RIP Michael Park

Hollywood Reporter

By Etan Vlessing

5/10/2017

Michael Parks, Film and TV Character Actor, Dies at 77

The 'Twin Peaks' and 'Kill Bill' star worked with filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith.

Michael Parks, the veteran Hollywood character actor who appeared in Kill Bill, Django Unchained and Red State, has died. He was 77.

His passing on May 9 was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by his agent, Jane Schulman of Vesta Talent Agency. The cause of death was not disclosed.

During his busy Hollywood career, Parks appeared in movies by auteur directors like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith, who paid tribute to the veteran actor on Wednesday via Instagram.

"Michael was, and will likely forever remain, the best actor I've ever known. I wrote both #RedState and @tuskthemovie FOR Parks, I loved his acting so much," Smith wrote. "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."

Parks was born in April, 1940 in Corona, California, and grew up as the son of a baseball player. His first screen roles included playing a nephew named Tom in 1961 in the ABC sitcom The Real McCoys and the role of Park in a 1962 Gunsmoke episode. He also appeared in legal dramas like Perry Mason and Sam Benedict, and had roles in Then Came Bronson, ABC's Dynasty and the spin-off series The Colbys, and David Lynch's Twin Peaks, where he played a Canadian drug runner.

Parks' movie credits included Ben Affleck's Argo, the horror/crime hybrid From Dusk Till Dawn, and dual roles in the Kill Bill franchise of Texan Ranger Earl McGraw in the first film and Esteban Vihaio in the sequel. And he played a villain in Smith's horror films Red State and Tusk.

Parks is survived by his wife, Oriana Parks, whom he married in 1997, and a son, the actor James Parks.

PARKS, Michael (Harry Samuel Parks Jr.)

Born: 4/24/1940, Corona, California, U.S.A.

Died: 5/9/2017, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Michael Parks’ westerns – actor:

Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1960 1961 (Juanito, young prisoner)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1962 (Park)

Stoney Burke 1962 (Tack Reynolds)

Stranger on the Run – 1967 (Vince McCay)

The Last Hard Men – 1976 (Noel Nye)

Royce (TV) – 1976 (Blair Mabry)

The Return of Josey Wales – 1986 (Josey Wales)

Billy the Kid - 1989

From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter – 1990 (Ambrose Bierce)

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1996, 1999 (Caleb Hooks) 

Bullfighter – 2000 (Cordobes)

Miracle at Sage Creek – 2005 (Justice Stanley)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – 2007 (Henry Craig)

Three Priests – 2008 (Jacob)

Django Unchained – 2012 (LeQuint Dickey mining employee)

Boone – 2017 (Sheriff Hurley)