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Barbara Nichols (December 10, 1928 – October 5, 1976) was an American actress who often played brassy comic roles in a number of films in the 1950s and 1960s. Nichols was born as Barbara Marie Nickerauer in Queens, New York. She began modeling for pinup magazines in the late 1940's. In the mid-1950s, she moved to Hollywood and began appearing regularly in second leads in a number of films including Miracle in the Rain (1956), The King and Four Queens (1956), The Naked and the Dead (1958), The Pajama Game (1957), Pal Joey (1957), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), That Kind of Woman (1958),... MORE

Barbara Nichols (December 10, 1928 – October 5, 1976) was an American actress who often played brassy comic roles in a number of films in the 1950s and 1960s. Nichols was born as Barbara Marie Nickerauer in Queens, New York. She began modeling for pinup magazines in the late 1940's. In the mid-1950s, she moved to Hollywood and began appearing regularly in second leads in a number of films including Miracle in the Rain (1956), The King and Four Queens (1956), The Naked and the Dead (1958), The Pajama Game (1957), Pal Joey (1957), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), That Kind of Woman (1958), Where the Boys Are (1960). On Broadway, she appeared in the 1952 revival of Pal Joey and in Let It Ride (1961). Nichols was a popular model in cheesecake magazines of the era and was considered a minor rival to Marilyn Monroe, along with Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren, Cleo Moore, Greta Thyssen, Diana Dors and Sheree North. Unlike the rest, Nichols rarely starred in films, but had showy supporting roles in A-films starring such actors as 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. Nichols was also LESS