Clara Peller

Peller was born in Russia in 1902, one of eight or nine children born to Wolf Swerdlove (Swerdlov/Sverdlov; died 1949) and Yudis (aka "Julia") Tilkin (or Tilken; died 1952). The family emigrated to the United States when she was a child, settling in Chicago. In 1925, Clara Swerdlove married a local jeweler, William Peller. The couple had two children (a son, Leslie, and a daughter, Marlene) before divorcing some eight years later. Clara worked as a manicurist for thirty-five years at a local Chicago beauty salon. She moved to a North Shore apartment to be closer to her daughter after she retired. Peller was hired as a temporary manicurist for a television commercial set in a Chicago barbershop. The agency which produced the commercial was so impressed by her uniquely harsh foghorn voice and gruff, no-nonsense manner that they signed her up as an actress. Peller became a surprise celebrity in her early 80s with her delightfully cantankerous appearances in a series of extremely funny TV commercials for the fast food chain Wendy's in which she grumbled the memorable catchphrase "Where's the beef?" Peller capitalized on her newfound fame by making guest appearances as herself on a 1984 episode of "Saturday Night Live" and the pay-per-view cable TV WrestleMania 2 (1986). The diminutive octogenarian briefly popped up in the "Remote Control Man" episode of Amazing Stories (1985) and had small roles in the films Moving Violations (1985) and The Stuff (1985). She echoed her legendary refrain on a .45 single called "Where's the Beef?", written and recorded by Coyote McCloud. In addition, there were such spin-off memorabilia as coffee mugs, beach towels, t-shirts, a board game, and even a Clara Peller doll. However, Peller was fired by Wendy's for appearing in a TV commercial for Prego Pasta Plus spaghetti sauce, in which she held a large jar and joyfully exclaims, "I found it! I really found it!" Peller died at age 85 on August 11, 1987 in her native Chicago from congestive heart failure and coronary atherosclerosis.