Michael Parks, a prolific character actor who found early fame in 1960s countercultural roles and later became a favorite of directors including Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, has died. He was 77.
He died on Tuesday in Los Angeles, his agent, Jane Schulman, said on Wednesday. No cause of death was announced.
In a career that spanned six decades, Parks acted in more than 100 films and TV shows. Many of his early starring roles were in anti-establishment ’60s-era films such as Wild Seed, The Happening, with Anthony Quinn, and Bus Riley’s Back in Town, alongside Ann-Margret.
Parks also starred as a disillusioned, motorcycle-riding newsman in the 1969 series Then Came Bronson. For the series, Parks, who recorded a number of albums throughout his career, sang the popular closing theme song, “Long Lonesome Highway.”
He played the Canadian drug runner Jean Renault on David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.