Search
Barbara Nichols Profile
|
|
Photo gallery |
| (Barbara Maria Nickerauer) |
|
| 10 December 28 / 32 | is born in Long Island, New York, the only child of George and Julia Nichols |
| ? | grows up in Huntington, Long Island |
| ? | lives in South Ozone Park at 116-139th Street |
| ? | graduates from Woodrow Wilson High in Jamaica, Long Island, New York |
| ? | has her dancing debut in the chorus of a show taken to Cuidad Trujillo, Dominican Republic, by Richard Kolmar. Kolmar suggests that the reddish brunette turn blonde. |
| ? | returns to New York to join the chorus at the famed Latin Quarter |
| c. 47 | is crowned Brooklyn's "Miss Loew's Valencia" |
| ? | is crowned "Miss Long Island" and "Miss Dill Pickle" |
| September 50 | models the "theft-proof" brassiere in New York |
| 26 September 50 | will present 12 hidden treasure foundation garments to the Southern Bell Telephone System in Miami, Florida |
| 51 | is a calendar girl with Esquire |
| ? | wins 11 beauty contests around New York |
| August 51 | is hailed Dagmar's successor on Jerry Lester's television program. She currently appears at the El Rancho, Las Vegas. |
| September 51 | columnist Earl Wilson knows: "Ted (Revere Camera) Briskin added Barbara Nichols, alias 'Agathon,’ the blond whom Jerry Lester chose to be his 'new Dagmar,' to His List..." |
| December 51 | Earl Wilson lists her, Kathy Barr, and Marilyn Monroe as the year's outstanding figures |
| Wilson reports: "Barbara Nichols, formerly 'Agathon' on TV, now in Pal Joey, was at Armando's with socialite John Alden Talbot..." |
|
| February 52 | is reported pretty mad when she learns that Clark Gable left Pal Joey during an intermission |
| Late July 52 | she and 20th Century-Fox starlet Ava Norring are jailed for wearing bikinis on the Jacob Rus Park boardwalk |
| September 52 | is reported out of Pal Joey and getting a nose job |
| October 52 | is back in Pal Joey after having her nose bobbed. "She did it as much for her best beau as for her theatrical career..." |
| January 53 | Earl Wilson tells that she, "the malapropist in Pal Joey, answered the phone at the Broadhurst by saying: 'Hello Broadhouse Theater!'..." |
| is the reason why Rickey Newberry waits at the Pal Joey stage door every night. "He's given her a pet pooch, among other tokens of his affection..." |
|
| Early 53 | is selected "Miss Welder of 1953" |
| May 53 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen knows: "Curvy blonde Barbara Nichols didn't go on the road with Pal Joey because she wouldn't leave Rickey Newberry here alone..." |
| is chosen "Miss Mink of 1953" by the Fashion Furriers Association in New York |
|
| June 53 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen tells: "Barbara Nichols, currently in Pal Joey in Chicago, was all set to quit the cast until she met a produce millionaire in the Windy City. He's wooing her with crates of oranges, sides of beef, and other practical gifts..." |
| September 53 | Louella Parsons thinks that "Stan Rubin is going to be awfully lonesome when the Pal Joey stage show takes off for San Francisco taking his steady date, Barbara Nichols, along..." |
| November 53 | Walter Winchell knows Stan Rubin’s “on the long-kisstance phone with Barbara Nichols, the cover gal..." |
| December 54 | comic Jack Carter is reported having discovered her, "the oomphy TV blonde..." |
| January 55 | she and Jack Carter are a daily double at Gilmore's |
| Earl Wilson reports that she's getting a nightclub act together |
|
| February 55 | will go to Palm Beach to appear in The Firecracker opposite Steve Cochran |
| March 55 | Earl Wilson tells that with her new hairdo, she was mistaken for Marilyn Monroe by many at El Morocco |
| June 55 | she and Steve Cochran are noted renewing their romance |
| July 55 | Earl Wilson reports that "Jack Carter's steadiest dates are with actress-model Barbara Nichols; they were at the Chateau Madrid..." |
| columnist Erskine Johnson reports: "Barbara Nichols, the blonde dish in Miracle in the Rain, is renewing an old romance with Steve Cochran. Even visited him on location in Sacramento, California..." |
|
| August 55 | Earl Wilson tells: "Shapely Barbara Nichols on TV has been having dates with Hal March, but so far he hasn't asked her the $64,000 Question..." |
| is reported being "very foamy at Cyrano's with Bill Pabst..." |
|
| receives long-distance coast-to-coast calls from John Bromfield, Corrine Calvet's ex-husband |
|
| October 55 | Earl Wilson tells that "little Joel Gray's around with big Barbara Nichols at Gilmore's..." |
| December 55 | is off to Los Angeles to sing and hoof in Joy Ride at the Huntington Hartford Theater |
| January 56 | columnist James Bacon writes that two lovelies help filmtown forget Marilyn Monroe: "Warner's Barbara Nichols and Paramount's Valerie Allen" |
| April 56 | columnist Erskine Johnson thinks that she and the ex of Eleanor Parker, Bert Friedlob, producer of RKO's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, "are an altar treat..." |
