If you grew up watching daytime TV in the 80s, you knew her name. Or at least, you knew her face. Dian Parkinson was the quintessential "Barker’s Beauty," the woman who spent eighteen years gracefully gesturing toward dishwashers and brand-new sedans on The Price Is Right. She was a staple of American living rooms. Then, she was gone.
Honestly, the way she vanished is still a bit of a shocker for fans. Most celebrities from that era transitioned into reality TV or at least maintained a social media presence to hawk skincare. Not Dian. She chose a different path—silence.
Today, Dian Parkinson is 81 years old (turning 82 in November 2026). While some tabloid-style headlines might still search for "Dian Parkinson today at 70," the reality is that she has long since moved past that milestone and into a quiet, secluded retirement. She isn't doing the nostalgia circuit. You won't find her on Instagram.
The Disappearance from the Spotlight
Why did she leave? It wasn't just a simple retirement. When she departed the show in 1993, the official line was that she wanted to pursue other interests like acting and "other career ventures." But things got messy fast.
In 1994, she filed an $8 million lawsuit against Bob Barker. The allegations were heavy. She claimed she was forced into a sexual relationship to keep her job. Barker, for his part, admitted to a relationship but insisted it was consensual. It was a "he said, she said" that captivated the tabloids for months.
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Eventually, Dian dropped the suit. She cited health problems and the sheer financial drain of the legal battle. Since that moment, she basically checked out of Hollywood.
Where is she now?
She stayed in the Los Angeles area for decades, specifically in Westlake Village. But even there, she was a ghost. Neighbors rarely saw her. She lived in an elite gated community—the kind of place where you pay for the privilege of not being seen.
In late 2019, she made a brief blip on the radar when she listed her Mediterranean-style estate for $3.125 million. The house was stunning: coffered ceilings, a double staircase, and massive grounds. When a celebrity sells their primary "sanctuary," it usually means one of two things: they are downsizing for age or moving away from the hustle entirely. Given her age today, it’s likely she’s settled into a much more manageable, low-profile residence, possibly closer to family or in a dedicated retirement community that offers the privacy she clearly craves.
Life After The Price Is Right
It’s easy to forget just how famous she was. Before the show, she was Miss World USA 1965. She was a runner-up for Miss World. She even posed for Playboy twice, once in 1991 and again in 1993, which were some of the magazine's best-selling issues of the decade.
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But the "game show model" era was a different time. Models like Dian and Holly Hallstrom were hired on week-to-week bases. There were no long-term contracts. There was very little protection. When you look at Dian Parkinson today, you’re looking at a woman who survived a very specific, often grueling, era of entertainment.
- The Beauty Pageant Era: Winning Miss World USA in 1965 set the stage.
- The Golden Years: Joining The Price Is Right in 1975 and becoming a household name.
- The Legal Battle: The 1994 lawsuit that changed her public perception forever.
- The Quiet Years: Three decades of near-total anonymity.
What people get wrong about Dian’s legacy
Most people remember the lawsuit and the scandal. They forget that she was one of the longest-running models in the show's history—second only to Janice Pennington at the time she left. She was part of the fabric of American culture.
Some fans online speculate about her health, especially since she cited "medical distress" as a reason for dropping her lawsuit in the 90s. While there have been no public health updates in 2026, it's worth noting that she has outlived many of her contemporaries, including Bob Barker himself, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 99.
Why her story still matters
Dian’s story is a precursor to the #MeToo movement. Back in the 90s, the public was much more skeptical of women who came forward with allegations against powerful men. She didn't have a support network of hundreds of other women; she was largely on her own in the court of public opinion.
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If you're looking for Dian Parkinson today, you won't find her at a fan convention or on a "Where Are They Now" special. She has achieved the one thing that is almost impossible in the modern age: she became truly private.
What we can learn from Dian’s journey:
- Privacy is a choice: You can actually "vanish" if you want to.
- The price of fame: Often, the highest cost isn't the work itself, but the public fallout of personal disputes.
- Resilience: Moving on from a public scandal to live a quiet, decades-long life out of the press is its own kind of victory.
If you’re a fan looking to revisit her work, your best bet is hunting down classic clips on YouTube or Pluto TV’s 24/7 Price Is Right Barker-era channel. That’s where she’ll always be—25 years old, smiling, and showing you exactly why you should want that new set of luggage.
To dig deeper into the history of the show, you might want to look into the memoirs of other "Barker's Beauties" or documentaries covering the era of classic game shows. Most of these resources provide a clearer picture of the workplace culture Dian navigated for nearly twenty years.