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Why wasn't Barbara Parkins a bigger star?

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It seemed like she had everything. What went wrong?

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by Anonymousreply 71November 14, 2023 8:48 AM

Because she was in the craptacular "Valley of the Dolls".

by Anonymousreply 1November 12, 2023 2:55 PM

She has a strange affected accent. That’s why.

by Anonymousreply 2November 12, 2023 2:56 PM

Mia Farrow was the 60's it girl. Barbara needed someone bigger than Frank, and LBJ wasn't going to leave Lady Bird for her.

by Anonymousreply 3November 12, 2023 2:59 PM

Once you’ve been the Gillian Girl, it’s ok downhill.

by Anonymousreply 4November 12, 2023 2:59 PM

I've always felt the same about Marianne McAndrew, OP. She was luminous.

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by Anonymousreply 5November 12, 2023 3:03 PM

When you are acted off the screen by Sharon Tate, it's time to pack up shop.

by Anonymousreply 6November 12, 2023 3:05 PM

I loved her voice. It was so icy. In the Peyton Place pilot, she tells Ryan O'Neal's character... "Summer's ending, Rod." It was perfection.

by Anonymousreply 7November 12, 2023 3:07 PM

I looked up her credits, and the only thing I've seen her in (aside from Valley of the Dolls) was the miniseries Captains & the Kings and a TV movie called A Taste of Evil (which I barely remember).

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by Anonymousreply 8November 12, 2023 3:14 PM

She can't really act. She's no Dina Merrill!

You can tell she always worries about how she looks (not anything new for an actor, but still).

Watch her screen tests for Neely, she's doesn't have the emotional access to fill out the material and make you believe her. She'll raise her voice and gesture and indicate a range of emotion without a shred of authenticity or real heart.

by Anonymousreply 9November 12, 2023 3:19 PM

Robotic. Dull. R8 However The Mephisto Waltz was a decent horror. In the Satan sub genre. DL fave Edna Unger / Pamelyn Ferdin in a small role.

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by Anonymousreply 10November 12, 2023 3:19 PM

She was great on Peyton Place with James Douglas's Steven. They were two of a kind. You could never buy that Betty would settle for the simple life with Rodney.

by Anonymousreply 12November 12, 2023 3:36 PM

Well

At least she had great success as the Gillian Girl

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by Anonymousreply 13November 12, 2023 3:45 PM

OP, your being obnoxious!

by Anonymousreply 14November 12, 2023 4:04 PM

R5-You're the only one besides my beloved late Mom who thought she was beautiful. When we went to the film of "Dolly", we all thought Barbra looked almost "beautiful" in the period wigs and costumes. My Mom kept saying "never mind Barbra--look at the actress playing Irene Molloy--she's gorgeous". I could never see it

by Anonymousreply 15November 12, 2023 4:16 PM

You can see why Ryan hit it big, I don't get why Mia was the one and not Barbara. Barbara just popped off the screen.

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by Anonymousreply 16November 12, 2023 4:48 PM

[quote]OP, your being obnoxious!

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 17November 12, 2023 5:06 PM

Her lack of talent and her leaden personality [italic]may[/italic] have had something to do with it.

by Anonymousreply 18November 12, 2023 5:09 PM

[quote]Word has it you're terrific in the role and this is really going to skyrocket your career.

By the time filming was over, did anyone really believe this about VOTD?

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by Anonymousreply 19November 12, 2023 5:57 PM

Always wondered why Joan Hackett didn't have a great career either - she was terrific in everything she did, and she had a few big roles, but never really broke through.

Dying didn't help, I guess.

by Anonymousreply 20November 12, 2023 6:21 PM

I had a terrific crush on her when I was very young. Even then I had a "type": brown hair dark eyes. And there were a lot of them back then: Lesley Ann Warren (Cinderella), Marlo Thomas, "Victoria Winters" (involved in the Sunny Von Bulow scandal) AKA Alexandra Isles, Stephanie Powers, Diana Rigg... I could go on and on.

