Gerard Parkes
Gerard Parkes | |
---|---|
Born | (1924-10-16)October 16, 1924 Dublin, Ireland |
Died | October 19, 2014(2014-10-19) (aged 90) Toronto, Canada |
Other names | Gerry Parkes |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1959–2009 |
Spouse | Sheelagh Norman (1980s–2014; his death) |
Gerard Parkes (October 16, 1924 – October 19, 2014) was an Irish-born Canadian actor. He was born in Dublin and moved to Toronto in 1956. He is known for playing Doc on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television series Fraggle Rock and the bartender in the film The Boondock Saints and its sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.
Career
Parkes' acting career spanned film, radio, television, and the stage. Parkes worked often on CBC radio, beginning in 1959, and shifted into television and film, acting in such diverse series as the 1960s' ecological adventure series The Forest Rangers, family show The Littlest Hobo (both series), and the detective series Cagney and Lacey.
In 1968, Parkes won the first Canadian film award (then called the Etrog and now known as the Gemini) for his portrayal of Uncle Matthew in the movie Isabel. He received the Andrew Allan Award in 1983 for Best Radio Actor, and in 1999, he won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role for Kilt. He played Wiff Roach in Mike Newell's 1976 television adaptation of David French's theatrical play Of the Fields, Lately.[1]
Parkes played "Doc" in the North American version of Fraggle Rock. When he was cast in Fraggle Rock, Parkes was finishing a regular role as another type of "doc," playing Dr. Arthur Lowe (no relation to the English actor of the same name) on the Canadian TV series Home Fires. After Fraggle Rock, in addition to returning as Doc in A Muppet Family Christmas, he continued to work in children's television, guest starring as alcoholic photographer Phil (opposite Sesame Park puppeteer Nina Keogh) on the TVOntario puppet series Today's Special, and appearing regularly on PBS's Shining Time Station as store owner Barton Winslow.
In 1988, he made a cameo appearance in the hit comedy Short Circuit 2 as a priest, and in 1989 he appeared in The Last Winter as the protagonist's grandfather. In 1995 he also portrayed the priest at St Bart's in New York in the Olsen Twins movie It Takes Two.
In 1996, he portrayed Jonathan Swift in the HBO Original Film Handel's Last Chance. In 1998, he appeared on an episode of PBS's Noddy, as Wally the Wanderer in "Noah's Leaving". He appeared with Willem Dafoe and Billy Connolly in The Boondock Saints (playing a Tourette's syndrome-afflicted bartender, also named "Doc"). He reprised the role for The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.
He appeared in The Adjuster (1991), premiering at the New York Film Festival. In 1991, it won the Special Silver St. George[2] at the 17th Moscow International Film Festival.
In 1993, the Toronto International Film Festival ranked the film 10th in the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time.[3]
Death
He died on October 19, 2014, in Toronto, Ontario, three days after his 90th birthday.[4] He is buried in St. James Cemetery (Toronto).[5]
Honors and awards
- In 1968, Canadian Film Award for Best Actor.
- In 1999, Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role for Kilt.
Sources
- Greer, Sandy. "Small Screen", The Toronto Star, August 2, 1986
References
- ^ Blaik Kirby, "Of the Fields moving". The Globe and Mail, January 10, 1976.
- ^ "17th Moscow International Film Festival (1991)". MIFF. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
- ^ "Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time" Archived July 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, The Canadian Encyclopedia (2012; accessed April 28, 2013).
- ^ "Gerard Parkes, Fraggle Rock actor, dead at 90". CBC News, October 20, 2014.
- ^ "Gerard "Gerry" Parkes (1924-2014)". Find A Grave
External links
- Gerard Parkes at IMDb
- v
- t
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- Gerard Parkes (1968)
- No award (1969)
- Doug McGrath and Paul Bradley (1970)
- Jean Duceppe (1971)
- Gordon Pinsent (1972)
- Jacques Godin (1973)
- No award (1974)
- Stuart Gillard (1975)
- André Melançon (1976)
- Len Cariou (1977)
- Richard Gabourie (1978)
- Christopher Plummer (1980)
- Thomas Peacocke (1981)
- Nick Mancuso (1982)
- Donald Sutherland (1983)
- Eric Fryer (1984)
- Gabriel Arcand (1985)
- John Wildman (1986)
- Gordon Pinsent (1987)
- Roger Lebel (1988)
- Jeremy Irons (1989)
- Lothaire Bluteau (1990)
- Rémy Girard (1991)
- Tony Nardi (1992)
- Tom McCamus (1993)
- Maury Chaykin (1994)
- David La Haye (1995)
- William Hutt (1996)
- Ian Holm (1997)
- Roshan Seth (1998)
- Bob Hoskins (1999)
- Tony Nardi (2000)
- Brendan Fletcher (2001)
- Luc Picard (2002)
- Rémy Girard (2003)
- Roy Dupuis (2004)
- Michel Côté (2005)
- Roy Dupuis (2006)
- Gordon Pinsent (2007)
- Natar Ungalaaq (2008)
- Joshua Jackson (2009)
- Paul Giamatti (2010)
- Mohamed Fellag (2011)
- James Cromwell (2012)
- Gabriel Arcand (2013)
- Antoine Olivier Pilon (2014)
- Jacob Tremblay (2015)
- Stephan James (2016)
- Nabil Rajo (2017)
- Théodore Pellerin (2018)
- Mark O'Brien (2019)
- Michael Greyeyes (2020)
- Liam Diaz (2021)
- Geneviève Bujold (1968)
- No award (1969)
- Geneviève Bujold (1970)
- Ann Knox (1971)
- Micheline Lanctôt (1972)
- Geneviève Bujold (1973)
- No award (1974)
- Margot Kidder (1975)
- Marilyn Lightstone (1976)
- Monique Mercure (1977)
- Helen Shaver (1978)
- Kate Lynch (1980)
- Marie Tifo (1981)
- Margot Kidder (1982)
- Rae Dawn Chong (1983)
- Martha Henry (1984)
- Louise Marleau (1985)
- Margaret Langrick (1986)
- Martha Henry (1987)
- Sheila McCarthy (1988)
- Jackie Burroughs (1989)
- Rebecca Jenkins (1990)
- Pascale Montpetit (1991)
- Janet Wright (1992)
- Sheila McCarthy (1993)
- Sandra Oh (1994)
- Helena Bonham Carter (1995)
- Martha Henry (1996)
- Molly Parker (1997)
- Sandra Oh (1998)
- Sylvie Moreau (1999)
- Marie-Josée Croze (2000)
- Élise Guilbault (2001)
- Arsinée Khanjian (2002)
- Sarah Polley (2003)
- Pascale Bussières (2004)
- Seema Biswas (2005)
- Julie Le Breton (2006)
- Julie Christie (2007)
- Ellen Burstyn (2008)
- Karine Vanasse (2009)
- Lubna Azabal (2010)
- Vanessa Paradis (2011)
- Rachel Mwanza (2012)
- Gabrielle Marion-Rivard (2013)
- Anne Dorval (2014)
- Brie Larson (2015)
- Tatiana Maslany (2016)
- Sally Hawkins (2017)
- Émilie Bierre (2018)
- Nahéma Ricci (2019)
- Michelle Pfeiffer (2020)
- Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (2021)
(2022)
- Lamar Johnson (2022)
(2023–present)
- Jay Baruchel (2023)
(2023–present)
- Amrit Kaur (2023)
Separate awards were presented by gender prior to 2022; a single unified category for best performance regardless of gender has been presented since.