He starred in "The Carpetbaggers", a 150-minute saga of a ruthless, Hughes-like aviation and film mogul based on a best-selling novel by Harold Robbins. The cast included Elizabeth Ashley who had an affair with Peppard during filming and later married him. She described him as "some kind of Nordic god - six feet tall with beautiful blond hair, blue eyes and a body out of every high school cheerleader's teenage lust fantasy." Ashley claimed Peppard "was never late on set and he had nothing but scorn for actors who weren't professional enough to keep that together."