Leslie Parrish, the actress best remembered for playing Daisy Mae in the 1959 musical Li’l Abner and Jocelyn Jordan in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), has died at 90. She died in Washington state in late 2025, with her death only publicly reported in August 2026.
Born Marjorie Hellen on March 18, 1935, in Melrose, Massachusetts, Parrish began her career as a model before moving into Hollywood. She was signed by 20th Century Fox in the mid-1950s and appeared in films including Daddy Long Legs, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, The Opposite Sex, and Man on Fire.
Her breakthrough came with Li’l Abner, in which she played the lovable Daisy Mae opposite Peter Palmer. The colorful musical brought Al Capp’s famous comic-strip characters to the big screen and remains one of Parrish’s best-known performances.
In 1962, she appeared in John Frankenheimer’s acclaimed political thriller The Manchurian Candidate as Jocelyn Jordan, the daughter of a senator and the romantic interest of Laurence Harvey’s Raymond Shaw. Parrish later considered the role her favorite.
She also became a familiar face on classic television, appearing on shows including Perry Mason, The Wild Wild West, The Big Valley, Mannix, Batman, and Star Trek. In the original Star Trek episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” she played Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas aboard the USS Enterprise.
But Parrish’s life extended far beyond Hollywood. During the 1960s, she became an outspoken antiwar activist, participating in peace demonstrations and helping organize events supporting the peace movement.
She later became deeply involved in environmental conservation. During her marriage to author Richard Bach, she helped with the production of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and worked to protect forest and wildlife habitat in Washington state. Her conservation efforts helped preserve more than 160 acres of land for future generations.
For classic-film and television fans, Leslie Parrish will always be remembered for the glamour and talent she brought to the screen during Hollywood’s golden years.
From Daisy Mae in Li’l Abner to Jocelyn Jordan in The Manchurian Candidate and Carolyn Palamas in Star Trek, she created memorable characters across film and television.
Yet her legacy goes beyond her acting career. Parrish used her later years to champion peace, political causes, and conservation, leaving behind a life that was as meaningful away from the cameras as it was in front of them.
Rest in peace, Leslie Parrish (1935–2025).
Her films remain, her performances continue to be discovered by new generations, and the natural spaces she helped protect stand as another lasting part of her remarkable legacy.