Parker's first television appearance was in the PBS adaptation of another one of Wasserstein's works,
Uncommon Women and Others. Her first major television role was as
Ethel Kennedy in the miniseries
Kennedy in 1983. Among her other television credits are appearances on
Law & Order and
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as
The Education of Max Bickford and
Ed.
Guiding Light Parker is perhaps best known for her role as Maureen Reardon Bauer on
Guiding Light, which she played from 1986 to 1993. She replaced
Ellen Dolan in the role of Maureen in 1986, and played the role for seven years. During that time, the show's tentpole character, Bert Bauer, died when actress
Charita Bauer, who played Bert, died. Maureen then became the show's matriarchal figure. In 1993, then-executive producer
Jill Farren Phelps made a surprising decision to kill the character of Maureen, based on lackluster responses to the character during a focus group session. Parker's performance during her character's death (Maureen died in a car accident after discovered her husband Ed had been unfaithful) earned her a
Daytime Emmy Award in 1993. She subsequently returned to the show in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2005 for flashback scenes and moments where Maureen appeared as a spirit. The character's death, and Parker's departure from the show, proved controversial and unpopular. ==Personal life==