Two decades before Joan Collins bared her fangs as Alexis Colby in “Dynasty,” Barbara's Betty was the original naughty bad girl on network TV's first prime-time soap.
As the seemingly innocent yet conniving strumpet, Betty controlled unsuspecting males with her sex appeal. Betty was described in the “Peyton Place” book as “having not only the morals but the claws of an alley cat,” and a newspaper article of the time called Betty a “two-timing loose woman having love affairs and spinning treacherous webs.”
Betty had been scheduled to die in an automobile crash six weeks into the show's first season, but her character's sexuality hooked viewers and she was kept in the storyline. And Barbara became the only female to remain with the series through its entire run (1964-69).
“I haven't had much to do lately,” Barbara told an interviewer in 1965, “But when I do have scenes, they are important to the plot, you might say I'm the salt and pepper in the stew.”
In 1966 Barbara was nominated for an Emmy for Best Actress in a Lead Role in a Dramatic Series. She lost – on her 22nd birthday – to Barbara Stanwyck of “The Big Valley.”
Looking back on her years in “Peyton Place,” Barbara admitted that she didn't appreciate her time working on the series.
“I was petulant, broody – and terribly insecure about trying to deal with the success and the power and the money we had then,” she said.
“Peyton Place” produer Everett Chambers would concur.
“I did have some run-ins with Barbara... her agent, they were very pissy,” he said in a 2005 interview with the Classic TV History website. Chambers said when Barbara was nominated for the Emmy, he picked her best episode (in his opinion) and sent it to the Emmy committee. Later, he said, Barbara and her agent requested to pick out material for the committee, but by then it was too late.
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Classic TV Beauties 1960s Countdown
BARBARA PARKINS as Betty Anderson in "Peyton Place"
“Well, she had a fit. She didn't speak to me for at least two years, I directed some [episodes] so she had to talk to me at that time.”
Fatigue played a role in her moodiness on the "Peyton" set, Barbara said in an interview with www.HollywoodChicago.com
“When you do a series, you're up at five in the morning, you finish at eight at night,” she said. “You take off your make-up, you get some sort of meal, learn your lines and get ready to repeat it the next day. When she did three days a week we were on overload and didn't get paid for it.”
During her time on “Peyton Place,” Barbara took time to star in the cult classic “Valley of the Dolls.” Barbara played Anne Welles, described as “the good girl with the million dollar face and all the bad breaks.” Her character was based on the life of “Valley” author Jacqueline Susann.
The story of three young women who meet in New York and become addicted to pills, “Valley” was a commercial hit, though it was panned by critics.
“I wasn't even aware that the critics were mean towards the film,” she said. “I was just enjoying the ride because it was my first big movie and I loved it. In retrospect, it is a big corny, the costumes and dialogue were over the top, but there was some drama with the pills and the fame, so it's longevity is extraordinary.”
She cultivated a sex symbol image with nude appearances in Playboy magazine on three occasions (1967, 70, 76), and Empire magazine named her No. 81 on its list of 100 Sexiest Stars in Film in 1995.
Born and adopted in Vancouver, British Columbia, Barbara and her mother moved to Los Angeles when she was 16. She attended Hollywood High School, studied acting and then became a backup singer and dancer for nightclub acts.
After “Peyton Place” concluded, a spinoff, “The Girl From Peyton Place,” was developed, but the project was dropped when Ryan O'Neal, Barbara's TV husband, declined to participate.
Sixteen years later Barbara reprised her role as Betty Anderson in the TV movie “Peyton Place: The Next Generation.” The plot was set twenty years after the series concluded.
“I feel more open, I'm a better actress,” she said when the TV movie aired in 1985. “I'm easier and more secure in my work, I feel that I look good – better than I did then.”
Barbara made numerous TV movie and series appearances, last working in 1998. She also got involved with wildlife and ecology organizations.
“I was looking for balance in my life,” she said. “I had other interests I wanted to pursue.”
