Barbara Parkins (born May 22, 1942) is a Canadian-American former actress, singer, dancer and photographer.
Early life
Parkins was born in
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
.
[Parkins biography]
filmreference.com, retrieved January 26, 2010 At the age of 16, she and her adoptive mother moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, where she enrolled at
Hollywood High School and studied acting, tap, ballet and fencing at the Falcon School, where her mother played the piano.
Parkins worked as an usher in a cinema to pay for drama lessons.
["Actress Barbara Parkins Once Ushered at Movies" by Bob Thomas, '']Nashua Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', for most of its existence known as the ''Nashua Telegraph'', is a daily newspaper in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was founded as the ''Nashua Daily Telegraph'' in 1869, although a weekly version dates back to 1832. Through the 20 ...
'', December 22, 1965, p. 9
Professional life
Parkins began her career as a backup singer and dancer in the nightclub acts of stars like comedian
George Burns
George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
. She made her film debut in the 1961 low-budget crime caper ''
20,000 Eyes'', and guest-starred in television series such as ''
Leave It to Beaver'', ''
The Untouchables
Untouchables or The Untouchables may refer to:
American history
* Untouchables (law enforcement), a 1930s American law enforcement unit led by Eliot Ness
* ''The Untouchables'' (book), an autobiography by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley
* ''The U ...
'', ''
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
'' and ''
The Wide Country
''Wide Country'' was an American Western television series that aired on NBC from September 20, 1962 to April 25, 1963.
Synopsis
The series stars Earl Holliman and Andrew Prine as brothers, Mitch and Andy Guthrie, respectively, who are traveling ...
''.
![Barbara Parkins Peyton Place](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Barbara_Parkins_Peyton_Place.jpg)
Parkins was involved in two of the most highly publicized projects of the 1960s, the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
primetime serial ''
Peyton Place'', and the
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
of
Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann (August 20, 1918 – September 21, 1974) was an American novelist and actress. Her iconic novel, '' Valley of the Dolls'' (1966), is one of the best-selling books in publishing history. With her two subsequent works, '' The Lov ...
's best-selling novel, ''
Valley of the Dolls''.
In ''Peyton Place'', Parkins received lead billing for her role as small-town bad girl
Betty Anderson
Betty Anderson is a fictional character in the novel '' Peyton Place'', written by Grace Metalious, as well as the subsequent films and TV series based on the novel. In the film, she was played by actress Terry Moore; and in the TV series, she ...
. The character was scripted to die in a car crash six weeks into the season, but audience reaction to Parkins was overwhelmingly favorable and her character was kept in the story line. In a late-1965 interview, the actress said she was lucky to have the role of Anderson, calling her character the "salt and pepper in the stew."
Parkins was the only female star nominated for an award throughout the run of the series (1964–1969). In 1966, she was nominated for an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
as
Lead Actress in a Drama Series, but lost to
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...
for ''
The Big Valley
''The Big Valley'' is an American Western drama television series that originally aired from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969 on ABC. The series is set on the fictional Barkley Ranch in Stockton, California, from 1884 to 1888. The one-hour e ...
''. Parkins said while losing the award was painful, she was glad to have lost it to Stanwyck instead of
Anne Francis, who was also nominated and whose work Parkins thought was "unfeminine."
["No. 1 Girl in 'Peyton Place'" by Hal Humphrey, '']The Oakland Tribune
The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group.
Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the decli ...
'', June 5, 1966, p. 26-EN
Following the close of ''Peyton Place'', producer
Paul Monash
Paul Monash (June 14, 1917 – January 14, 2003) was an American television and film producer and screenwriter.
Life and career
Paul Monash was born in Harlem, New York, in 1917, and grew up in The Bronx. His mother, Rhoda Melrose, acted in si ...
developed a spin-off series, ''The Girl from Peyton Place'', for Parkins. However, when co-star
Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Place ...
, who played her husband, declined to participate, the project was shelved.
In ''
Valley of the Dolls'', Parkins played Anne Welles, a character based on author Susann. The Welles character was described as "the good girl with a million-dollar face and all the bad breaks." Although the film was trashed by the critics, it was a commercial success and became a cult classic.
After visiting
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1968 to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of ''Valley of the Dolls'' co-star
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she played small television roles before appearing in films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover ...
and director
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...
, Parkins moved to England, where she starred in several productions, including ''
Puppet on a Chain
''Puppet on a Chain'' is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. Originally published in 1969 with a cover by Norman Weaver, it is set in the late 1960s narcotics underworld of Amsterdam and other locations in the Netherlands.
