LESLIE PARRISH

Leslie Parrish was born and originally worked under the name of Marjorie Hellen. She later changed her name in 1959 at the suggestion of Melvin Frank, the director of Li’l Abner. She was a music student until her mother convinced her to consider modeling for a year to make money. From there, she started acting to help support her family. In addition to her film work, you might have seen her on Perry Mason, Star Trek, or Batman. She was never quite a star, but she did a solid job in mostly high-quality shows.

Parrish has been given credit as one of the first women producers. She even worked on the film adaptation of Jonathan Livingston Seagull as an associate producer. However, when the relationship between her then-husband (who wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull) and the film’s director soured, she was credited as a researcher in the final cut of the film. Parrish is involved in various causes and even founded a wildlife sanctuary.