Michael Parks

{{more citations needed section|date=August 2017}}

In 1961, Parks portrayed the nephew of the character George MacMichael on the ABC sitcom The Real McCoys. In a Wagon Train episode airing April 10, 1963, Parks played Hamish Browne, in an episode titled "The Heather and Hamish Story". He appeared as Cal Leonard in the 1963 Perry Mason episode "The Case of Constant Doyle", in which Bette Davis played Constant Doyle.{{cite web |title=PERRY MASON: THE CASE OF CONSTANT DOYLE (TV) |url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=raymond+burr&p=3&item=T82:0271 |website=Raymond Burr |publisher=The Paley Center for Media |access-date=7 May 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Brockman |first1=Dave |title=The Case of Constant Doyle |url=http://www.perrymasontvseries.com/wiki/index.php/EpisodePages/Show169 |website=Perry Mason TV Series |publisher=Big Dave Brockman's Perry Mason TV Series Wiki |access-date=7 May 2020}} He gained recognition in the role of Adam in John Huston's The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966).{{cite web |last1=Cooley |first1=Patrick |title=Actor Michael Parks' seven best roles during his decades-long career |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/05/michael_parks_seven_best_roles.html |website=Cleveland |date=May 12, 2017 |publisher=Advance Local |access-date=May 10, 2020}}

Parks was the star of the series Then Came Bronson from 1969 to 1970, in which he rode an iconic red Harley-Davidson Sportster, as he drifted from town to town.{{Cite book|last=Nichols|first=Dave|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZ1alz10QjoC&q=Michael+Parks&pg=PA257|title=One Percenter: The Legend of the Outlaw Biker|date=2010-05-08|publisher=Motorbooks|isbn=978-0-7603-3829-2|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2017-05-12|title=Michael Parks, Star of Then Came Bronson, Dies at 77|url=https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2017/05/12/michael-parks-star-came-bronson-dies-77/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Ultimate Motorcycling|language=en-US}} He sang "Wayfarin' Stranger", a duet with pilot episode co-star Bonnie Bedelia, and later the theme song for the show, "Long Lonesome Highway",{{Cite book|last=Leszczak|first=Bob|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpucCQAAQBAJ&q=Harry+Samuel+Parks&pg=PA261|title=From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to Television Stars Who Made Records, 1950-2000|date=2015-06-25|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-4274-6|language=en}} which became a No. 20 Billboard Hot 100 and No. 41 Hot Country Songs hit.{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008|publisher=Record Research, Inc.|date=August 2008|page=315|isbn=978-0-89820-177-2}} "Long Lonesome Highway" also peaked at number 84 in Australia.{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=229}}

Parks recorded five albums under MGM Records (the label of the studio which produced the series) that charted including Closing The Gap (1969), Long Lonesome Highway (1970), and Blue.

After disputes with the producers of Bronson, Parks said he was informally blacklisted in Hollywood.Liam Brennan [https://the-artifice.com/michael-parks-blacklisting/ The Blacklisting of Michael Parks: How a Hollywood Star Was Quietly Shunned], The Artifice, September 12, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2019 Parks admitted he could be "difficult on the set" and also said he objected to producers wanting to make the series more violent. After the cancellation of Bronson, Parks didn't work in a major Hollywood production for several years, but he had regular small roles in independent or Canadian features throughout the 1970s, such as Between Friends (1973), although director Donald Shebib had trouble dealing with Parks, describing him as a "terrific actor in a lot of ways, but weird". Later in the same interview, Shebib accuses Parks of having been openly and aggressively anti-semitic. {{Cite web|url=https://hidden-films.com/2013/10/16/sung-antiheroes-an-interview-with-goin-down-the-road-director-donald-shebib/|title = Sung Antiheroes: An Interview with "Goin' Down the Road" Director Donald Shebib|date = October 16, 2013}}

