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michael parks

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Michael Parks had no luck in his career, as he had a sufficient acting level to have deserved better opportunities. The actor died on May 9, 2017, at the age of 77, in Los Angeles, without the cause being disclosed. He had Kevin Smith dazzled, who has released the news, calling him “the Yoda of interpretation.” But he is considered a cult actor because of his small jobs with Quentin Tarantino. “With him, I only have to turn on the camera to get interpretive gold,” the director had said.

The son of a baseball player who became a humble truck driver, Harry Samuel Parks –his real name– was born in 1940 in Corona (California), although his father continually moved the family. As a young man, he worked modest jobs, such as fruit picking, before making his debut as a prisoner in  Zane Grey , a television series.

He spent years with quite discreet roles in a multitude of productions for the small and the big screen before his big break came, when the teacher  John Huston  chose him to play Adam, in The Bible… (in its beginning) , recreation of various passages from Genesis, with a large budget, but although it was a correct film, it did not have the expected impact, which perhaps would have changed his trajectory.

He tried his luck as a singer, recording several country songs, and even reached number 20 on the Billboard hit list. In 1969 he starred in the television series  Then Came Bronson , where he played a journalist disenchanted with his job, who got on his Harley-Davidson and began a nomadic life, helping whoever he met on the road. It was not renewed for a second season.

In 1986 he made his debut as a director, with  The Return of the Pale Rider , which despite its Spanish title was not a sequel to  Clint Eastwood ‘s film  The Pale Rider –which had just been a hit on the billboards- but to another,  Outlaw . He began to be considered a cult actor when he played Jean Renault, the outlaw who sets a trap for the protagonist, agent Cooper, involving him in a drug plot, because he considers him responsible for the death of his brothers.

Always attentive to acting talent,  Quentin Tarantino  suggested  Robert Rodríguez  to play Texas ranger Earl McGraw, in From  Dusk Till Dawn , which had a script from the former. He would rescue the character, who would investigate the activities of his girlfriend, in  Kill Bill: Volume 1 , and  Volume 2 , where he played a second role as a bonus, an old Mexican man. He was also present in both Grindhouse  segments  , Death Proof  and  Planet Terror , and was an Australian in  Django Unchained .

He worked with other filmmakers on titles such as  Argo , where he played the legendary Marvel cartoonist  Jack Kirby , whose sketches were used by the CIA for the operation that the film tells of. Kevin Smith  took advantage of him in his horror film  Red State , where he played the most important character, the sinister leader of a sect, while in  Tusk  he turned him into a dangerous psychopath who tried to transform the protagonist into a walrus. In one of his last works,  Blood Father , he shared the screen with  Mel Gibson , giving life to a preacher.

Divorced from Louise M. Johnson, he dated several times until he ended up linked to Oriana Parks, who has accompanied him until his death. With the first he had his son,  James Parks , also an actor, who came to work with him on occasion.

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