German postcard by ISV, Sort V 16.
German postcard by ISV, no. 19/6.
The archetypal brassy, bosomy, Brooklynesque bimbo
Barbara Nichols was born Barbara Marie Nickerauer in Mineola, New York, in 1928, to George and Julia Nickerauer. She was raised in Queens, New York.
Early in her career, Nichols was a showgirl. She changed her reddish-brown hair to platinum blonde and drew whistles as a burlesque dancer. When a club owner offered her a much higher salary to become a striptease performer, she declined. She kept her focus on becoming an actress.
Nichols began modeling for cheesecake magazines in the late 1940s and also became a GI pin-up favourite. As a beauty contestant, she won the "Miss Long Island" title as well as the dubious crowns of "Miss Dill Pickle", "Miss Mink of 1953" and "Miss Welder of 1953".
She also began to draw attention in television drama, such as Studio One (1953), The Mask (1954), It's a Great Life (1956), and The Jack Benny Program (1958-1960).
On Broadway, she appeared in a revival of 'Pal Joey' (1952) and she was eventually considered a minor rival to Marilyn Monroe. In the mid-1950s, Barbara Nichols moved to Hollywood and her first part was as a blonde dancer in the Western River of No Return (Otto Preminger, 1954) starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe.
She appeared in showy supporting roles in A-films, such as Miracle in the Rain (Rudolph Maté, 1956), the Western The King and Four Queens (Raoul Walsh, 1956) with Clark Gable, and The Naked and the Dead (Raoul Walsh, 1958), based on Norman Mailer's 1948 World War II novel.
Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: "She was the archetypal brassy, bosomy, Brooklynesque bimbo with a highly distinctive scratchy voice. (...) Barbara made the best of her stereotype, taking full advantage of the not-so-bad films that came her way."
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 1066. Photo: Ponti-Girosi / Paramount. Publicity still for That Kind of Woman (Sidney Lumet, 1959).
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1646. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for That Kind of Woman (Sidney Lumet, 1959).
She could be very, very funny when let loose
Barbara Nichols appeared in the Film Noir Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Fritz Lang, 1956) with Dana Andrews and Joan Fontaine. It was the last American film Fritz Lang directed.
Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: "While most of them, of course, emphasized her physical endowments, she could be very, very funny when let loose. By far the best of her lot came out in one year: Pal Joey (George Sidney, 1957), Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957), and The Pajama Game (George Abbott, Stanley Donen, 1957)."
She also acted in That Kind of Woman (Sidney Lumet, 1958) with Sophia Loren and the comedy Where the Boys Are (Henry Levin, 1960). By the decade's end, though, her film career had hit the skids and she returned to Broadway in 'Let It Ride' (1961).
Nichols turned more and more to television. She was a frequent guest star on many television series, including The Untouchables (1959), The Twilight Zone (1962), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Batman (1966), Green Acres (1967), and Hawaii Five-O (1969).
In the cinema, one of her few starring roles was in the Science-Fiction film The Human Duplicators (Hugo Grimaldi, 1965), starring George Nader and Richard Kiel, who played "Jaws" in the James Bond film series. Her final film was Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (Michael Winner, 1976).
Barbara Nichols died in 1976, aged 47, from liver failure due to complications of a damaged spleen and liver reportedly sustained in separate automobile accidents many years earlier. She is interred at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale, New York.
Small Dutch collectors card.
Small Dutch collectors card. Photo: MGM / John Everton.
Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
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