Michael Parks Biography

Michael Parks (born Harry Samuel Parks; April 24, 1940 - May 9, 2017) was an American singer and actor. He appeared in many films and made frequent television appearances, but was probably best known for his work in his later years with filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Kevin Smith.

Early life

Parks was born in Corona, California, the son of a baseball player. He drifted from job to job during his teenage years, including picking fruit, digging ditches, driving trucks, and fighting forest fires. He was briefly married at the age of 16. He was father to actor James Parks to whom he was a single parent.

Career

In 1961, Parks portrayed the nephew of the character George MacMichael on the ABC sitcom The Real McCoys. He appeared as Cal Leonard in the 1963 Perry Mason episode "The Case of Constant Doyle", and gained recognition in the role of Adam in John Huston's The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966). His other early roles included an appearance in two NBC series: the legal drama Sam Benedict, as Larry Wilcox in the 1962 episode "Too Many Strangers", and the medical drama The Eleventh Hour, as Mark Reynolds in the 1963 segment "Pressure Breakdown". He also appeared in The China Lake Murders and Stranger by Night, having portrayed a police officer in both.

Parks was the star of the series Then Came Bronson from 1969 to 1970. He sang the theme song for the show, "Long Lonesome Highway", which became a #20 Billboard Hot 100 and #41 Hot Country Songs hit. Albums he recorded under MGM Records (the label of the studio which produced the series) include Closing The Gap (1969), Long Lonesome Highway (1970), and Blue. He also had various records of songs included on these albums. He played Philip Colby during the second season (1986-1987) of ABC's Dynasty spin-off series The Colbys. 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).

Parks played two roles in the Kill Bill film series, reprising the role of Earl McGraw in the first film and playing Esteban Vihaio in the second film. He most recently reprised the role of Earl McGraw in both segments of the film Grindhouse. 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 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.

Death and reaction

Parks died on May 9, 2017 in his Los Angeles home at the age of 77. A cause of death has not yet been revealed. 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 added, "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." Director Robert Rodriguez referred to Michael Parks as "a true legend" in a Twitter post.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Wild Seed	Fargo
	Bus Riley's Back in Town	Bus Riley
1966	The Bible: In the Beginning...	Adam
	The Idol	Marco
1967	The Happening	Sureshot
	Stranger on the Run	Vincent McKay
1973	Between Friends	Tony
1976	The Last Hard Men	Noel Nye
	The Savage Bees	Dr. Jeff DuRand
1977	Murder at the World Series	Larry Marshall
	Escape from Bogen County	Jack Kern
	Sidewinder 1	J.W. Wyatt
	The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover	Robert F. Kennedy
1978	Love and the Midnight Auto Supply	Duke
	Rainbow	Roger Edens
1979	The Evictors	Ben Watkins
	Breakthrough	Sgt. Anderson
	North Sea Hijack	Harold Shulman
1981	Hard Country	Royce
1982	Savannah Smiles	Lt. Savage
1986	The Return of Josey Wales	Josey Wales	Director
1988	Arizona Heat	Larry Kapinski
1989	Nightmare Beach	Doc Willet
	Caged Fury	Mr. Collins	Associate producer
1990	The China Lake Murders	Officer Donnelly
1991	The Hitman	Det. Ronny "Del" Delany
1994	Death Wish V: The Face of Death	Tommy O'Shea
1996	From Dusk till Dawn	Earl McGraw
1997	Niagara, Niagara	Walter
	Deceiver	Dr. Banyard
1998	Wicked	Det. Boland
1999	Bullfighter	Cordobes
2000	From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter	Ambrose Bierce
2003	Kill Bill: Volume 1	Earl McGraw
2004	Kill Bill: Volume 2	Esteban Vihaio
2006	The Listening	James Wagley
2007	Grindhouse	Earl McGraw	Segments: Planet Terror / Death Proof
	El Muerto	Sheriff Stone
	The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford	Henry Craig
2008	Noble Things	Pete Collins
2010	Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball	Fritz Tremor
2011	Red State	Pastor Abin Cooper
2012	Argo	Jack Kirby
	Django Unchained	LeQuint Dickey Mining Co. Employee
2013	We Are What We Are	Doc Barrow
2014	Tusk	Howard Howe
2016	Sex Me Up
	Blood Father	Preacher
	Greater	Leo
2017	Hostiles		Filming release; (final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Skip Baxter	Episode: "The Cadaver"
1961	The Law and Mr. Jones	Mike Enslow	Episode: "One by One"
	The Asphalt Jungle	Ty	Episode: "The Sniper"
	Straightaway		Episode: "Pledge a Nightmare"
1962	Gunsmoke	Park	Episode: "The Boys"
	Target: The Corruptors!	Rocky Kustak	Episode: "Nobody Gets Hurt"
	Stoney Burke	Tack Reynolds	Episode: "The Mob Riders"
1963	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Dr. Daniel Dana	Episode: "Diagnosis: Danger"
	The Greatest Show on Earth	Cristos	Episode: "The Hanging Man"
	Perry Mason	Cal Leonard	Episode: "The Case of the Constant Doyle"
	Arrest and Trial	Gregory Wade	Episode: "We May Be Better Strangers"
1963-1964	Channing	Dante Donati	2 episodes
1964	Route 66	Tank	Episode: "Cries of Persons Close to One"
1969-1970	Then Came Bronson	Jim Bronson	26 episodes
1986-1988	The Equalizer		2 episodes
1990-1991	Twin Peaks	Jean Renault	5 episodes
1996-1999	Walker, Texas Ranger	Major Caleb Hooks	2 episodes

Discography

• 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 include Long Lonesome Highway/Mountain High (MGM K 14104); Big "T" Water/Won't You Ride In My Little Red Wagon (MGM K 14363); Tie Me To Your Apron Strings Again (MGM K 14092); Sally/Spend A Little, Save A Little, Give A Little Away (MGM K 14154) (all from 1970).