| Birth: | Dec. 13, 1914 | | Death: | Apr. 13, 1975 | 
American Actor. He was very busy at the beginning of his career, making thirty-three films between 1941 and 1945, mostly WWII home-front morale builders like “Hello, Annapolis,” “ Submarine Raider,” “Flight Lieutenant,” “Atlantic Convoy” (all 1942); “Reveille with Beverly,” “First Comes Courage,” “Destroyer” (all 1943); “Hey, Rookie” (musical, male lead opposite Ann Miller), “Stars on Parade” (another musical lead), “Sergeant Mike” (all 1944), and so on. Parks’ biggest break came in 1946 when he was cast as Al Jolson in the biopic “The Jolson Story,” for which he received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. It was a mixed blessing, however; he was so identified with the role that the sequel “Jolson Sings Again” (1949) was his biggest part afterwards. He also ran into blacklist trouble during the McCarthy era. Of the nineteen Hollywood figures called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Parks was the only actor and so the only one the general public was likely to know. HUAC consequently seemed to single him out for special treatment. In his testimony he admitted that he had been a member of a Communist cell, but, despite his repudiation of the Party, the blacklist held, and his only film work for the next ten years was a part in a British picture. He was able to work on stage, though; he appeared in national tours of Broadway hits like "The Teahouse of the August Moon", “Any Wednesday" and "Bells are Ringing". He also developed a nightclub act with his wife, actress/singer Betty Garrett (“On the Town,” “My Sister Eileen”). John Huston broke the blacklist by casting Parks as Dr. Joseph Breuer in “Freud” (1962) opposite Montgomery Clift. (bio by: Paul F. Wilson)
Cause of death: Heart Attack
Search Amazon for Larry Parks | | | Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend. |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 01, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 2019 |
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Added by:
Ron Moody
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Thinking of you Larry. Your movies have been on TV again recently and it's such a joy to catch them, even if i do have them on DVD. Thankyou for the many happy hours.
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Jan H.
Added: Jul. 20, 2010 |
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Mikki
Added: Jun. 26, 2010 |
You are missed, you were a very special actor and a good person.You were the best.
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Steven Kaplan
Added: May. 26, 2010 |
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(4.2 after 90 votes)