Barbara Parkins

The small screen was more hospitable to Parkins who delivered several respected turns in TV-movies and miniseries. She was quite effective as a traumatized victim of rape in "A Taste of Evil" (ABC, 1971). Parkins was Leonie Jerome, aunt of Winston Churchill, in the British series "Jennie" (shown in the USA on PBS in 1975), appeared as Martinique in the acclaimed NBC miniseries "Captains and Kings" (1976), played Anna Held in the NBC biography "Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women" (1978) and portrayed the Duchess of Windsor in the HBO movie "To Catch a King" (1984). She reprised her signature role of Betty in the NBC movie "Peyton Place: The Next Generation" (1985) and returned to series TV as part of the reenactment ensemble of "Scene of the Crime" (ABC, 1991-94). Parkins also guest-starred in episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" and "Picket Fences."