Various roles	3 episodes
1974	Emergency!	Ginger	Episode: "Details"
1974	The Rookies	Marie Antionette	Episode: "Blue Christmas"

And looking at those lists made me realize that I must have seen her before, since I'd seen a few of the movies (River of No Return, The Pajama Game, and The Disorderly Orderly) and a bunch of the television shows.  (I'm pretty sure I never missed at episode of Batman, The Wild Wild West, or The Rookies, amongst others.  In fact, the name "Maid Marilyn" from Batman actually rings a bell.) 

And that made me really sad.  Here was this beautiful girl--

--who went to Hollywood and at the age of 25 started working in television and the movies . . . and in addition to appearing in at least one tv show or movie every year from 1953 until she died in 1976 (with the exception of 1970 and 1976), she also appeared on Broadway and was a popular cheesecake model . . . and she died at age 47. And I am pretty sure that virtually no one remembers her now.  I sure as hell didn't, I'm sorry to say.  

It just makes me wonder what any of it is worth, you know?  You can work your ass off and you can rise to the top of the game and be successful and rich and whatever, but after you've died, the very most you can hope for is probably to be a two word answer to a Jeopardy! question.    So what's any of it worth?

I don't know if it's worth anything.   But maybe I'm just depressed.

At any rate, today I am raising a glass to Barbara Nichols, and I am going to go watch some of her stuff. 1

1   If you'd like to join me, here's what you can see for free:  NETFLIX streaming has River of No Return and Amazon has the The Twilight Zone episode "Twenty-two."  There are also a couple of things on YouTube . . . like an appearance on The Jack Benny Show . . . but it looks pretty thin out there, I'm sorry to say.