From journeyman to late bloomer
MICHAEL PARKS, a veteran character actor and singer who enjoyed a latecareer resurgence on the series Twin Peaks and as a goto for directors such as Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, has died, aged 77.
Smith, who cast Parks as a twisted, fanatical preacher in his 2011 horror movie Red State and in dual roles in his 2014 bizarre cult film Tusk, paid tribute to the actor on social media, calling him ‘‘my cinematic muse’’ and ‘‘handsdown the most incredible thespian I ever had the pleasure to watch perform.’’
Born in Corona, California, on April 24, 1940, Parks first drew notice as a journeyman actor on television. After appearing on shows The Asphalt Jungle and Route 66 and in Bmovies such as Wild Seed and Bus Riley’s Back in Town, he eventually landed a starring role on the shortlived 1969 series Then Came Bronson, for which he also sang the theme song. The song reached No 20 on the Billboard charts, leading to a side career for Parks as a recording artist.
With his matineeidol looks and mesmerising screen presence, Parks was considered by some a potential next James Dean — though, as he told the Los Angeles Times in 2011, that comparison proved a mixed blessing.
‘‘It hurt more than helped,’’ Parks said. ‘‘From what I gather, he was cantankerous . . . He could be mean, and people who knew him said (about me), ‘Another James Dean’, without even knowing me.’’
Actor
Although Parks showed his range in small parts throughout the ’70s and ’80s, he never became the leading man some may have expected him to be. But his profile was boosted considerably in the 1990s when he was cast as FrenchCanadian gunrunner Jean Renault in David Lynch’s TV series Twin Peaks, which he followed a few years later with a role as a Texas Ranger in Rodriguez’s vampire action film From Dusk Till Dawn.
Tarantino, who costarred in that film, became enamored with Parks and went on to cast him in two different roles in his films Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 as well as in Django Unchained.
In recent years, Parks also made appearances in the films The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Argo.
Parks is survived by his wife, Oriana, and a son, James.