Michael Parks (born April 24, 1940) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in almost 50 films and has made frequent TV appearances, but is probably best known for his work in recent years with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.
Parks was born Harry Samuel Parks in Corona, California to a truck driver father. He drifted from job to job during his teenage years. He was married at the age of fifteen.
Parks first gained recognition as the star of the television series Then Came Bronson from 1969-1970. He also sang the theme song for the show, "Long Lonesome Highway," which became a Top 40 hit in 1970. Other early roles included The China Lake Murders and Stranger by Night. He played a police officer in both. He later played Philip Colby during the second season (1986-1987) of Dynasty spin-off series The Colbys. He also played Jean Renault, on Twin Peaks.
He appeared as Irish mob boss Tommy O'Shea in Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994), French-Canadian drug runner Jean Renault in the television series Twin Peaks, Doctor Banyard in "Deceiver" (1997), Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), which was written by Tarantino and directed by Rodriguez, and then took a leading role as Ambrose Bierce in its straight-to-video prequel From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000). He also played two roles in Tarantino's Kill Bill, reprising Earl McGraw in Vol. 1, and playing Esteban Vihaio, the 80-year-old ex-pimp, in Vol. 2. He has most recently reprised the role of Earl McGraw in both segments of the Tarantino/Rodriguez film Grindhouse.
His son, James Parks, is also an actor. He has played the son of his father's character, Earl McGraw, three times: Kill Bill, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, and Tarantino's segment Death Proof in Grindhouse.
