Valley of the Dolls Stars Still Living

“Valley of the Dolls” is a 1966 potboiler that was written by Jacqueline Susann and promptly made into a film the following year. Although the film was panned by the critics, according to The Numbers, it was 1967’s 7th highest grossing film in the USA. That’s quite remarkable when you consider that the film was not released in the USA until mid-December!

The story focused on the lives of Anne Welles, Jennifer North and Neely O’Hara, three women seeking fame and fortune, the people they get involved with and how they cope with the ups and downs of their lives with, you might say, uppers and downers. The “dolls” in the title are drugs. Of the three actresses who portrayed these characters, only one is still alive.

Barbara Parkins played Anne Welles, a New England girl described as “the good girl with a million-dollar face and all the bad breaks.” Parkins was 25 years old when “Valley of the Dolls’ was released in 1967. It was her second film role, although she had many credits in popular TV shows, and a popular role as Betty Anderson in all 5 seasons of the TV series “Peyton Place”. Ironically, Betty was “a bad girl”. Parkins now concentrates on her photography, C’est Ma Vie, which she displays on her website. She devotes a section of the site to her acting career.

Only two other actors are still alive in the remaining credits:

Tony Scotti played Tony Polar, a handsome singer whose sister, Miriam, wouldn’t let him get close to any females he was attracted to and vice versa. This was because Tony had an inherited condition that Miriam knew would one day incapacitate him. Defying Miriam, Tony married Jennifer North (Sharon Tate) but, when the disease struck, he ended up in a nursing home and Jen had to resort to “art” films to pay the medical bills. This was Tony Scotti’s only film role. Thereafter, he turned his attentions to producing films, TV series and specials. Scotti has been married to Sylvie Vartan, iconic French singer, since 1984.

Sharon Tate was 24 years old when “Valley of the Dolls” debuted. She married director Roman Polanski the following year. These events might have spelled a bright future for Sharon but her life was cut senselessly and tragically short on August 9, 1969 when she was murdered by members of the Charles Manson’s cult. Sharon was eight and a half months pregnant.

Lee Grant played Miriam, Tony Polar’s protective sister. Initially, you get the sense that Miriam has a sinister motive for her over-protectiveness, but it turns out that she was mainly trying to prevent future calamity and was tight with the purse strings to save money for Tony’s medical care. Miss Grant was around 40 years old when Valley of the Dolls came out. It was her second big role after being on the Hollywood blacklist for over a decade. Her first big role was a 2-year stint (1965-66) as Stella Chernak in the TV series Peyton Place, the same series Barbara Parkins was in. Now in her 90s, Lee Grant keeps up with the times on Facebook and Twitter.

Jeopardy! has had Peyton Place clues about both Parkins and Grant. This $400 clue appeared in the category “Television” in 1990: Barbara Parkins on “Peyton Place” & Elinor Donahue on “Father Knows Best” both played people named this. In 2006, this $1600 clue came up in a “Pick the Oscar Winner” category: “Shampoo”: Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn, Lee Grant. It was the only clue in that category that stumped all three contestants.

Then 20-year-old Richard Dreyfuss also appeared in “Valley of the Dolls” in an uncredited role as an assistant stage manager. Jeopardy! covered that one in 1996, “Don’t blink–or you’ll miss Richard Dreyfuss in this 1967 film based on a Jacqueline Susann novel”; and again in 2001, “Richard Dreyfuss can be spotted (if you’re attentive) in the 1967 version of this Jacqueline Susann book”. Dreyfuss also had an uncredited role in “The Graduate” in 1967.

Singer and actress Dionne Warwick is also still with us today. She sang the movie’s theme song, which became a huge hit and sold over a million copies.

Patty Duke played Neely O’Hara, the troubled trouble-making singer. Patty was a mere 21 years old when the film opened but was already an established star and Oscar winner. She won the Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker” at age 16 and held the record for youngest Oscar winner for 11 years. Duke passed away at the age of 69 on March 29, 2016.

Martin Milner (1931-2015) and Alexander Davion (1929-2019) played Neely O’Hara’s 2 husbands.

Paul Burke (1926-2009) and Charles Drake (1917-1994) played Anne Welles’ love interests

Susan Hayward (1917-1975) played Helen Lawson, the aging diva Neely sought to destroy.