Fess Parker

Infobox Actor
name =Fess Parker


birthname = Fess Elisha Parker Jr.
birthdate = birth date and age|1924|8|16
location = Fort Worth, Texas
yearsactive = 1950 - Present
spouse = Marcella Belle Rinehart (1960 - present)

Fess Elisha Parker Jr. (born August 16, 1924) is an American film and television actor best known for his 1950s portrayals of Davy Crockett for Walt Disney and of Daniel Boone in the late 1960s. He is also known as a wine maker and resort owner-operator.

Personal life

Parker was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up on a small farm outside San Angelo, TX. [http://legends.disney.go.com/legends/detail?key=Fess+Parker Disney Legends -- Fess Parker] He served in the U.S. Marine Corps at the end of World War II. He enlisted to become a pilot but was rejected as an aviator for being too tall (six feet, five inches).

After being discharged, he was stabbed in the neck by a drunken driver during a post-collision argument. Parker required many months of rehabilitation, but he was unable afterwards to participate in collegiate sports as much as he wanted.

At the University of Texas he was initiated into the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity in 1948. Parker graduated from the University in 1950 with a history degree and moved to California, where he studied drama at the University of Southern California.

He married Marcella Belle Rinehart January 19, 1960. They have two children.
*Fess Elisha Parker III
*Ashley Allen Rinehart Parker

Acting career

He began his show business career in the play "Mister Roberts" in 1951 (although he is credited with the voice of Leslie, the chauffeur, in the 1950 film Harvey).

Parker was subsequently hired by the Walt Disney Studios in 1954 to play the legendary Davy Crockett, frontiersman, congressman and heroic figure of the Alamo. The shows were a tremendous hit with children and led to brisk sales of coonskin caps.

There is an interesting story from Fess himself. When Walt Disney Company was looking for their "Davy Crockett" they originally considered James Arness for the title role. Fess had recently graduated to a contract weekly actor but listened to his agent that he should appear in a B rated movie called "Them" that required one days work.

It was during a screening of this film, which starred Arness, that attracted Walt Disney to Fess Parker. He played a pilot who was assigned to an insane asylum after landing on a public street because of the giant flying ants and had a small scene in the movie. He was asked a couple of weeks later to drop by the Disney Studio. He brought his guitar, met Walt, sang a song, then said his good bye.

A couple of weeks later he was informed of his selection to play Davy Crockett in what has become the first TV miniseries.

Parker starred in a much-loved family film, 1957's "Old Yeller".He also made guest appearances on many television programs, and composed and sang music.

Then from 1964-1970 he starred in the NBC series "Daniel Boone" as another mythic figure of America's frontier days. Parker retired from the film industry in the 1970s, after a short-lived 1974 sitcom "The Fess Parker Show".

Parker has also appeared as on-screen narrator on at least one jury-duty orientation film.

Winery and Vineyards

Parker currently devotes most of his time operating his Fess Parker Family Winery and Vineyards in Los Olivos, California. The winery is owned and operated by Parker and his family, and has produced several different types of award winning wines.

Parker's operation includes over convert|1500|acre|km2 of vineyards and a tasting room and visitor center along the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. In addition to wine, Parker is known for selling coon skin caps and bottle toppers at his winery (inspired by his Crockett and Boone characters).

In addition to the winery, Parker also operates two hotels, the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara (which he jointly developed with Hilton Hotels), and the Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn and Spa located in Los Olivos. Parker is also in the midst of developing a five star seaside resort in Santa Barbara called Fess Parker's Santa Barbara Beach Front Hotel.

A trip to Parker's winery is often offered as a prize in Live With Regis and Kelly's travel trivia game.

One of Parker's neighbors is Michael Jackson. The actor-hotelier-vintner was recently interviewed for a Los Angeles Times article about Michael Jackson's financial woes and the selling of Neverland Ranch to pay creditors. Fess Parker is quoted in the article as remembering touring Neverland Ranch a long time ago when it had a "staff of between 80 and 100 and had a fire truck with six firemen on duty around the clock". The article went on to say: "The pop star's apparent financial undoing is a head-scratcher for Parker. 'If he's broke, that's hard to understand,' Parker said." [ [http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/hotprop/la-re-hotprop20jan20,0,1843454.story?coll=la-class-realestate-hotprop Conan O'Brien's all set for late nights in L.A. - Los Angeles Times ] ]

Filmography

*"Harvey" (1950)
*"No Room for the Groom" (1952)
*"Untamed Frontier" (1952)
*"Springfield Rifle" (1952)
*"Take Me to Town" (1953)
*"The Kid from Left Field" (1953)
*"Island in the Sky" (1953)
*"Thunder Over the Plains" (1953)
*"Dragonfly Squadron" (1954)
*"Them!" (1954)
*"The Bounty Hunter" (1954)
*"Battle Cry" (1955)
*"Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" (1955)
*"The Great Locomotive Chase" (1956)
*"Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (1956)
*"Westward Ho the Wagons!" (1956)
*"Old Yeller" (1957)
*"The Light in the Forest" (1958)
*"The Hangman" (1959)
*"Alias Jesse James" (1959) (Cameo)
*"The Jayhawkers!" (1959)
*"Hell Is for Heroes" (1962)
*"Daniel Boone: Frontier Trail Rider" (1966)
*"Smoky" (1966) The Great Locamotive Chase (2004)

Television Work

*"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1962-1963)
*"Daniel Boone" (cast member from 1964-1969)
*"Climb an Angry Mountain" (1972)
*"The Fess Parker Show" (1974) (unsold pilot)

External links

* [http://www.fessparker.com/fess_parker.htm Official bio and winery information]
*imdb name |id=0662240 | name=Fess Parker
* [http://www.fpdtr.com/index2.html Fess Parker's Resort]
* [http://www.famousinterview.ca/interviews/fess_parker.htm Interview with Fess Parker]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-684287983973337210&q=%22morse+code%22 Archive of American Television Interview with Fess Parker July 24, 2000(video)]
*tvtome person|id=69992|name=Fess Parker

References