I miss the gorgeous brunettes.

by Anonymousreply 21November 12, 2023 6:28 PM

Marianna McAndrew was so obviously dubbed and not good at the lip-synching. Add to that her nose-jobby nose and slightly crossed eyes...

by Anonymousreply 22November 12, 2023 8:15 PM

Her fake accent is ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 23November 12, 2023 8:22 PM

Her initial scene with Martin Payton (George Macready) was fantastic .

by Anonymousreply 24November 12, 2023 8:26 PM

R13 a midget model with no neck!

by Anonymousreply 25November 12, 2023 8:26 PM

She was limited as an actress. Parkins looked like any number of mid 60s brunettes. Mia's waifishness and look were novel. Not a great actress with huge range, but Woody Allen showed she could do humor. She was a very good fit for Rosemary's baby.

by Anonymousreply 27November 12, 2023 8:34 PM

Her weird voice was off putting.

by Anonymousreply 28November 12, 2023 8:40 PM

I think that Parkins herself got enough of a taste of the fast lane with “Peyton Place” and “Valley of the Dolls” to realize the hard work and media scrutiny were not for her. I 5ink she was strong-willed about what she wanted to do, did not want to play the game and was hampered by her limited talent and icy demeanor, which was out of fashion.

She was very like elegant ‘50s starlet Dana Wynter. She didn’t make it big either but she was smart enough to marry Greg Bautzer, one of Hollywood’s hottest (in all senses of the word) attorneys.

And I think Parkins let herself go as far as weight gain and maintaining her figure — she always looked sort of soft and squishy for all her glamour.

by Anonymousreply 30November 12, 2023 9:13 PM

R15, my mom (and I) loved her too. I think her voice is hypnotic, in the best way.

by Anonymousreply 31November 12, 2023 9:13 PM

[quote]And I think Parkins let herself go as far as weight gain and maintaining her figure — she always looked sort of soft and squishy for all her glamour.

Fuck you, R30.

by Anonymousreply 32November 12, 2023 9:21 PM

Parkins and McAndrew were both too old fashioned for the 60's. McAndrew made Julie Andrews look like a hippie. And Parkins' fake posturing went against the reigning 60's counterculture in a big away. Bad acting aside, there was no way either of these two would become big stars.

by Anonymousreply 33November 12, 2023 9:26 PM

R30- Soft and Squishy!

Ha ha ha 😄

Are you the same queen who once said that Sada Thompson was

Plumpish?

by Anonymousreply 34November 12, 2023 10:04 PM

That's Bridget FONDUE Elfman, please and thank you.

by Anonymousreply 35November 12, 2023 10:42 PM

Those nutty 60's movie mags - Photoplay, Modern Screen etc, loved to detail Barbara's every real/suspected romance. Apparently she went through Ryan O'Neal, David Hedison, Jim McMullan, Eddie Fisher, Adam West, Omar Sharif and Cat Stevens. Ruth Warrick wrote in her autobiography that Parkins had an envious admiration for Mia, copying everything Mia did except the pixie cut. Mia was a genius at playing coy and fey, and kept people guessing. Babs was a little too obvious. Both were close to Sharon Tate, and both after 1969 moved to England for work/to live. I heard while they really rivals on PP, they later became true friends and Mia gave Barbara advice when she wanted to adopt her daughter.

by Anonymousreply 36November 12, 2023 11:10 PM

Barbara should have stuck with TV instead of trying to be a film star. She just wasn’t special enough to make it on the big screen. She’d have been great on one of the 80s-90s prime time soaps

by Anonymousreply 37November 12, 2023 11:48 PM

Because of her DUMB name

If she called herself Barbara PERKINS instead of PARKINS she would have gone much further in her career.

by Anonymousreply 39November 13, 2023 3:08 AM

R29, that’s not a Canadian accent.

by Anonymousreply 40November 13, 2023 3:21 AM

I was surprised to learn that Barbara Parkins and Patty Duke absolutely loathed each other during the shooting of “Valley of the Dolls” and forever after. Well, until Patty died anyway.

by Anonymousreply 41November 13, 2023 3:34 AM

And I have no doubt that it was all Patty's fault.

by Anonymousreply 42November 13, 2023 3:37 AM

Why weren't YOU a bigger store, OP?? Cuntasaurus!

- the ghost of Barb P

by Anonymousreply 43November 13, 2023 3:38 AM

I was just thinking of her. Does anyone know how to access valley of the dolls? I checked YouTube Netflix Amazon paramount etc.

I watched the clip with that great song. So sad. There is Patty Duke . Exploited . Mentally ill. And Sharon Tate — horrors too u thinkable to write.

by Anonymousreply 44November 13, 2023 3:41 AM

Sharon Tate would’ve been in the league of Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway and Barbra Streisand in the 1970s. She was an excellent dramatic actress and a comedienne. She was one of the most beautiful women onscreen.

by Anonymousreply 45November 13, 2023 3:50 AM

Uh, because she has minimal talent perhaps.

by Anonymousreply 47November 13, 2023 4:22 AM

"Mia's waifishness and look were novel. Not a great actress with huge range..."

