Tom Lisanti

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.

An Asian beauty noted for her long jet black hair, this Playboy Centerfold never rose out of minor roles and was almost always bikini-clad in her movies to the delight of her many male admirers. China Lee became Playboy’s first Asian American Playmate of the Month when she disrobed as Miss August 1964. She was one of 1964’s most popular centerfolds and came close to being named Playmate of the Year but lost out to Jo Collins.  With an alluring smile and a figure measuring 35-22-35, it is no wonder movies beckoned for this captivating beauty though throughout her career she was considered a sort of poor man’s Irene Tsu.

Lee made her film debut playing a hooker in the obscure comedy The Troublemaker (1964).  She then joined a gaggle of starlets as anonymous gold lame bikini-clad robots in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) a takeoff on James Bond’s Goldfinger.  The following year Lee kept busy in a string of minor roles beginning with Harper starring Paul Newman; The Swinger starring Ann-Margret; and Paradise, Hawaiian Style starring Elvis Presley.

But the film that brought China the most notoriety was Woody Allen’s spy spoof, What’s Up, Tiger Lily? (1966).  Allen took a serious Japanese spy adventure, threw out the original dialog and plot, and re-dubbed it turning the movie into a comedy about an agent trying to foil an evil organization from getting their hands on the world’s best egg salad recipe.  China Lee doesn’t appear until the very end in a new scene added with Allen.  As he lounges on a sofa munching on an apple, the curvy lass dressed in a tight black dress begins stripping for him as the end credits start to roll.  Just as she is about to remove her black panties, Allen stops her and says directly to the audience, “I promised I’d put her in the film…somewhere” as the screen freezes and then fades to black.  Lee’s curvaceous bikini-clad figure was prominently displayed on the movie’s poster art.  Though the movie brought Lee to the masses as the still of her in her swimsuit was used to promote the movie worldwide it didn’t bring her any significant film roles.

China was back playing bits in the Sonny and Cher musical Good Times (1967) and in the satire on Southern California lifestyles Don’t Make Waves (1967) starring Tony Curtis and Sharon Tate.  Lee’s last film role was a minor bit as a rowdy roller derby patron sitting next to Robert Forster and Marianna Hill in Haskell Wexler’s groundbreaking film Medium Cool (1969). She retired from show business shortly after.

You can read more about China Lee and past birthday girl Bettina Brenna in my book Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood.

Blond and sexy, with the bluest of eyes, the late Venita Wolf was one of the prettiest actresses to grace the drive-in screens of America.  The fact that Wolf, who resembled a cross between Carol Lynley and Diane McBain, appeared on screen in only one beach film, Catalina Caper (1967) was a real loss for girl watchers. During the mid-sixties, Venita Wolf, like Andrea Dromm, first achieved fame in a series of TV commercials.  She was the sparkling hair model for Lady Clairol.  Casting directors quickly took notice and the acting offers came rolling in. Film producers Bond Blackman and Jack Bartlett were savvy enough to sign the fetching blonde to co-star in the feature Catalina Caper.

The movie featured Venita as Tina a denizen of Catalina Island who finds herself attracted her brother’s college classmate Don (Tommy Kirk).  The duo along with the rest of the beach crowd go scuba diving, dance on the shoe an don yachts, and get entwined with art smugglers. The rest of Wolf’s short acting career comprised roles on commercials and TV shows. She made her TV debut replacing Sharon Tate as Miss Murray, Mr. Drysdale’s enticing receptionist, in a few episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies.  She made enough of an impression to be presented by Bob Hope as one of the “Stars of Tomorrow” along with Susan Saint James, Chris Noel, and Eileen O’Neill, among others on his comedy special in 1966. Star Trek fans will remember Wolf as Yeoman Teresa Ross in the episode, “The Squire of Gothos.”  She along with Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the others are held prisoners on a planetoid by a childish super being named Trelane played by William Campbell, who is fascinated with the violent history of human beings.  Shortly after Venita then faded from the Hollywood scene by 1970.

https://youtu.be/dkPx6lNBhtI

Former showgirl Bettina Brenna was a statuesque Glamazon who didn’t amass many film or TV credits but she could not but help stand out due to her physical attributes. She is most remembered for Funny Girl (1968) as one of the glamorous Springtime Brides she of the nasally voice.

https://youtu.be/PixjQd05nAs

Read more about Venita in my book Drive-in Dream Girls and more on Bettina in my book Glamour Girls in Sixties Hollywood.

Carole Wells is a gorgeous gal with big green eyes and long silky flaxen hair. She once rightly told a magazine reporter, “When you’re a blonde, people always notice you.” Talented and charming with just the right movie star look, she should have become a superstar but contractual TV obligations, her interest in singing, and her commitment to her family seemed to get in the way of big screen stardom. Instead, Wells co-starred on television in the family drama series National Velvet with Lori Martin and the wild and woolly sitcom Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats with Ann Sheridan. The film comedy Come Blow Your Horn (1963) should have gotten her much notice as the girlfriend of swinging bachelor Frank Sinatra’s younger brother Tony Bill, but most of her scenes were excised due to the running time. Drive-in fans remember Wells for playing the blonde tease who vamps college student Doug McClure in the hot rod film, The Lively Set (1964) co-starring Pamela Tiffin and James Darren. She was off the big screen for close to ten years when she surprised her old fans by accepting a part in the cult horror film The House of Seven Corpes (1974). But in her next feature Wells faced an even more terrifying ogre Barbra Streisand when she accepted a supporting role in Funny Lady (1975).

You can read my interview with Carole Wells in my book Drive-in Dream Girls in which Carole graciously wrote the foreword.