Frank Parker

Frank Parker
PerformerTOS
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Portrays:	Zed
Date of Birth:	July 1, 1939
Date of Death:	September 16, 2018
Age at Death:	79
Nationality:	USA
Related Media
		@ BW Media
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IMDb profile

Frank Russell Parker (July 1, 1939 – September 16, 2018) was an American television actor who portrayed IFB reporter Zed in the Original Series episodes "The Man with Nine Lives" and "Murder on the Rising Star". Born in Darby, Pennsylvania, Parker was raised in the nearby Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne.

Parker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Acting from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh in 1962, then moved to Culver City, California to pursue his acting career. He performed under the name Brett Parker during the early part of his career.

Career

Television

Parker made his television debut in a 1964 episode of the military comedy series Gomer Pyle: USMC. By the mid-1960s, he was guest-starring on such series as Lost in Space, Daktari, and Hogan's Heroes.

Throughout the 1970s, Parker appeared in numerous television series including Mission: Impossible, Ironside, Dan August, The Mod Squad, The Jimmy Stewart Show, Room 222, Cannon, The Cowboys, Little House on the Prairie, McCloud, Barnaby Jones, S.W.A.T., Black Sheep Squadron, Switch, Wonder Woman, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Six Million Dollar Man, the Original Series, Sword of Justice, CHiPs, and Quincy, M.E.

Parker played Grandpa Shawn Brady on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1983 until he retired in 2008. He was given a hero's exit from the show when his character was on a sabotaged airplane and gave up his oxygen mask to save his son, Bo (played by Peter Reckell). Parker also had roles on other daytime dramas including General Hospital (as Paddy Kelly in 1980), The Young and the Restless, and Never Too Young.

From 1980 to the mid-1980s, Parker continued guest-starring on primetime television, appearing on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Hart to Hart, The Fall Guy, Blue Thunder, and Crazy Like a Fox.

Film

Parker appeared in several films during his career, including Midway (1976) and The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979). He also appeared in the made-for-television movies Just a Little Inconvenience (1977) and The Other Victim (1981).

Personal life

Parker was married to Nola Donelle Rajcok in 1981, and together they had three daughters: Candace Donelle and fraternal twins Danielle Dallas and Lindsay Kyle. Tragically, his daughter Candace died in a car accident in January 1999. In 2005, Parker married Mary Jean Dunning Garofalo, and the couple resided in Vacaville, California.

An accomplished singer, Parker was known to burst into song at any moment and could light up a room with his singing voice. His co-star Stephen Nichols remembered him as "So full of Blarney and Joy!"

Parker died on September 16, 2018, at the age of 79 in Vacaville, California, from complications of Parkinson's disease and dementia. He is survived by his wife, Mary; daughters Danielle Buckles and Lindsay Parker (Travis Burbank); his grandson, Jaxson Dale; and numerous nieces and nephews.

External links

• Frank Parker at the Internet Movie Database