Fess Elisha Parker Jr. (born F. E. Parker Jr.; August 16, 1924 – March 18, 2010) was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of the title characters in Walt Disney Productions' television miniseries Davy Crockett (1954–55; ABC) and the television series Daniel Boone (1964–70; NBC).
Early years
Parker was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and raised on a farm in Tom Green County near San Angelo. His father – born Fess Parker but later added the initial "E." – was a tax assessor. The name Fess had been given to him in honor of the educator and politician Simeon D. Fess. in the latter part of the Second World War, hoping to become a pilot. He was turned down because he was too tall at .
Discharged in 1946, he enrolled at Hardin–Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, with assistance from the GI Bill. After an automobile collision, he was stabbed in the neck by the other driver during an argument.
Career
Parker began his show-business career in the summer of 1951 when he had a $32-a-week job as an extra in the play Mister Roberts, During the screening of this film, Walt Disney looked past Arness and discovered Parker. Disney was impressed by Parker's portrayal of a man who was unswerving in his belief in what he saw despite the forces of authority against him. They asked him to drop by the Disney Studio. When he did, he brought his guitar, met Disney, sang a song, and then said goodbye. Several weeks later, Disney informed him that he had been selected over Arness and several others for the role.
Parker was dissatisfied with Disney's proposal to use him only in a small role in Tonka. He was put on suspension for refusing the role, and subsequently left Disney.
Post Disney
Parker made guest appearances on many television programs, and composed and sang. He performed the occasional role of Tom Conrad, editor of the Diablo Courier in the syndicated western series, Annie Oakley (1954–1957), starring Gail Davis, Brad Johnson, and Jimmy Hawkins.
Parker was contracted to Paramount Pictures from 1958 to 1962. He appeared in a small assortment of Paramount movies, including a cameo as an unnamed frontiersman in Bob Hope's Western comedy Alias Jesse James and supporting roles in The Hangman (1959) with Robert Taylor, The Jayhawkers! (1959) with Jeff Chandler, and Hell Is for Heroes (1962) with Steve McQueen.
In 1962, he starred in the title role of the TV series Mr Smith Goes to Washington, portraying the same idealistic character that James Stewart had played in the 1939 film. Parker took to the stage in 1963, in a traveling production of Oklahoma! as Curly. The movie roles he sought were elusive.
In 1991, he was named a Disney Legend.
In 2003, Parker received the Texas Cultural Trust's "Texas Medal of Arts Award", established only the year before.
For his work with Disney, Parker was honored in December 2004 with his own tribute window on a façade in the Frontierland section of Disneyland.
Business and politics
Parker became interested in opening a Davy Crockett-themed amusement park. In the late 1960s, he optioned land in northern Kentucky at the intersection of Interstates 71 and 75, with the intention of building Frontier Worlds. However, when the Taft Broadcasting Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, began building Kings Island in nearby Mason, Ohio, less than a 2-hour drive from Parker's site, financing for Parker's venture dried up. Plans for the Frontier World park were eventually revitalized in Santa Clara, California and developed into California's Great America.
Fess Parker Winery
thumb|right|The Fess Parker Winery in Los Olivos, California
thumb|right|Fess Parker in 1985
After his acting career, Parker devoted much of his time to operating his Fess Parker Family Winery and Vineyards in Los Olivos, California. The winery is owned and operated by Parker's family, and has produced several different types of award-winning wines. Parker's son, Eli, is president and director of winemaking and vineyard operations, while daughter, Ashley, is vice president of marketing and sales.
The Parker operation includes over of vineyards, and a tasting room and visitor center along the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. In addition to wine, the winery is known for selling coonskin caps and bottle toppers inspired by Parker's Crockett and Boone characters, and for its appearance under another name in the movie Sideways. In reminiscence of his acting days, Parker's wine labels have a logo of a golden coonskin cap.
