Why Did ‘The Price Is Right’s Dian Parkinson Suddenly Vanish from TV?
What To Know
- Dian Parkinson was a prominent model on The Price Is Right for 18 years before her sudden departure.
- Parkinson filed and later dropped a high-profile lawsuit against host Bob Barker.
It is absolutely fascinating when someone who has been in the public eye for years suddenly disappears. Such is the case with Dian Parkinson, perhaps the most well-known of the so-called “Barker’s Beauties” from the long-running TV game show, The Price Is Right. One day, she was a media fixture, and then just like that, she was gone.
For those unfamiliar with The Price Is Right game show, the program has been on TV for over 50 years now. Over the course of the show’s run, there have been a handful of hosts, but Bob Barker was the face of the show for decades. Along with Barker, the models hired to showcase the prizes that could potentially be won were also a significant draw. While many models appeared over the years, for many viewers, the most memorable trio of “Barker’s Beauties” consisted of Dian Parkinson, Holly Hallstrom, and Janice Pennington.
Parkinson, whose actual name is Dianna Lynn Batts, was raised in a very conservative home (as per TVOverMind). She knew early on that she wanted to be a model, though her deeply religious family had their concerns. Despite the competitive world of entertainment, Batts knew that she had the drive and the ambition necessary to succeed.
The first step in her quest for fame was beauty contests. At age 21, she won the 1965 Miss World USA contest. She went on to represent the United States in the international Miss World contest and was the first runner-up. Following that, she traveled with the Bob Hope USO show, which included performances in Vietnam. By the early ’70s, she began landing modeling gigs on album covers and print advertisements, eventually leading to small television roles.
In 1975, Parkinson made her first appearance on The Price Is Right. At first, she was a substitute for another cast member on leave, but fans of the show loved her, and she soon became a permanent member of the team. She remained at the show for 18 years.
Her final appearance occurred in the summer of 1993. During the episode, Barker stopped the program midway to allow her to say farewell. At the time, she mentioned she was pursuing other interests, though she did not provide specifics.
Everett Collection
The vanishing act was not immediate. A year later, Parkinson filed a lawsuit against Barker, claiming she had been sexually harassed and felt forced into a relationship to keep her job. What ensued was a war of words that the tabloids followed closely. However, a year or so later, Parkinson suddenly dropped the lawsuit.
As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, factors such as stress were causing her health to decline. According to the publication, Parkinson said the case aggravated health problems that include internal bleeding and anemia, and her doctor advised her to drop the lawsuit.
In an Associated Press newspaper article dated April 15, 1995, Parkinson said in a prepared statement released by her lawyer, “Bob Barker has beaten me into submission.” Because of that, she just walked away from it all, turning her back on show business and the trappings of fame and fortune, once and for all.
Unfortunately, Parkinson’s lawsuit was not the last one for the show, as multiple legal complaints have been made by models as well as other women employed by the program over the years.
In a recent People article written by Angela Andaloro, Holly Hallstrom said this about the show’s alleged toxic environment: “It took a toll. There was fighting on the sets, yelling, and it was massive. And it ultimately, I think, destroyed The Price Is Right.”
To her credit, Parkinson seems to have successfully vanished from the public eye, maintaining no social media presence on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or X. The only recent information available online was this article from Realtor regarding the sale of her home in California.
For nearly two decades, she was a fixture of daytime television, but today she seems to have found the secret to a quiet life away from the frenetic world of entertainment. Fans of The Price Is Right, of which there are still many, choose to remember Parkinson as she was during her 18-year tenure: strong and independent.
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