| May 56 | Erskine Johnson adds: "Trudy Wroe, not Barbara Nichols, is the only doll in producer Bert Friedlob's life. The censorship jury is still out on Barbara's strip tease in Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, with the zippy blonde saying: 'I hope I see it before it's all cut out.'...." |
| July 56 | she and Mike Rennie are noted never missing a mambo at the Club Seville |
| August 56 | Earl Wilson reveals that Michael Rennie took her to the Tijuana bullfights. "Everything about the bullfights was fascinating," she reports, "especially Michael..." |
| September 56 | is reported being barred from the Hotel Warwick "which wouldn't let her poodle register. She moved to the Berkshire..." |
| October 56 | is crowned queen for National Bowling Day by Bill Lillard and Anita Cantaliue, the All-Star bowling champions in New York |
| she and William Saroyan are noted at the Harwyn |
|
| Earl Wilson knows: "RKO isn't picking up her hotel tab anymore; so Barbara Nichols moved in with her folks on Long Island..." |
|
| Early November 56 | columnist Harrison Carroll reports that she flunked her driving test. "Couldn't park a car. The blonde Barbara tells me there is no serious romance in her life but she'd like to meet Anthony Franciosa because he reminds her of Burt Lancaster, for whom she has a crush on the screen..." |
| Late November 56 | gets her driver's license |
| December 56 | the press tells that she's looking for a man |
| January 57 | Walter Winchell knows that "Barbara Nichols, like Pocahontas, has discovered John Smith..." |
| she and William Saroyan are a West Coast duo |
|
| June 57 | the press quotes her saying: "Homely men make the best dates. And handsome men make the worst dates." |
| is reported having a suite at the Essex House |
|
| Elvis Presley takes Jana Lund - not her - to see The Ten Commandments |
|
| July 57 | Dorothy Kilgallen reports that there is no love lost between Barbara and Stanley Donen, her director in The Pajama Game |
| 26 July 57 | is injured in a Long Island auto accident and admitted into Meadowbrook Hospital. She was on her way for a weekend at her parent's home in Huntington when the car in which she was riding was struck from behind by another. Her mother has to undergo an operation for removal of her spleen after internal bleeding is detected. The driver of the car in which she rode, Leverett S. Miller, 25, husband of her friend Ava Norring, and both occupants of the second auto are treated for cuts and bruises. Barbara is reported in fair condition. Police say she was on her way to spend the weekend with Miller and his wife when the accident happened. |
| Early August 57 | Dorothy Kilgallen informs that the socially prominent Leverett Saltonstall Millers "invited Barbara to visit at their summer home in Syosset, but while her host was driving her out, faulty brakes caused a crash on the Jericho Turnpike and both were quite seriously injured. Miller is in Glen Cove Hospital. At the moment doctors aren't sure Barbara will recover in time for her scheduled appearance on the Kraft TV show August 7..." |
| due to the auto accident, she has to drop out of "Sextuplets!" a "Kraft Television Theater" play. She's under observation in a New York hospital. |
|
| Late August 57 | is reported talking to lawyers about suing Hecht-Hill-Lancaster because she was injured in an auto accident while she was making personal appearances for them with Sweet Smell of Success |
| will take part in the world premiere of The Pajama Game in New York |
|
| September 57 | must have plastic surgery as a result of her auto crash. "She got a scar that'd keep her from bending over and, 'That'd put me out of work!'..." |
| crowns the new "Miss Loew's Valencia" in Brooklyn |
|
| October 57 | is seen at El Morocco with producer Dick Krakauer |
| November 57 | confirms that she had her spleen removed and her liver sewed up after the auto crash |
| is due in Hollywood to confer with Harry Essex, author of the play The Neighborhood Affair. "If she gets the role she's up for, chums think it will make her a star..." |
|
| February 58 | is among the first-night diners at Panza's Lazy Susan |
| May 58 | gets $1,000 for one day's work doing a scene with Gary Cooper in Ten North Frederick |
| June 58 | a critic of "The Pushbutton Giant," a segment of TV's "Climax" considers her "a spectacularly endowed young lady, but possibly the worst actress ever seen on TV" |
| August 58 | is seen at the Roundtable with Steve Cochran |
| Gene Kelly takes her dancing at Tavern-on-the-Green, and they aren't spotted "because both wore dark glasses" |
|
| columnist Lee Mortimer tells from New York: "Actress Barbara Nichols and society singer Lyda Fairbanks just kept glaring at each other at Luchow's but it was hard to tell which one was glaring the most because they look so much alike..." |
|
| while filming That Certain Woman in New York with Sophia Loren and Tab Hunter, she is noted dinner-dating socialite Lou Stoecklin after dark at the Harwyn Club |
|
| September 58 | was unable to persuade her parents to move from Long Island to Hollywood with her. She says: "I kept telling them it's just Huntington, Long Island..." |