The Parker Family also operates a 19-room hotel in Los Olivos, California at 2860 Grande Ave by the name of Fess Parker Wine Country Inn, which also houses a restaurant.
Politics
In 1985, Parker briefly flirted with running in 1986 for the United States Senate as a Republican for the seat of incumbent Democrat Alan Cranston. He considered himself a conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan.
Personal life and death
Parker married Marcella Belle Rinehart on January 18, 1960. They had two children, Fess Elisha Parker III and Ashley Allen Rinehart, along with 11 grandchildren and a great-grandson.
Parker died of natural causes on March 18, 2010, at his home in Santa Ynez, California, near the Fess Parker Winery. He is buried in the Santa Barbara Cemetery with a simple headstone, and a coonskin hat inscribed below his name.
right|thumb|The handprints of Fess Parker in front of [[Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park]]
Filmography
Film
thumb|right|Parker as [[Daniel Boone]]
thumb|right|[[George Sanders with Parker as Boone (1966)]]
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class = "unsortable" | Notes
|-it
| 1943
| We've Never Been Licked
| Uncredited 1st screen appearance, may be glimped in crowd scenes
|-
| 1950
| Harvey
| Leslie
| Voice, Uncredited
|-
|rowspan=3|1952
| No Room for the Groom
| Cousin Ben
| Uncredited
|-
| Untamed Frontier
| Clem McCloud
|
|-
| Springfield Rifle
| Jim Randolph
| Uncredited
|-
|rowspan=5|1953
| Man on a Tightrope
| Checkpoint Soldier
| Uncredited
|-
| Take Me to Town
| Long John
| Uncredited
|-
| The Kid from Left Field
| McDougal
|
|-
| Island in the Sky
| Fitch's Co-Pilot
| Uncredited
|-
| Thunder Over the Plains
| Kirby
|
|-
|rowspan=3|1954
| Dragonfly Squadron
| Texas Lieutenant
| Uncredited
|-
| Them!
| Alan Crotty
|
|-
| The Bounty Hunter
| Wild Cowboy at Finale
| Uncredited
|-
|rowspan=2|1955
| Battle Cry
| Private Speedy
|
|-
| Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
| Davy Crockett
|
|-
|rowspan=3|1956
| The Great Locomotive Chase
| James J. Andrews
|
|-
| Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
| Davy Crockett
|
|-
| Westward Ho, The Wagons!
| John 'Doc' Grayson
|
|-
| 1957
| Old Yeller
| Jim Coates
|
|-
| 1958
| The Light in the Forest
| Del Hardy
|
|-
|rowspan=3|1959
| The Hangman
| Sheriff Buck Weston
|
|-
| Alias Jesse James
| Davy Crockett
| Uncredited
|-
| The Jayhawkers!
| Cam Bleeker
|
|-
| 1962
| Hell Is for Heroes
| Sergeant Pike
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1966
| Smoky
| Clint Barkley
|
|-
| Daniel Boone: Frontier Trail Rider
| Daniel Boone
|
|-
| 1972
| Climb an Angry Mountain
| Sheriff Elisha Cooper
| TV movie
|}
Television
- Dragnet: The Big Winchester (March 5, 1954 - Season 3, Episode 27)
- "Annie Oakley: (May 8th, 1954), Annie and the Texas Sandman"
- Death Valley Days: (1954) Season 2, Ep 15, Kickapoo Run
- Davy Crockett (miniseries 1954–1955)
- City Detective (1 episode, 1955)
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1962–1963)
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963) (Season 2 Episode 6: "Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale") as Sheriff Ben Wister
- Daniel Boone (lead cast member from 1964 to 1970, with Ed Ames, Patricia Blair, Darby Hinton, and Veronica Cartwright)
- Climb an Angry Mountain (1972)
- The Fess Parker Show (1974) (unsold pilot)
- Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (2007) (as himself, discussing wine making)
See also
- List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
References
External links
- Official bio and winery information
- Fess Parker Facebook Fanpage