Willard Parker

About Willard Parker

Who is it?: Actor
Birth Day: February 05, 1912
Birth Place:  New York City, New York, United States
Died On: December 4, 1996(1996-12-04) (aged 84)\nRancho Mirage, Riverside County\nCalifornia, U.S.
Birth Sign: Pisces
Cause of death: Heart attack
Resting place: Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Cathedral City)
Occupation: Actor
Years active: 1937–1972
Spouse(s): Marion Pierce (1939–1951, divorced) Virginia Field (1951–1992, her death)
Children: 1 son

Willard Parker Net Worth

Willard Parker was born on February 05, 1912 in  New York City, New York, United States, is Actor. As New York-born Worster Von Eps, he was a meter reader who turned professional tennis player but, in 1937, at the age of 25, he parlayed his fair-haired good looks and obvious athleticism into an acting career and changed his name to an easier-sounding marquee moniker, Willard Parker. After a number of uncredited film roles and a couple of appearances on the Broadway stage with "Johnny Belinda" (1940) and "Lady in the Dark" (1943), he was signed by Columbia in the 1940s and moved into "B" movie leads and co-leads. A reliable player, most of his roles, which fell into the action adventure category, went by unnoticed, including the swashbuckling film The Fighting Guardsman (1946), and the western actioneers Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949), Apache Drums (1951), The Great Jesse James Raid (1953), Lone Texan (1959) and his "Cole Younger" in Young Jesse James (1960). He also had a secondary non-singing role in his best-known movie, playing a bombastic Texan vying for the affections of Kathryn Grayson in the musical Kiss Me Kate (1953). In the 1950s, Willard developed a semi-strong following partnered with Harry Lauter in the TV action show, Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955) (1955-1959). He eventually retired to sell real estate. Married twice, his second wife was beautiful blonde actress Virginia Field, who appeared with him in the British sci-fi flick, The Earth Dies Screaming (1964). They had no children together, but Willard did have a son by his previous marriage to former stage actress Marion Pierce. In 1974, he suffered a stroke. He died of heart failure in his 80s.
Willard Parker is a member of Actor

💰 Net worth: Under Review

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Biography/Timeline

1930

Parker signed to Warner Bros in the late 1930s. He made his debut with an uncredited bit in the Dick Foran Western, The Devil's Saddle Legion (1937). He had small parts in That Certain Woman (1937) with Bette Davis; Back in Circulation (1937) with Pat O'Brien; The Radio Murder Mystery (1937) with Ronald Reagan; Alcatraz Island (1937) with John Litel; Over the Goal (1937) with June Travis; The Adventurous Blonde (1937) with Glenda Farrell; Missing Witness (1937) with Litel; and The Invisible Menace (1938) with Boris Karloff.

1938

Parker's first notable film role was in A Slight Case of Murder (1938) with Edward G. Robinson. He followed it with Accidents Will Happen (1938) with Reagan, but then left the studio.

1939

Parker was married to Marion Pierce from 1939 to 1951. They had one child. They were divorced and Parker married Virginia Field from 1951 until her death in 1992.

1940

Parker decided to go to the stage to learn how to act. He worked for a stock company then tried Broadway, where he had a role in a hit play Johnny Belinda (1940) by Elmer Rice. He then replaced Victor Mature in the cast of the musical Lady in the Dark (1941) opposite Gertrude Lawrence. He went with the show when it toured on the road in 1943. This brought him to the attention of executives at Columbia Pictures who signed him to a long-term contract.

1943

Parker was the second male lead in What a Woman! (1943), a romantic comedy with Rosalind Russell and Brian Aherne.

1945

His career was interrupted by Service with the US Marines. Then when he returned Columbia promoted him to leading man status in the swashbuckler The Fighting Guardsman (1945). Then they starred him in a comedy One Way to Love (1946); and a Western, Renegades (1946).

1948

Universal borrowed him for a support role in You Gotta Stay Happy (1948) with Joan Fontaine and James Stewart. Back at Columbia he supported Don Ameche and Dorothy Lamour in the musical Slightly French (1949). Universal borrowed him for another support part, this time in the Yvonne de Carlo Western Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949).

1949

Columbia gave him the lead in some "B"s, Bodyhold (1949), as a Wrestler, with Lola Albright; and David Harding, Counterspy (1950), playing the title role. He played the third lead in the comedy Emergency Wedding (1950), supporting Larry Parks and Barbara Hale.

1950

Parker went to Lippert Pictures to make Bandit Queen (1950), co-starring with Barbara Britton.

1951

Universal used Parker as the third lead in the Western Apache Drums (1951). He had support roles in three films for Pine-Thomas Productions, Caribbean Gold (1952), Sangaree (1953) and The Vanquished (1953). He guest starred on TV in The Adventures of Ellery Queen (1952).

1952

Parker and his wife Virginia Field appeared in "Mr. And Mrs. Trubble" for Schlitz Playhouse (1952). That show invited him back for "Twenty-two Sycamore Road" (1953, with Nancy Reagan), "Little War at San Dede" (1954), and "Visitor in the Night" (1955).

1953

Parker returned to leads with the role of Jesse James in The Great Jesse James Raid (1953) for Lippert Pictures. He had a small role in Kiss Me Kate (1953)at MGM.

1954

He also guest starred on Fireside Theatre in "A Mother's Duty" (1954) and "No Time for Susan" (1955, with his wife), and The Ford Television Theatre in "Kiss and Forget" (1953, with his wife), and "The Mumbys" (1955, with his wife).

1955

Parker was cast as Ranger Jace Pearson in the 52-episode CBS television series, Tales of the Texas Rangers, which aired from 1955 to 1958. His co-star was Harry Lauter as Ranger Clay Morgan. The series was rerun thereafter on ABC.

1956

Parker starred in a low budget Western for Fox, Naked Gun (1956), and Lure of the Swamp (1957). He guest starred in Lee Marvin's NBC crime drama, M Squad (1958) then starred in some low budget Westerns, Lone Texan (1959), Young Jesse James (1960) and Walk Tall (1960). He did "Dr Kate" for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1960). Walk Tall was directed by Maury Dexter who used Parker in The High Powered Rifle (1961) andAir Patrol (1962).

1962

He guest starred in ABC's religion drama series, Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly and Leo G. Carroll as Roman Catholic Priests in New York City. Parker was cast as Msgr. Joe Giblin in the 1962 episode, "The Crooked Angel."

1964

He had the lead in the British film The Earth Dies Screaming (1964) and was one of many names in Waco (1966).

1972

His last film role was in The Great Waltz (1972).