Barbara Parkins
| Barbara Parkins | |
|---|---|
Kevin Norte and Barbara Parkins at a benefit reading of Valley of the Dolls in Hollywood on June 13, 2006
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| Born |
May 22, 1942 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Actress, Singer, Dancer, Photographer and Artist |
| Years active | 1961–1998 |
| Style | Female |
| Spouse(s) | Divorced |
| Children | Christina, b. 1986 |
Barbara Parkins (born May 22, 1942) is a Canadian-American television and film actress.
Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the age of sixteen, she and her adopted mother moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled at Hollywood High School and began to study acting, tap, ballet, and fencing at the Falcon School, where her mother played the piano. Her earliest employment was as a backup singer and dancer in the nightclub acts of major stars, including comedian George Burns. She made her film debut in a 1961 low-budget crime caper, 20,000 Eyes, and also guest starred in a number of television series, including Leave It to Beaver, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, and The Wide Country.
Shortly before gaining nationwide fame, Parkins worked as an usher in a cinema to pay for drama lessons.
Parkins was involved in two of the most highly publicized projects of the 1960s—the ABC primetime serial, Peyton Place, and the film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann'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. As initially conceived, the character was scheduled to die in a car crash six weeks into the season, but audience reaction to Parkins was overwhelmingly favorable, and it was decided to keep her in the story line. In a late 1965 interview the actress said about her role:
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