Gerard Parkes

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.

Gerard Parkes
Born(1924-10-16)October 16, 1924
Dublin, Ireland
DiedOctober 19, 2014(2014-10-19) (aged 90)
Toronto, Canada
Other namesGerry Parkes
OccupationActor
Years active1959–2009
SpouseSheelagh Norman (1980s–2014; his death)

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, children's show The Littlest Hobo, 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]

Honors and awards

Sources
  • Greer, Sandy. "Small Screen", The Toronto Star, August 2, 1986

References
  1. Blaik Kirby, "Of the Fields moving". The Globe and Mail, January 10, 1976.
  2. "17th Moscow International Film Festival (1991)". MIFF. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  3. "Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time" Archived July 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, The Canadian Encyclopedia (2012; accessed April 28, 2013).
  4. "Gerard Parkes, Fraggle Rock actor, dead at 90". CBC News, October 20, 2014.
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