MICHAEL PARKS

(24 April 1940 - 9 May 2017)

The American actor and sometime singer Michael Parks made his professional debut on the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV series in 1958, which was followed by more TV work, most notably playing Tom in The Real McCoys in 1961. His 1965 film debut was in Bus Riley’s Back in Town with Ann-Margret. He was then hailed as the new James Dean and the film led to his playing Adam in John Huston’s The Bible: In the Beginning. After Wild Seed, The Idol, The Happening and Stranger on the Run, interspersed with more television, he was cast in the title role of a journalist looking for the meaning of life in 26 episodes of Then Came Bronson (1969-70). Later TV series included continuing roles in The Colbys and Twin Peaks. For over fifty years Parks appeared in nigh on 150 roles on film and TV but without really becoming a major leading man. Among the films he made were Between Friends, The Last Hard Men, The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (as Robert Kennedy), Breakthrough, North Sea Hijack, The Return of Josey Wales (which Parks also directed), Storyville and Death Wish V, among many other (more forgettable) titles. However, Parks eventually became something of an iconic figure with directors such as Robert Rodriguez in his From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and later Grindhouse (2007), a double-bill of Planet Terror and Death Proof. Similarly, Quentin Tarantino cast him in both Kill Bills (2003/4) and Django Unchained. Kevin Smith, who thought Parks was “the most incredible thespian… the best actor I’ve ever known”, put him in Red State and Tusk. There were also The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Argo. Several films with Parks are still awaiting release or have been announced. Michael Parks had five wives and two children. His son, James Parks, is also an actor and has appeared in many of his father’s films.

MICHAEL DARVELL