Michael Parks

Michael Parks
Born	Harry Samuel Parks April 24, 1940 (1940-04-24) (age 69) Corona, California U.S.

Michael Parks (born April 24, 1940)^[1] is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in almost 50 films and has made frequent TV appearances, but is probably best known for his work in recent years with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez as well as his 1969 television series Then Came Bronson.

Biography

Personal life

Parks was born Harry Samuel Parks in Corona, California to a truck driver father.^[2] He drifted from job to job during his teenage years. He was married at the age of 15.^[3]

Career

Parks first gained recognition in the role of Adam in John Huston's The Bible: In the Beginning (1966) and as the star of the television series Then Came Bronson from 1969 to 1970. He also sang the theme song for the show, "Long Lonesome Highway," which became a #20 Billboard Hot 100 and #41 Hot Country Songs hit.^[4] Albums he recorded under MGM include Closing The Gap (1969), Long Lonesome Highway (1970), and Blue. He also had various 45 rpm records of songs included on these albums. Other early roles included an appearance in two NBC series, the legal drama Sam Benedict in the role of Larry Wilcox in the 1962 episode entitled "Too Many Strangers" and the medical drama The Eleventh Hour, in the role of 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.

He subsequently played Philip Colby during the second season (1986-1987) of Dynasty spin-off series The Colbys. He also played Jean Renault, on Twin Peaks.

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 television series Twin Peaks, Doctor Banyard in Deceiver (1997), Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), which was written by Tarantino and directed by Rodriguez, and then took a leading role as Ambrose Bierce in its straight-to-video prequel From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000). He also played two roles in Tarantino's Kill Bill, reprising Earl McGraw in Vol. 1, and playing Esteban Vihaio in Vol. 2. He has most recently reprised the role of Earl McGraw in both segments of the Tarantino/Rodriguez film Grindhouse.

His son, James Parks, is also an actor. He has played the son of his father's character, Earl McGraw, three times: Kill Bill, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, and Tarantino's segment Death Proof in Grindhouse.

Filmography

• Last Hard Men (1976)
• Noble Things (2007) as Pete Collins
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) as Henry Craig
• El Muerto (2007) as Sheriff Stone
• Grindhouse (segments Planet Terror/Death Proof) (2007) as Earl McGraw
• The Listening (2006)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) as Esteban Vihaio
• Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) as Earl McGraw
• From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000) as Ambrose Bierce
• Wicked (1998) as Detective Boland
• Deceiver (1997) as Doctor Banyard
• Niagara, Niagara (1997) as Walter
• From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw
• Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994) as Tommy O'Shea
• The Hitman (1991) as Ronny "Del" Delany
• Twin Peaks, as Jean Renault in 5 episodes (1990–1991)
• Hard Country (1981) as Royce
• Savannah Smiles (1982) as Lt Savage
• The Bible: In the Beginning (1966) as Adam
• Then Came Bronson played Jim Bronson 1969-70 TV Series 26 episodes
• Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965) as Bus Riley with Ann Margret, Kim Darby, Jocelyn Brando, Larry Storch, David Carradine
• Wild Seed (1965) starring Michael Parks and Celia Kaye
• Perry Mason (1963) as Cal Leonard starring Bette Davis and Raymond Burr. season 6, episode 16,List of Perry Mason episodes called The Case of Constant Doyle
• The Greatest Show on Earth (1963) with Jack Palance on ABC
• Channing (1963-1964) with Jason Evers; two episodes as Dante Donati on ABC
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series) Episode: Diagnosis: Danger, 1963
• Target: The Corruptors!, episode "Nobody Gets Hurt," June 1, 1962
• The Law and Mr. Jones, episode "One by One," May 5, 1961
• Rainbow, the movie with Andrea McCardle & Rue McClanahan, 1978

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References

External links

• Michael Parks at the Internet Movie Database