Barbara Parkins
- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
Barbara Parkins is best remembered as an icon of the Sixties who had
starring roles in two of the era's more notorious productions,
Peyton Place (1964) and
Valley of the Dolls (1967).
After arriving in Hollywood as a teenager, Parkins soon began appearing
on episodic television programs such as
Wagon Train (1957) and
Perry Mason (1957). She also
appeared with George Burns as a dancer in
his nightclub act. She was soon offered the pivotal role of "Betty
Anderson" in what would become television's first prime-time soap
opera, Peyton Place (1964). The
show was an immediate success and turned Parkins, along with costars
Ryan O'Neal and
Mia Farrow into household names. Parkins was
nominated for an Emmy Award as Best Actress and stayed with the series
for its entire 5 year run. Her popularity was further solidified when,
in 1967, she starred in the motion picture
Valley of the Dolls (1967),
which became a huge box office hit. She became close friends with her
"Dolls" costar, Sharon Tate and
traveled to London to be her bridesmaid when Tate married director
Roman Polanski in 1968. Parkins fell in
love with England, UK. After Tate's murder in 1969, Parkins decided to
leave Hollywood and took up residence in London. There, she appeared on
the BBC and starred in such international productions as
Puppet on a Chain (1971),
Christina (1974) and
Shout at the Devil (1976). Her
career, however, was no longer the prime focus of her life. She married
in the late 1970's and lived in France for awhile. When her marriage
ended, Parkins returned to the United States and gave Hollywood another
try. She appeared in popular TV shows of the day, such as
The Love Boat (1977), Fantasy Island (1977),
and Hotel (1983). She also filmed
Bear Island (1979) with
Donald Sutherland and
Vanessa Redgrave and
Breakfast in Paris (1982).
Parkins joined other original cast members for a Peyton Place reunion
movie,
Peyton Place: The Next Generation (1985),
in 1985. Her career, however, was once again put on hold when her
daughter, Christina Parkins, was born. Parkins has made infrequent appearances
since the late 1980's although she did return to weekly television for
a brief stint in the CBS-TV series
Scene of the Crime (1991)
which was filmed in the city she was born, Vancouver. In 1997, Parkins
was the guest of honor at a 30th anniversary screening of
Valley of the Dolls (1967) in
San Francisco. During a question-and-answer segment with columnist
Ted Casablanca, she announced to
the sold-out audience that she planned to retire. The following year,
however, she appeared in
Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story (1998),
based on the life of Valley of the Dolls' controversial author. Whether
Parkins will resume her career full- time or really retire is unknown
at this time.
