Dian Parkinson

About Dian Parkinson

Dian Parkinson was born on November 30, 1944 in Jacksonville, North Carolina and became a notable American model recognized for her long-running presence on The Price Is Right. During 1965, while residing in Falls Church, Virginia, she earned the Miss District of Columbia USA crown and entered the Miss USA 1965 competition under her birth name, Diana Batts, finishing as fourth runner-up. That same year she captured the Miss World USA pageant and subsequently competed internationally, finishing as first runner-up to Lesley Langley from the United Kingdom. In 1965, Parkinson participated in Bob Hope's USO entertainment tour, traveling to Vietnam in late December for performances. Hope incorrectly identified her as Miss USA during the tour. She was additionally crowned Queen of the 1965 Bob Hope Desert Classic golf event.

From 1975 through 1993, Parkinson worked as a Barker's Beauty on the American television program The Price Is Right, spanning eighteen years that ranked among the longest model tenures on the show. She became particularly recognized for regularly appearing as an elevator operator in the "Price Is Right Department Store" Showcase and for her popularity with male viewers while managing the Bump pricing game. When Parkinson departed in 1993, host Bob Barker announced she was leaving "to pursue other interests." Media outlets speculated her exit resulted from tensions with fellow model Janice Pennington, and while the two had occasionally quarreled with production staff minimizing their pairings by the early nineties, this was not her primary motivation for leaving.

In 1994, Parkinson filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Barker, alleging sexual harassment and claiming a three-year coerced sexual relationship maintained through threats of termination. She withdrew the lawsuit in April 1995, citing financial burden and health impacts. Parkinson appeared as Playboy's cover girl in December 1991 and May 1993, featuring nude pictorials in both issues, and also starred in a 1993 Celebrity Centerfold video.