Barbara Parkins | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

A slim brunette leading lady of film and TV, Barbara Parkins made her feature debut in the crime drama "20,000 Eyes" (1961) but really came to public attention as the oft-married Betty Anderson on the popular primetime soap opera "Peyton Place" (ABC, 1964-69). In her second feature, the high profile but trashy "Valley of the Dolls" (1967), she was cast as an aspiring actress with roots in New England, a role that was not much of a stretch from her TV persona. In its day, the film was widely dismissed by critics, but by the 1990s it enjoyed popularity as a camp classic. While never a major screen presence, Parkins acquitted herself in a handful of roles in horror films, including "Asylum" (1972) and particularly in the Canadian-made "Christina" (1974), which utilized her voluptuous beauty to good effect. She made her last feature appearance to date as a fashion designer in the misguided Australian romantic comedy "Breakfast in Paris" (1981).