Michael Parks (born April 24, 1940 ) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in almost 50 films and has made frequent TV appearances, but is probably best known for his work in recent years with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.
Lived on a Yacht in the Monterey, California harbor in the early 1980s.
The theme song "Long Lonesome Highway" from Parks' TV series "Then Came Bronson" (1969), sung by Parks' himself, was penned by James Hendricks, a Greenwich Village folky who was married to "Mama" Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas, not by Jimi Hendrix. The song became a Top 40 hit in 1970.
Picked fruit, dug ditches, drove trucks and fought forest fires.
Turned down an offer to play minor league baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates because he was making more money upholstering caskets.
Attempted to qualify for the 1972 Olympics as a miler, running a time of 4:06.
Recorded a half-dozen country albums in the late sixties and early seventies.
He played Earl McGraw, the police officer with bad puns, in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and then played Esteban Vinaio, the 80-year-old, smooth Mexican pimp who once was Bill's mentor in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004).
The official Kill Bill websites claim that he is "frequently cited by longtime fan Quentin Tarantino as the world's greatest living actor.".
Was a close friend of legendary director Jean Renoir.
Father of actor James Parks.
He has played the character of Earl McGraw in three separate films involving Quentin Tarantino: From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Grindhouse (2007) (both Death Proof (2007) and Planet Terror (2007)).
He was a pall bearer for Lenny Bruce.
Was discovered by Frank Silvera while acting in a play entitled "Compulsion" at age 18.