Yes, she is. Woody knew what he had with her, and that's why he put her in everything for years on end.

by Anonymousreply 48November 13, 2023 4:47 AM

[quote]Sharon Tate would’ve been in the league of Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway and Barbra Streisand in the 1970s.

Cut your meds in half.

by Anonymousreply 49November 13, 2023 5:24 AM

"Valley of the Dolls" is a camp classic for us. But the rest of the world hated it.

But yeah, she was a beautiful woman with an offbeat flair. It's too bad nothing happened with her.

by Anonymousreply 50November 13, 2023 5:27 AM

Sharon Tate acted as if she’d undergone a lobotomy.

by Anonymousreply 51November 13, 2023 6:57 AM

R40 No, that's a Twentieth Century Fox Elocution Department voice.

by Anonymousreply 53November 13, 2023 7:06 AM

Face it, OP Barbara is limited...

by Anonymousreply 54November 13, 2023 8:29 AM

R50 “The rest of the world” might have thought “Valley of the Dolls” was a piece of junk, but they all went. It was one of the biggest grossing movies of the year.

by Anonymousreply 55November 13, 2023 2:12 PM

Yes R55 I think it ranked #2 for 1967. Usually even a turkey that makes money springboards an actress's career. Parkins had a problem - with Mia gone from PP, she was the big attraction so keeping her on the soap, which still made money but the ratings were down, 20th Century Fox wasn't going to let her be a movie and tv star at the same time, so she didn't get to do another film until PP ended. And never again as the lead.

by Anonymousreply 56November 13, 2023 6:30 PM

Woody crafted movies around whatever actress he was dating at the time and unlike, say, Diane Keaton in things like Annie Hall, Mia never gave the greatest performance within any of her films with Woody. She was mostly passable and sometimes good with great direction (Woody, Roman Polanski, etc.)

by Anonymousreply 57November 13, 2023 6:38 PM

Barbara Parkins was adopted. I always wondered if she ever contacted her birth parents, who would surely have been in shocked confusion. (“My little baby ended up in… The Valley of the Dolls??”)

by Anonymousreply 58November 13, 2023 6:40 PM

Mia made many stupid moves after Rosemary. She turned down True Grit, she did Secret Ceremony instead. I wish she had worked with John Waters.

by Anonymousreply 59November 13, 2023 7:55 PM

[quote] "Valley of the Dolls" is a camp classic for us. But the rest of the world hated it.

Not for me. I find it drab and boring. It has very little camp value.

by Anonymousreply 60November 13, 2023 8:29 PM

[quote]R59 Mia made many stupid moves after Rosemary… . I wish she had worked with John Waters.

I don’t think they have much in common. She’s a versatile actress, but much too refined for him.

by Anonymousreply 61November 13, 2023 8:37 PM

Helen Lawson and I'll Plant My Own Tree ALONE cements it as a CAMP CLASSIC!

by Anonymousreply 62November 13, 2023 9:19 PM

[quote] "She has a strange affected accent. That’s why."

R2, you're being obnoxious!

by Anonymousreply 63November 13, 2023 9:42 PM

[quote]You can see why Ryan hit it big, I don't get why Mia was the one and not Barbara. Barbara just popped off the screen.

Because the vogue in the late 60s was for girls who looked thin, androgynous and underaged. Mia.

by Anonymousreply 64November 13, 2023 11:01 PM

Valley of the Dolls is a loooooooooooooong film with significant sequences that drag on and on, particularly those featuring the subject of this thread. Really only the Neely O'Hara scenes and the Helen Lawson scenes (Lee Grant's scenes maybe, too) make it camp. It's a lot to slog through for a few pristine moments of gloriosu camp!

by Anonymousreply 65November 13, 2023 11:32 PM

Lee Grant refers it as a piece of shit, which is a good description.

by Anonymousreply 66November 14, 2023 12:54 AM

She had poor personal hygiene - it's been said she smelled like a Tuna Trawler after a week on the high seas. Even upwind the fumes were so potent that unsuspecting bystanders passed out within seconds! Even now people avoid her like the plague.

by Anonymousreply 67November 14, 2023 1:01 AM

Because her nose had no cartilage.

by Anonymousreply 68November 14, 2023 1:13 AM

R13 Poor Mark Robson thought he was so edgy with this sequence.

by Anonymousreply 69November 14, 2023 5:32 AM

Because Miriam’s lasagna had a more lasting impression than Anne Welles choosing the perfect stick.

by Anonymousreply 70November 14, 2023 8:43 AM

R67 you tried. But I really wish you hadn’t.

by Anonymousreply 71November 14, 2023 8:48 AM

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