Barbara Parkins
Kevin Norte and Parkins at a benefit reading ofValley of the Dolls inHollywood in 2006
Born	(1942-05-22)May 22, 1942 (age 82) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupations	Actress singer dancer photographer artist
Years active	1961–1998
Spouse	1 (divorced)
Children	1
Website	barbaraparkins.com

Barbara Parkins (born May 22, 1942)^[1][2][3] is a Canadian-American former actress, singer, dancer and photographer.

Parkins was born inVancouver, British Columbia.^[1][3] At the age of 16, she and her adoptive mother moved toLos Angeles, where she enrolled atHollywood High School and studied acting, tap, ballet and fencing at the Falcon School, where her mother played the piano.^[4]

Parkins worked as an usher in a cinema to pay for drama lessons.^[5]

Parkins began her career as a backup singer and dancer in the nightclub acts of stars like comedianGeorge Burns.^[6] She made her film debut in the 1961 low-budget crime caper20,000 Eyes, and guest-starred in television series such asLeave It to Beaver,The Untouchables,Perry Mason andThe Wide Country.

Parkins was involved in two of the most highly publicized projects of the 1960s, theABC primetime serialPeyton Place, and thefilm adaptation ofJacqueline Susann's best-selling novel,Valley of the Dolls.

InPeyton Place, Parkins received lead billing for her role as small-town bad girlBetty Anderson. 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".^[5]

Parkins was the only leading cast member nominated for an award throughout the run of the series (Lee Grant and Ruth Warrick were nominated in 1966 and 1967, respectively, for supporting actress Emmy Awards, with Grant winning the award). In 1966, she was nominated for anEmmy Award asLead Actress in a Drama Series, but lost toBarbara Stanwyck forThe Big Valley. Parkins said while losing the award was painful, she was glad to have lost it to Stanwyck instead ofAnne Francis, who was also nominated and whose work Parkins thought was "unfeminine".^[7]

Following the close ofPeyton Place, producerPaul Monash developed a spin-off series,The Girl from Peyton Place, for Parkins. However, when co-starRyan O'Neal, who played her husband, declined to participate, the project was shelved.^{[citation needed]}

InValley 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".^[who?] Although the film was trashed by the critics, it was a commercial success and became a cult classic.

After visitingLondon in 1968 to be a bridesmaid in the wedding ofValley of the Dolls co-starSharon Tate and directorRoman Polanski,^[8] Parkins moved to England, where she starred in several productions, includingPuppet on a Chain (1970),The Mephisto Waltz (1971), andShout at the Devil (1976), Parkins said she moved to London because it was relaxed and simple, and she loved its traditions.^[9]

Parkins posed for nude pictorials in the May 1967, February 1970 and May 1976 editions ofPlayboy magazine.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Parkins appeared on American television in series that includedJennie: Lady Randolph Churchill,Captains and the Kings andThe Testimony of Two Men,Fantasy Island,The Love Boat,Hotel, andVega$. She also appeared in television films, includingTo Catch a King, in which she portrayed theDuchess of Windsor, and oppositeSharon Stone inCalendar Girl Murders.

Parkins returned to the role of Betty Anderson inPeyton Place: The Next Generation (1985), a one-shot sequel to the series.

In 1991, Parkins starred in Canadian mystery seriesScene of the Crime. She appeared in twoSusann-inspired projects, the biographyScandalous Me and a segment of theLifetime seriesIntimate Portrait.

In 2006, Parkins participated withTed Casablanca on theaudio commentary for theDVD release ofValley of the Dolls.

While filmingValley of the Dolls, Parkins met photographerEdward Steichen, a friend of the film's cinematographer, and was influenced to begin a lifetime career in photography.^[10] She is also an advocate for endangered wildlife.^[11][12]

Sources:^[13][14]

• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle.The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (2007). Random House, Inc.,ISBN 0-345-49773-2, pp 220, 1077, 1201
• Newcomb, Horace.Encyclopedia of Television (2004). CRC Press.ISBN 1-57958-411-X, pp. 1754–1756

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBarbara Parkins.

• Barbara Parkins atIMDb
• Barbara Parkins at theTCM Movie Database
• Barbara Parkins Photography atCeLaVie
• Barbara Parkins Photography Collection at100Prints.co.uk

• Living people
• Actresses from Vancouver
• American expatriates in France
• American expatriate actresses
• 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
• Actresses from Greater Los Angeles

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• Commons category link is on Wikidata
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• TCMDb name template using non-numeric ID
• Year of birth missing (living people)