Barbara Nichols: Barbara Nichols. Actress: Sweet Smell of Success. She was the archetypal brassy, bosomy, Brooklynesque blonde with a highly distinctive scratchy voice. Barbara Nichols started life as Barbara Marie Nickerauer in Queens, New York on December 10, 1928, and grew up on Long Island. Graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School, she changed her reddish-brown hair to platinum blonde and worked as a post-war model and burlesque dancer. As a beauty contestant,...
Known For: Sweet Smell of Success (Rita), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Dolly Moore), Where the Boys Are (Lola Fandango), The George Raft Story (Texas Guinan)