He played in twelve episodes of ABC's The Colbys, a spin-off from Dynasty, first as Hoyt Parker, and then Phillip Colby during the second season (1986–1987). He appeared as Irish mob boss Tommy O'Shea in Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994), French-Canadian drug runner Jean Renault in the ABC television series Twin Peaks, Dr. Banyard in Deceiver (1997), Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in From Dusk till Dawn (1996), and Ambrose Bierce in From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000).{{Cite book|last=III|first=Harris M. Lentz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FspZDwAAQBAJ&q=Michael++Parks&pg=PT322|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2017|date=2018-04-30|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-7032-4|language=en}}

Parks played two roles in the Kill Bill film series, reprising the role of Earl McGraw in the first film (2003) and playing pimp Esteban Vihaio in the second film (2004).{{Cite book|last=Gordon|first=Dr Roger L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFFyDwAAQBAJ&q=Harry+Samuel+Parks&pg=PA115|title=Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures: Volume II|date=2018-09-07|publisher=Dorrance Publishing|isbn=978-1-4809-5841-8|language=en}} He again reprised the role of Earl McGraw in both segments of the film Grindhouse (2007), making his fourth appearance as the Texas Ranger.{{Cite book|last=Browning|first=Mark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTzLr0MfgtIC&q=Michael+Parks&pg=PA72|title=George Clooney: An Actor Looking for a Role|date=2012-07-19|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-39622-9|language=en}} His son, James Parks, played the son of Earl McGraw in Kill Bill, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, Death Proof, and Planet Terror. Parks played a villain in Kevin Smith's horror films Red State (2011) and Tusk (2014).

Smith later announced on his podcast that Parks had recorded an album during Red State{{'s}} production, after Smith and producer Jon Gordon noticed his singing talent during filming. The album, titled The Red State Sessions, was released on August 15, 2011, as a download from the film's website.

Parks was born in Corona, California to Harry Arthur Parks and Beatrice Adora Dunwoody.{{Cite magazine|url=https://deadline.com/2017/05/michael-parks-dies-then-came-bronson-kill-bill-obituary-1202088830/ | title = Michael Parks Dies: 'Then Came Bronson', 'Kill Bill' Actor Was 77 | last = Evans | first = Greg | date = May 10, 2017 | magazine = Deadline Hollywood | publisher = Deadline Hollywood | access-date = August 10, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/harry_samuel_parks_born_1940_2263989|title=Harry Samuel Parks|website=California Birth Index|access-date=August 10, 2019}} He drifted from job to job during his teenage years, including picking fruit, digging ditches, driving trucks, and fighting forest fires.

Parks married five times. His first marriage in 1956 at age 16 to Louise Johnson lasted until 1958 and produced a daughter.{{Cite news | url = https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/movies/kill-bill-twin-peaks-actor-michael-parks-dies-77-n757636 | title = Michael Parks, 'Kill Bill' and 'Twin Peaks' Actor, Dies at 77 | agency = Associated Press | work = NBC News | date = May 10, 2017 | access-date = August 10, 2019}}{{Cite web|last=Bucher|first=Chris|date=2017-05-10|title=Michael Parks' Wives: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know|url=https://heavy.com/entertainment/2017/05/michael-parks-wife-wives-dead-death-family-kill-bill-divorce-how-many-oriana-parks-jan-moriarty-james/|access-date=2020-09-24|website=Heavy.com|language=en-US}} His second marriage in 1964 to actress Jan Moriarty lasted only a few months, ending with her apparent suicide from an overdose.{{Cite book|last=Frasier|first=David K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3rmJCgAAQBAJ&q=joanne+moriarty+actress&pg=PA231|title=Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases|date=2015-09-11|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0807-5|language=en}} His third marriage in 1968 to Carolyn Kay Carson produced a son, James. His fourth marriage to Alston Fenci, whom he married in 1987, ended in divorce in 1996. In 1997, he married Oriana. The union lasted until his death.

