Here is the updated information from EPE and Julie Parrish’ family on the passing of Julie on October 1st 2003. If you would like to send a card to the family of the late Julie Parrish, here's the address:
The Wilbar Family
PO Box 1702
La Mirada, CA 90637-1702
The family has not yet confirmed a date for Julie's memorial service. Following is the official obituary released by the Wilbar family:
JULIE PARRISH
Julie Parrish, star of the 1967 CBS sitcom, Good Morning World has died at the age of 62. Ms. Parrish portrayed Linda on the show, which also featured the comedic talents of Billy De Wolfe, Joby Baker, Ronnie Schell and Goldie Hawn. She was a frequent guest star on programs such as Star Trek, Bonanza, My Three Sons, Family Affair and Beverly Hills 90210; with lead roles on television soap operas, including Betty Anderson Harrington on Return to Peyton Place and Maggie Brady on Capitol.
She starred in several films, including Paradise Hawaiian Style with Elvis Presley. In one of the most delightful moments of the film Elvis sings to her in a helicopter while she holds a group of dogs at bay. In Fireball 500 she starred with Frankie Avalon as the sophisticated Martha Brian.
Ms. Parrish's theatre credits include Absence of a Cello with Hans Conreid and Bill Christopher, and Memo with MacDonald Carey and Alan Alda. In Los Angeles, she received an L.A. Drama Critics Award for her portrayal of Maggie in Arthur Miller's After the Fall. She was also an accomplished writer and contributed essays, articles, and book reviews to many publications. Her writing credits include an episode of Laverne and Shirley. She enjoyed singing and often performed at shows and cabarets. She recorded a CD of country music entitled When We Dance
While in her late 40's, she began undergraduate studies. She earned a degree in Chemical Dependencies Counseling and was awarded the Chancellor's distinguished Honor Award at Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar, CA. She served as a member of the Board of Directors of the L.A. Commission on Assaults Against Women, and worked as a counselor at Haven Hills Shelter for Battered Women. She spoke to audiences about domestic violence and visited schools to discuss dating violence.
She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1993, but after surgery and chemotherapy continued to work. In 1996 she began a recurring role on Beverly Hills 9021o. She portrayed Joan Diamond, the wife of series regular character Nat Bussichio, played by Joe E. Tatta. She experienced a relapse of cancer, a second surgery, and another course of chemotherapy in 1999.
She was born Ruby Joyce Wilbar on October 21, 1940 in Middlesboro, KY. At the age of 11, her family moved from Lake City, TN to Tecumseh, MI, where she graduated from high school. She attended modeling school in Toledo, OH, where she became active in theatre. Her film career began when she was chosen by Jerry Lewis as the winner of a national modeling contest, and was awarded a small part in the film It's Only Money, receiving her first film credit as "Joyce Wilbar". She next appeared in The Nutty Professor, billed as Julie Parrish.
Her death, of natural causes, occurred on Wednesday evening, October 1, 2003, at the ER of the Tarzana Community Hospital in Tarzana, CA.
She is survived by two sisters, Barbara Scheffler of Clinton, MI and Liza Phairow of Ashland, OR; and two brothers, Robert Wilbar of Tecumseh, MI and James Wilbar of La Mirada, CA. One sister, Janice Machan preceded her in death. The family asks, in lieu of flowers, that donations be given to the cause of aiding battered women and their children. For more information visit julie's site.