Actress. Her film career spanned from 1953 until 1976 and during that time, she was known for her portrayal of brassy or comic roles. Born Barbara Marie Nickerauer, she began her career as a showgirl. She also posed for cheesecake magazines as a "pin-up girl" in the late 1940s and at one time she was considered a minor rival to famed actress Marilyn Monroe. On Broadway, she appeared in the 1952 revival of "Pal Joey" and "Let it Ride" (1961). She the moved to Hollywood where she appeared in such films "Miracle in the Rain" (1956), "The King and Four Queens" (1956), The Naked and the Dead" (1958), "The Pajama Game" (1957), "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957), "That Kind of Woman" (1958), "Where the Boys Are" (1960), "The Human Duplicatios" (1965), and "The Swinger" (1966). During her career, she made guest appearance on numerous television shows, including "It's a Great Life", "The Jack Benny Television Show", "The Twilight Zone", "The Untouchables", "Batman", "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.", "Hawaii Five-O", "Green Acres", and "The Beverly Hillbillies." Her final film appearance was "Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood" (1976)., Nichols died on October 5, 1976, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from liver failure due to complications of a damaged spleen and liver reportedly sustained in separate automobile accidents many years earlier., Barbara Nichols passed away on October 5, 1976, at the age of 47. The cause of her death was liver failure due to complications of a damaged spleen and liver reportedly sustained in separate automobile accidents many years earlier..