Plot intro ...
'', ''
Shout at the Devil
''Shout at the Devil'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on September 26, 1983. It was the band's breakthrough album, establishing Mötley Crüe as one of the top selling heavy metal acts of the 19 ...
'', and ''
The Mephisto Waltz
''The Mephisto Waltz'' is a 1971 American horror film about an occult-murder mystery. It was directed by Paul Wendkos and starred Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Parkins, Bradford Dillman and Curd Jürgens. The name of the film is taken fr ...
''. Parkins said she moved to London because it was relaxed and simple, and she loved its traditions.
["Barbara Parkins talks about the men in her life" by Gene Handsaker, ''Independent'', September 8, 1970, p. 16]
Parkins posed for nude pictorials in the May 1967, February 1970 and May 1976 editions of ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'' magazine.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Parkins appeared on American television in series that included ''
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill'', ''
Captains and the Kings'' and ''The Testimony of Two Men,'' ''
Fantasy Island
''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. Gu ...
'', ''
The Love Boat
''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...
'', ''
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
'', and ''
Vega$
''Vegas'' (stylized as ''Vega$'') is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 20, 1978, to June 3, 1981, with the pilot episode airing April 25, 1978. ''Vegas'' was produced by Aaron Spelling and created by Mic ...
''. She also appeared in television movies, including ''
To Catch a King
''To Catch a King'' is a 1984 American thriller film directed by Clive Donner and written by Roger O. Hirson. Based on the 1979 novel by Jack Higgins (writing as Harry Patterson), the film stars Robert Wagner, Teri Garr, Horst Janson, John Stand ...
'', in which she portrayed the
Duchess of Windsor
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...
, and opposite
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
in ''
Calendar Girl Murders
''Calendar Girl Murders'' is a 1984 television movie directed by William A. Graham and starred Tom Skerritt and Sharon Stone, who played the part of photographer Cassie Bascomb.
Plot
Millionaire publisher Richard Trainor (Robert Culp) is celebra ...
''.
Parkins returned to the role of Betty Anderson in ''
Peyton Place: The Next Generation'' (1985), a one-shot sequel to the series.
In 1991, Parkins starred in Canadian mystery series ''
Scene of the Crime''. She appeared in two
Susann Susann is a given name and surname. Notable persons with that name include:
Persons with the given name
* Susann-Annette Storm (born 1957), German attorney and university chancellor
* Susann B. Winter (fl. 1970s–present), German actress (also cre ...
-inspired projects, the biography ''Scandalous Me'' and a segment of the
Lifetime series ''
Intimate Portrait
''Intimate Portrait'' is a biographical documentary television series on the Lifetime cable network hosted by Meredith Vieira
Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. S ...
''.
In 2006, Parkins participated with
Ted Casablanca on the
audio commentary
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
for the
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
release of ''
Valley of the Dolls''.
While filming ''Valley of the Dolls'', Parkins met photographer
Edward Steichen
Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography.
Steichen was credited with tr ...
, a friend of the movie's cinematographer, and was influenced to begin a lifetime career in photography. She is also an advocate for endangered wildlife.
Personal life
In the late 1960s, Parkins was linked to several men, including
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...
,
Adam West,
David Hedison
Albert David Hedison Jr. (May 20, 1927 – July 18, 2019) was an American film, television, and stage actor. He was billed as Al Hedison in his early film work until 1959 when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espion ...
and
Marcel Marceau
Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", and he performed professionally worldw ...
, but insisted most of the stories were made up by gossip magazines.
Parkins moved to France in the 1970s where she married, and in the late 1980s adopted her only child. Parkins and her husband divorced.
Filmography
''Sources:
[Internet Movie Database listing, Parkins]
imdb.com, retrieved January 26, 2010 ''
Films
TV series
TV guest appearances
Notes
References
* Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle. ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present'' (2007). Random House, Inc., , pp 220, 1077, 1201
* Newcomb, Horace. ''Encyclopedia of Television'' (2004). CRC Press. , pp. 1754–1756
External links
*
*
*
*Barbara Parkins Photography a
CeLaVie*Barbara Parkins Photography Collection a
100Prints.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkins, Barbara
1942 births
Living people
Actresses from Vancouver
American expatriates in France
American expatriates in England
Canadian expatriate actresses in the United States
Canadian expatriates in France
Canadian expatriates in England
Canadian film actresses
Canadian television actresses
People from Greater Los Angeles