Eleanor Bach

Leslie Parrish, born Marjorie Hellen, began her career as an actress, working under her birth name before adopting Leslie Parrish in 1959. She gained early recognition for her role as Daisy Mae in the 1959 film version of Li'l Abner. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she appeared in numerous films and television shows, including "The Manchurian Candidate" and guest spots on "Star Trek" and "The Wild Wild West."

Beyond her acting career, Parrish was deeply involved in social and environmental causes. She was an active opponent of the Vietnam War and a proponent of civil rights. She also founded an anti-war organization called "STOP" and later became involved in local politics, campaigning for Tom Bradley's successful mayoral bid in Los Angeles. Her environmental activism included establishing the "Spring Hill Wildlife Sanctuary" and co-founding an organization that successfully protested logging practices.

Born Marjorie Hellen, Leslie Parrish spent her childhood in several East Coast states before her family settled in Pennsylvania. From a young age, she displayed significant musical talent, studying piano and composition at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. To fund her education, she worked various jobs, including as a maid, waitress, and piano teacher. At eighteen, she briefly pursued a modeling career in New York City as "Miss Color TV" for NBC. This led to a contract with Twentieth Century Fox and later Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, shifting her focus from music to acting, which also allowed her to provide financial support for her family.

Parrish established herself as a versatile actress in both film and television during the 1960s and 1970s. Notable film roles include "Li'l Abner" (1959), "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962), and "Three on a Couch" (1966). Her extensive television credits include appearances on popular series such as "Star Trek," "The Wild Wild West," and "Mannix." In addition to acting, Parrish served as an associate producer for the 1973 film "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." During its production, she was involved in hiring personnel, caring for the film's live seagulls, and acted as a mediator between the author and director during a dispute, though her producer credit was later reduced.

Parrish channeled her energies into significant social and political activism. She was a prominent voice against the Vietnam War, co-founding the anti-war group "STOP." Her commitment extended to civil rights and environmental protection. In 1969, she played a role in the successful campaign for Tom Bradley's mayoral election in Los Angeles and later served on his commission for selecting city commissioners. Driven by concerns over media coverage of the Century City riots, she co-founded KVST-TV in 1974, a viewer-sponsored station dedicated to in-depth news coverage and public event reporting, though it ceased operations in 1976.

Parrish's dedication to environmental causes was a lifelong pursuit. While living in Oregon, she co-founded an organization called "Threatened and Endangered: Little Applegate Valley" (TELAV) to protest destructive logging practices by the Bureau of Land Management. The group's extensive protest document successfully halted a timber sale and became a model for future environmental protests. Later, in 1999, she created the "Spring Hill Wildlife Sanctuary" on Orcas Island, Washington, preserving a large tract of land from development by integrating minimal home sites within a protected forest.