Pert, perky, and pleasant were some of the adjectives used to describe talented Cynthia Pepper. The daughter of a vaudevillian and his dancer wife, this green-eyed blonde was destined for show business. She co-starred on the sitcom My Three Sons for a year before landing her own series Margie in 1961. After the show was cancelled after only one season, Pepper played a coed in Take Her, She’s Mine (1963) starring James Stewart and Sandra Dee. But drive-in fans remember her for her turn as a WAVE who is romanced by a blond Elvis Presley in the hit film Kissin’ Cousins (1964).
In 1963, Pepper along with most of Fox’s contract players were let go due to the ornate movie Cleopatra, which almost bankrupted the studio. “I was kind of depressed after Fox dropped me,” admits Cynthia. “I was literally praying for a job. Things just weren’t happening for me and all actors think that their last job is their last job.” In the sixties, lots of sitcom stars saw themselves typecast and couldn’t get decent roles after their series ended. Though Margie was not a huge hit, Pepper become very popular and may have been typed as a TV performer. But her luck was about to change. “I was out one day and when I returned my housekeeper told me to call my agent. I asked what for and she said, ‘If you can get over to MGM in forty-five minutes you have a part with Elvis Presley playing dual roles of a G.I. and his distant blonde hillbilly relative in Kissin’ Cousins.’ I ran over there—this was on a Friday—and had to report to wardrobe. Sam Katzman [the producer] must have seen a picture of me because he told my agent if I fit into the uniform the role was mine. Thankfully, I did. Monday we were off to Big Bear to shoot for a week.” Reportedly, Shelley Fabares dropped out of the movie at the last second and the producers were scrambling to recast. The role Pepper won without auditioning for was that of Midge an Air Force secretary who accompanies her boss to Smoky Mountain and falls for hillbilly Jody while dark-haired G.I. Josh is romanced by Daisy Mae types Yvonne Craig and Pamela Austin.
It was back to TV for Cynthia after this, but two pilots (including a sitcom version of Three Coins in the Fountain with Yvonne Craig and Joanna Moore) failed to sell. More teenage films should have come Cynthia Pepper’s way, but like most of her contemporaries her family became her number one priority.
You can read more of my interview with Cynthia in my book Drive-in Dream Girls.