Pearl Slaghoople

**Pearl Pebbles Slaghoople** is a fictional character of the original series, *The Flintstones*.

## Background

Pearl Slaghoople is the widowed mother of Wilma, the grandmother of Pebbles and mother-in-law of Fred, whom she hates very much and doesn't have a good relationship with him. She looks just like Wilma but her build is that of a man (mainly Fred's) vice versa. Her husband, Ricky was alive when Wilma was a kid, but passed away by the time she married Fred. She also had an unspecified job when Wilma was a pre-teen. She also has three other children besides Wilma.

### **Personality**

Pearl portrays Fred's stereotypically antagonistic mother-in-law, acting as a nagging, strict, serious, demanding, and short-tempered irritant.

### **Physical Appearance**

Her appearance was similar to Wilma's, although Pearl was noticeably larger-figured, similar in build to the men of Bedrock rather than the more shapely Wilma and Betty. In the original series, she has red hair like her daughter's; in later specials and films, it's transitioned to gray.

## Live-action Films

Pearl Slaghoople appears in both live-action adaptations of the series:

* In *The Flintstones*, she is portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor as a minor supporting character. As in the series, she still disapproves of Fred, chastising him for giving their life savings to Barney so that he can adopt a child and even suggesting more than once that Wilma divorce Fred. When Fred briefly becomes a rich executive for Slate and Company, Pearl changes her attitude towards him, bewildering him to the point that he even asks her, "Have we met?"

* In *The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas*, the prequel to the aforementioned film, she is played by Joan Collins and is one of the film's primary antagonists. In the prequel, Pearl repeatedly attempts to push Wilma into a relationship with the villainous Chip Rockefeller, and does her best to sabotage Wilma's budding romance with Fred due to her believing that Wilma should not engage with "commoners" like Fred, Barney and Betty. Despite realizing later on that Chip was merely scheming to get his hands on the Slaghoople fortune in order to pay off a debt to gangsters, Pearl still disapproves of Wilma's relationship with Fred, and even faints when Wilma says "I do" at their wedding. Nevertheless, she is seen later on dancing in the wedding party as Fred and Wilma leave for their honeymoon.

## Appearances

### **Television shows**

* *The Flintstones*
	+ 226. "*Trouble-in-Law*" (first appearance)
	+ 308. "*The Little Stranger*"
	+ 320. "*Mother-in-Law's Visit*"
	+ 321. "*Foxy Grandma*"
	+ 417. "*Fred El Terrifico*"
	+ 425. "*Bachelor Daze*"
	+ 602. "*The House That Fred Built*"
	+ 617. "*The Long, Long, Long Weekend*"
* *The Flintstone Kids*
	+ 105. "*The Bad News Brontos*"
	+ 205(a). "*Camper Scamper*" (no lines)

### **Films and specials**

* *The Flintstone Kids' "Just Say No" Special*
* *I Yabba-Dabba Do!*
* *Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby*
* *The Flintstones* (1994)
* *The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas* (last appearance)

## Portrayals

* **Verna Felton**
	+ ***The Flintstones***
		- "*Trouble-in-Law*"
		- "*The Little Stranger*"
		- "*Mother-in-Law's Visit*"
		- "*Foxy Grandma*"
* **Janet Waldo**
	+ ***The Flintstones***
		- "*Fred El Terrifico*"
		- "*Bachelor Daze*"
		- "*The House That Fred Built*"
		- "*The Long, Long, Long Weekend*"
	+ *I Yabba-Dabba Do!*
	+ *Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby*
* **Jean Vander Pyl**
	+ *The Flintstone Kids*
		- "*The Bad News Brontos*"
	+ *The Flintstone Kids' "Just Say No" Special*

### **Other**

* Elizabeth Taylor - *The Flintstones* (1994)
* Joan Collins - *The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas* (2000)

## Gallery

Pearl in the 1994 live action film, *The Flintstones*, played by Elizabeth Taylor.Pearl Slaghoople character.jpg
## Notes/Trivia

* With Pearl going from red hair to gray by the time Pebbles (and Bamm-Bamm) is an adult, it makes her the only adult character to have shown signs of ageing, opposed to Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty, who have showed no signs of ageing throughout the years of their children growing up.
* It's unknown if Slaghoople is Pearl's name from a second marriage (since Wilma's father, Ricky was said to have passed away) or if Pebbles is her middle name, first marriage name or maiden name. More than likely it's placed where it is to avoid confusion with Pebbles Flintstone.
* She was first mentioned in "*The Tycoon*" but her first appearance did not appear until "*Trouble-in-Law*".