Michael Parks finally started getting his due at age 56 after grinding it out as a respected TV and film actor for 36 years. By the mid-90s he had amassed over 100 acting credits. And now he was finally being championed by a trio of hot younger directors who had grown up watching his film and television appearances.
And they kept him busy until he passed in 2017.
He elevated any flick or TV show he was in and elevated every director he ever acted for. I was so fucking blessed to have worked with this bonafide genius. But really, I was just lucky to have known him at all. - Kevin Smith
Hisbiggest starring turn had been Then Came Bronson (1969–70). He played the leading role James "Jim" Bronson, a disillusioned reporter who quits his job and starts wandering the road on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle as a form of soul-searching. He meets various characters. Some he helps, others he educates. 27 episodes were aired on NBC.
You may also remember him as Jean Renault in the second season of Twin Peaks back in 1990. He was in 6 episodes.
But thanks to the enthusiastic fandom of Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Kevin Smith he got to have two truly memorable final decades.
Everything changed in 1996 when he showed up in the opening scene of From Dusk Till Dawn as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw
…while most of the “Dusk” dialogue was scripted to be delivered in rapid-fire bursts, Parks’ Ranger character was the exception: “I wrote that Texas Ranger role just for Michael Parks, for his lazy Texas drawl. He’s always been one of my favorite actors in the world. On ‘Then Came Bronson,’ Michael gave these Brando-like performances, the most naturalistic acting I’ve ever seen on a TV show.”
“Dusk” star George Clooney said it was clear Parks still had the goods. “Michael just blew the roof off in that scene, and he was so good, it seemed the movie would just be about him … until he got killed,” Clooney said. [Variety
Earl also made appearances in Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2.
In fact, he pulled double duty in Kill Bill Vol 2 and also portrayed Esteban Vihaio.
And here’s Earl McGraw yet again in Planet Terror (2007)
As well as Death Proof (2007)
Just looking at Michael Parks' work with Quentin Tarantino provides ample evidence of what made him such a mesmerizing character actor. Parks first worked with Tarantino on From Dusk Till Dawn as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw, who in the opening scene is maniacally shot dead by Tarantino.
Always looking for an opportunity for a cinematic inside joke, Quentin Tarantino then cast Michael Parks as Earl McGraw again in Kill Bill Vol. 1, the leading police officer that arrives after The Bride has been shot in the early stages of the film. The actor would also reprise his role as Earl McGraw in both segments of Grindhouse, while Tarantino also used him in Kill Bill: Volume 2 and Django Unchained, too. Cinema Blend
As Henry Craig in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Abin Cooper in Red State (2011)
REVISITING | Kevin Smith’s Red State is his best film
Red State is a markedly different piece of work to Smith’s knockabout frolics and his ironic pop-cultural philosophizing. In shedding all of that, the director brings a leaner, more exciting cinematic style to his work. The film also acts as a reminder that Smith is fully capable of eliciting fine performances from his cast. The superlatives directed towards the late Michael Parks were completely justifiable.
The 15 minute barnstorming sermon he delivers midway through may have smacked of overindulgence on Smith’s behalf if Parks wasn’t so mesmerising. Similar to his turn in Kill Bill Vol.2, and that memorable opening to From Dawn Till Dawn, it’s impossible to tear your gaze away from the actor, further enhanced by Smith’s use of large, intrusive close-ups throughout. HotCorn
As ‘The LeQuint Dickey Mining Co. Employee’ in Django Unchained
Howard Howe in Tusk (2014)
And as Preacher in one of his final appearances in Blood Father (2016)
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