Deb Parker

Who

Parker is the entrepreneur behind kitschy, punk-rock theme bars like NoTell Motel, Babyland, Beauty Bar, Barmacy, and Tainted Lady Lounge.

Backstory

Scarsdale native Parker worked as a dominatrix, party promoter and bartender at Danceteria before going out on her own in the early 1990s with NoTell Motel and Alphabet City's Babyland, where patrons drank out of baby bottles surrounded by kiddy furniture. It was the opening of the retro-cute Beauty Bar with partner Paul Devitt in 1995, though, that put her on the map. The bar allowed customers to sip cocktails while getting a manicure or a shampoo, a conceit that proved so popular it led to outposts in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego and Las Vegas. Clearly keenly aware of the value of a good gimmick, Parker followed up with the medically-themed Barmacy in 1997. She's since opened Otto's Shrunken Head and the Tainted Lady Lounge in Williamsburg, which she decorated with hundreds of portraits of nudes.

Personal

Flame-haired, tattoo-covered (she has more than 15), once-obese (she clocked in at 300 pounds in her youth) and formerly a huge user—the death of a boyfriend got her to quit drugs for good in the early 90s—Parker used to date Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno. She now lives with her toddler son Earl in Carroll Gardens.

No joke

Her father Larry created the advertising campaign for Brylcreem – "A little dab will do ya." Mr. Parker cast a young Deb in ads for toothpaste, antiseptic spray and vitamins.