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Fess Parker (born August 18, 1925) is an American film and television actor. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Parker is best known for his role playing frontiersmen Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone as well as starting a fad of wearing coonskin hats. He served as a radioman in the Marine Corps at the end of World War II after being rejected as an aviator for being too tall (He is six feet, five inches).
After being discharged, he was stabbed in the neck by a drunken driver during a post-collision argument. Parker required many months of rehabilitation, but he was unable afterwards to participate in collegiate sports as much as he wanted.
Parker graduated from the University of Texas in 1950 with a history degree. He studied at the University of Southern California, earning a graduate degree in drama. He began his show business career in the play, Mister Roberts, in 1951 and was subsequently hired by the Disney Studios in 1954 to play historic figure Crockett. He also made guest appearances on television programs and composed and sang music.
He married Marcella Rinehart in 1960, and the couple has two children. Fess Parker retired from the film industry in the early 1970s, after the end of the television series about Boone.
Parker currently owns and operates a family winery, Fess Parker Winery and Vineyard, near Santa Barbara, California along with some hotels.
Some films featuring Fess Parker
- Untamed Frontier (1952)
- Springfield Rifle (1952) -- not credited.
- Them (1954)
- Great Locomotive Chase (1956)
- Old Yeller (1957)
- The Light in the Forest (1958)
- The Jayhawkers (1959)
- Hell is for Heros (1962)
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