Parks died on May 9, 2017, in his Los Angeles home at the age of 77 from undisclosed causes.{{cite web|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/michael-parks/49326/michael-parks-dies-aged-77|title=Michael Parks dies, aged 77|website=Den of Geek|date=May 10, 2017|access-date=June 17, 2017}} He requested a full body burial at sea, which his wife attended alone following a public funeral held at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Upon hearing the news, director Kevin Smith posted on his Instagram account "Michael was, and will likely forever remain, the best actor I've ever known. I wrote both Red State and Tusk for Parks, I loved his acting so much." He also included, "He was, hands-down, the most incredible thespian I ever had the pleasure to watch perform. And Parks brought out the absolute best in me every time he got near my set."{{cite magazine|first=Daniel|last=Kreps|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/michael-parks-twin-peaks-kill-bill-actor-dead-at-77-w481689|title=Michael Parks, 'Twin Peaks' Actor and Tarantino Favorite, Dead at 77|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=May 10, 2017|access-date=August 23, 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Kelley|first1=Seth|title=Michael Parks, Character Actor in 'Kill Bill' and 'Tusk,' Dies at 77|journal=Variety|date=May 10, 2017|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/michael-parks-dead-kill-bill-character-actor-1202422134/|access-date=May 10, 2017}} In a Twitter post, director Robert Rodriguez referred to Michael Parks as "a true legend".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39875074|title=RIP Michael Parks: Hollywood's most underrated actor?|date=May 10, 2017|website=BBC|access-date=June 17, 2017}}

Kevin Smith produced a documentary on the life and times of Michael Parks, directed by Michael's former assistant, Josh Roush.{{Cite web|first=Josh|last=Roush|url=http://filmthreat.com/features/michael-parks-and-i/|title=Michael Parks and I|date=May 11, 2017|website=Film Threat|access-date=December 14, 2018}} Titled Long Lonesome Highway, it covers his beginnings as an itinerant teenager hopping boxcars through being blacklisted in Hollywood, to his career resurgence at the hands of filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino.{{Cite web|url=https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2018/11/05/josh-roush-interview/|title=Josh Roush [Interview]|date=November 5, 2018|website=TRAINWRECK'D SOCIETY|access-date=December 14, 2018}} It stars James Parks, Kurt Russell, Haley Joel Osment, Robert Rodriguez, Leonard Maltin, Mickey Rourke, Justin Long, Wyatt Russell, Mark Frost, and others.{{Cite news|url=http://parksdoc.com/participants.html|title=Long Lonesome Highway|work=ParksDoc.com|access-date=August 16, 2018}}{{Citation|title=Long Lonesome Highway: The Story of Michael Parks|year=2019|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7847308/|others=Kevin Smith, Haley Joel Osment, Wyatt Russell|access-date=August 16, 2018}}

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ALBUMS:

• 1969 – Closing The Gap (MGM)
• 1970 – Long Lonesome Highway (MGM)
• 1970 – Blue (MGM)
• 1970 – Lost & Found (Verve)
• 1971 – Best Of Michael Parks (MGM)
• 1981 – You Don't Know Me (First American)
• 1998 – Coolin' Soup (Listen)
• 2011 – The Red State Sessions (SModcast)

SINGLES:

• 1969 - Tie Me To Your Apron Strings Again / Won't You Ride in My Little Red Wagon (MGM K14092) #117 Billboard's Bubbling Under chart
• 1970 - Long Lonesome Highway / Mountain High (MGM K14104) #20 Billboard's Hot 100 chart
• 1970 - Sally (Was A Gentle Woman) / Spend A Little, Save A Little (Give A Little Away) (MGM K14154)
• 1970 - Big "T" Water / Won't You Ride in My Little Red Wagon (MGM K14363)
• 1970 - I Was Born In Kentucky / Turn Around Little Mama (Verve VK10653)

{{Portalbar|Biography|California|Greater Los Angeles|Film|Television|Music}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0662981|Michael Parks}}
• {{IBDB name|87800}}
• {{tcmdb name}}
• [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PYKQ3fwNb0c Michael Parks sings Long Lonesome Highway]

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Category:1940 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:Male actors from California

Category:American male singers

Category:People from Corona, California

Category:21st-century American male actors