Scarce vintage blue fountain pen signature on a 4x6-inch tan album page, acquired in-person in 1944. In good condition. A specialist in hard-boiled dame roles, fetching Barbara Pepper's one shot at stardom came with her portrayal of the man-eating vamp who led Tom Keene astray in King Vidor's Our Daily Bread (1934). Alas, the film flopped and she spent the next 30 years in supporting roles and bits, usually cast as brassy goodtime gals. Following a period of radical weight gain in the 1950s, she altered her screen image, playing obnoxious middle-aged tourists, snoopy next-door neighbors, belligerent landladies, and the like. She was especially funny as Doris Ziffel on the T.V. sitcom "Green Acres" (1965-1968) before her untimely death of coronary thrombosis at the age of 54.

• Tweet