Clara Peller

Clara Peller was born on August 4, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois. Clara lived most of her early life in Chicago. Peller worked as a manicurist for thirty-five years at a local Chicago beauty salon. Peller was hired as a temporary manicurist for a TV commercial set in a Chicago barbershop. The agency which made the TV commercial was so impressed by Clara's 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 1986 pay-per-view cable TV event "WrestleMania 2."