Leslie Parrish, who starred as the hopelessly in love Daisy Mae in the Paramount Pictures musical Li’l Abner and sported a Queen of Diamonds costume for The Manchurian Candidate, has died. She was 90.
Parrish lived in Washington state and died late last year, Erica Berdan, a daughter of the actress’ second husband, Jonathan Livingston Seagull author Richard Bach, told The Hollywood Reporter. THR only recently learned of her death.
Parrish also starred opposite Vic Morrow (as Dutch Schultz) in Portrait of a Mobster (1961); was one of Thelma Ritter’s daughters (Mitzi Gaynor and Julie Newmar were the others) in For Love or Money (1963), starring Kirk Douglas; and played a Janet Leigh patient who dated Jerry Lewis in Three on a Couch (1966).
In two memorable guest-starring turns on television in 1967, she portrayed USS Enterprise archaeology and anthropology officer Carolyn Palamas on the Star Trek episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” and was Glacia Glaze, a lovely ice skater and henchwoman in cahoots with Mr. Freeze (Eli Wallach), on Batman.
After Edie Adams starred as Daisy Mae in a Tony-winning turn in the hit Broadway musical comedy based on the Al Capp comic strip, Parrish donned the polka-dot blouse and headed to Dogpatch, USA to star in the 1959 movie version of Li’l Abner opposite Peter Palmer. (Bosley Crowther in his New York Times review said Parrish “fills [the part] out generously.”)