| Mid-September 58 | Walter Winchell reports that she sues "her best friend Ava Norring (Mrs. Leverett Saltonstall Miller of the Social Register) for one million dollar damages. ‘Alleging injuries while riding in their car to be their weekend guest...’” |
| October 58 | attends a Hollywood party given by Milton Berle honoring Carl Sandburg. The event hits the news when Gary Crosby’s alleged insulting of a guest leads to a brief wrestling on the floor of the Rodeo Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel. James Mason has to separate the fighters. |
| October 59 | her Hollywood apartment is robbed at high noon. An hour or so after the burglary, Barbara's cleaning woman comes in and cleans up the whole apartment including all fingerprints. |
| December 59 | is seen at El Morocco with Ray Katz |
| January 60 | Walter Winchell reports her and Dee Drummond doing the "Dahling, it's been years!" bit at the Essex house. "They once starved together as roomies..." |
| September 60 | she and Farley Granger are seen romancing at the Colony House |
| November 60 | she and Ed Hand, the ex of Gussie Moran, are a twosome at Jack's Restaurant |
| 61 | wins the Look magazine award for best supporting actress for her guest part as Brandy La France in "The Untouchables" |
| January 61 | columnist Harrison Carroll notes her and Ed Hand ringsiding at Hollywood's Encore Room |
| February 61 | receives "several thousand dollars" insurance as settlement for her $1,000,000 auto accident suit |
| will film a TV pilot for Jack Webb, "Coffee, Tea or Milk?" |
|
| August 61 | Earl Wilson reports: "Caesar Romero and Barbara Nichols, the world's loudest laughter, dined at Luchow's and then hit the Latin Quarter where Barbara outlaughed even Jack Durant..." |
| September 61 | is reported unhappy with her Let It Ride Broadway assignment opposite George Gobel |
| Early November 61 | Walter Winchell reports that Inner Circle duets include her and Dan Topping, Jr. |
| November 61 | Earl Wilson tells. "Sexpot Barbara Nichols of Let It Ride, who can't seem to get a steady beau, was told by Jack Carter's wife, Paula Stewart, of the same show, 'I'll get you a date' - and did, with her ex-husband, Burt Bacharach, Jr., Marlene Dietrich's musical director. Paula, Jack, Barbara, and Bert got along just dandy at Show Biz Illustrated's party at Sheraton East..." |
| Late November 61 | is reported dating her physician, young Dr. Bill Miller |
| December 61 | is seen twisting with at the Roundtable with Dee Drummond |
| Early January 62 | tells Cesar Romero how to do the Twist at the Crescendo |
| Late January 62 | is back in Hollywood after three months in New York with her ill-fated Let It Ride |
| April 62 | she and Lee Evans enjoy a "candlelight for twosomes" at O. Henry's |
| October 63 | she and Peter Duchin are a duo at the Baccara |
| Earl Wilson reports her flying to Los Angeles between "Tonight" shows to do a "Beverly Hillbillies" segment where she portrays a stripteaser named Chickadee Levine |
|
| November 63 | checks out of her New York hotel "to dwell with mama on Long Island..." |
| July 64 | poses with her pet terrier Baby Girl and looks after "someone to enjoy her cooking" |
| December 64 | Earl Wilson tells: "Barbara Nichols has a handsome 26-year-old Texas boyfriend, Ronnie Graham, from Rice University - but she got his name changed to Larry Graham because there's a well-known Ronnie Graham on B'way." |
| confirms that more than half her fan mail comes from GIs requesting her in pinup poses |
|
| 5 October 76 | as Barbara Nickerauer, she dies at age 47 in Hollywood, California, from liver ailment / cancer |
| 13 October 76 | her entry appears in the Variety Obituaries |
| ? | is interred at Pinelawn Memorial Park & Cemetery, Farmingdale, New York, in the Garden of Sanctuary, row 3, plot 34 |
| Sources: The Daily Independent, Parade, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Charleston Gazette, The Norwich Sun, The Atchison Daily Globe, The Delta Democrat-Times, The Lowell Sun, Humboldt Standard, Syracuse Herald-Journal, Daily-News-Digest, Pottstown Mercury, The Newark Advocate and American Tribune, Panama City News, The Morning Herald, The Lima News, Mansfield News-Journal, Oakland Tribune, The Kerrville Times, Ironwood Daily Globe, Waterloo Daily Courier, San Mateo Times, The Evening Standard, The Vidette-Messenger, Raleigh Register, Pharos-Tribune, The Abilene Reporter-News, Winona Daily News, Screen Stories, The Bridgeport Telegram, The Hammond Times, The Weirton Daily Times, The San Antonio Light, Independent Star-News, The Progress-Index, The Independent Record, Nevada State Journal, Kingsport News, Anderson Daily Bulletin, The Times Recorder, The Coshocton Tribune, Reno Evening Gazette, Pasadena Independent, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, The Sun, www.Ancestry.com, www.Findagrave.com | |
| Recommended Books: Fifties Blondes by Richard Koper That Kind of Woman: The Life and Career of Barbara Nichols by Richard Koper | |
| Links: Filmography | |