Jameson Parker

Francis Jameson Parker Jr. (born November 18, 1947) is an American actor, best known for his role of A.J. Simon on the 1980s television series Simon & Simon.

Jameson Parker
Born	Francis Jameson Parker Jr. November 18, 1947 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1966–2009
Spouse(s)	Anne Taylor Davis (m. 1969; div. 1974) Bonnie Parker ​ ​ (m. 1976; div. 1992)​ Darleen Carr ​ ​ (m. 1992)​
Children	4

Cast of One Life to Live (1977). Front, L–R: Jameson Parker and Teri Keane. Back: Julia Montgomery and Farley Granger

Early life and education

Jameson Parker, Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 18, 1947. He is the son of Jameson and Sydney Buchanan (née Sullivan) Parker. His father had been general legal counsel for the Parker family steel mill, an investment analyst, and government attorney (working first with the Maryland Public Expenditure Council and later with the United States Naval Reserve). In 1947, he was in private practice, but about to embark on a career as a diplomat with the United States Department of State.

His mother was the daughter of Mark Sullivan, Sr., a former editor of Collier's and later columnist with the New York Herald Tribune newspaper. She was a short story author (under a pen name), and a reporter for The Washington Post.[1] His parents eloped on June 8, 1933, and married in Rockville, Maryland.[2]

Jameson Parker Sr. died in 1972. His widow married her husband's Harvard Law School friend, Lewis Metcalfe Walling, a former New Deal labor attorney, in 1974.[3]

Jameson Jr. attended St. Albans School, Washington, D.C., and a Swiss prep school.[4] He studied drama at Beloit College.[5]

Acting career

At Beloit College, he acted in student theater productions, and, while living in Washington, D.C., he landed a job with a production of The Great White Hope at the Arena Stage and then acted in theatrical productions of Caligula and Indians.[6] After completing his degree at Beloit College in 1971, he performed in dinner theater and summer stock in the Washington, D.C., area.[5]

In 1972, he moved to New York City, where he secured several television commercials and appeared in off-Broadway plays. He was cast as Dale Robinson in the daytime drama Somerset and created the role of Brad Vernon on One Life to Live. During this period, Parker guest-starred on the ABC series Family and Hart to Hart.

Parker made his motion picture debut in The Bell Jar (1979) and starred in A Small Circle of Friends (1980), in which he played one of three radical college students during the 1960s.[7] The United Artists film received a limited theatrical release and grossed under $1 million.[8] Another film from early in his acting career was the controversial White Dog (1982).

In addition, he played the leads in several CBS television movies: Women at West Point (1979),[9] Anatomy of a Seduction (1979),[10] The Gathering II (1979), The Promise of Love (1980), Callie and Son (1981), and A Caribbean Mystery (1983).

He became well-known by co-starring in Simon & Simon from 1981 to 1989.[5] Thanks to the hit show's popularity, in 1985, Beloit awarded him its Distinguished Service Citation.[6] With his Simon & Simon co-star Gerald McRaney he appeared in the theatrical movie Jackals, which Parker co-produced.[11] After completing this movie, he returned to Beloit College to star in a live summer stock theatrical production as Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In 1987, starred alongside Donald Pleasence in John Carpenter's horror movie Prince of Darkness.

Parker guest-starred on the CBS series Walker, Texas Ranger as a corrupt cop. He appeared in the television movies Who Is Julia? (1986), Dead Before Dawn (1993), and Violation of Trust (1991). He guest starred on the sitcom Major Dad with his Simon & Simon co-star Gerald McRaney.

Parker's last known acting work was in 2003–2004, after a four year hiatus, when he appeared in four episodes of JAG. Although he did voice over work as the narrator for the documentary Endangered Species: California Fish and Game Wardens in 2009, he seems to have effectively retired from acting without an official announcement. He now makes his living as a writer for a variety of hard-copy and on-line magazines and is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, An Accidental Cowboy.[12]

Writing career

Parker has written five books:

• Parker, Jameson (2003). An Accidental Cowboy. ebook. ISBN 978-0984981236. recounts his life after Simon & Simon[13]
• Parker, Jameson (2003). To Absent Friends: A Collection of Stories of the Dogs We Miss. Minocqua, WI: Willow Creek Press. ISBN 978-1572237063.
• Parker, Jameson (2012). American Riff. ebook. ISBN 978-0984981298.
• Parker, Jameson (2012). The Horseman at Midnight. ebook. ISBN 978-0984981267.
• Parker, Jameson (2016). Dancing with the Dead. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593939946.

Personal life

Parker has been married three times. On July 19, 1969, he married Anne Taylor Davis in Fairfax County, Virginia, with whom he has one daughter.[14] The two divorced on August 7, 1975 in Alexandria, Virginia.[15] In 1976, Parker married Bonnie Dottley in New York City; the couple had three children.[16] They divorced in 1992. He married Darleen Carr on June 18, 1992.

On October 1, 1992, Parker was shot in the left armpit and right arm by a neighbor during a verbal altercation. He made a full recovery, and the neighbor was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to nine years in prison.[17]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Crossfire		TV movie
1975–76	Somerset	Dale Robinson	Daytime serial
1976–78	One Life to Live	Brad Vernon	Daytime serial
1977	79 Park Avenue		TV miniseries
1978	The Immigrants		TV miniseries
1979	Women at West Point	J.J. Palfrey	TV movie
1979	The Bell Jar	Buddy Willars
1979	Anatomy of a Seduction	Ed Taggert	TV movie
1979	The Gathering, Part II	Bud	TV movie
1980	Family	Jack	Episode: "Jack of Hearts"
1980	Hart to Hart	Whitney Rogers	Episode: "A Question of Innocence"
1980	A Small Circle of Friends	Nick Baxter
1980	The Promise of Love	Sam Daniels	TV movie
1981	Callie & Son	Randy Bordeaux	TV movie
1981–89	Simon & Simon	Andrew Jackson "A.J." Simon	156 episodes
1982	Bret Maverick	Whitney Delaworth III	Episodes: "Faith, Hope and Clarity" (Parts 1 & 2)
1982	White Dog	Roland Grale
1982	Magnum, P.I.	A.J. Simon	Episode: "Ki'is Don't Lie"
1983	A Caribbean Mystery	Tim Kendall	TV movie
1983	Whiz Kids	A.J. Simon	Episode: "Deadly Access"
1986	Jackals	Dave Buchanon
1986	Who Is Julia?	Don North	TV movie
1987	Prince of Darkness	Brian Marsh
1989	Spy	Frank Harvey	TV movie
1990	Waiting for the Wind	David	Short
1991	Major Dad	Evan Charters	Episode: "Polly's Choice"
1991	She Says She's Innocent	Eric Reilly	TV movie
1991	Curse of the Crystal Eye	Luke Ward
1991	Murder, She Wrote	Gordon Forbes	Episode: "The Skinny According to Nick Cullhane"
1991	Murder, She Wrote	Dane Kenderson	Episode: "Terminal Connection"
1991	Pros and Cons	Jace Novak	Episode: "May the Best Man Win"
1992–1993	The Legend of Prince Valiant	Sir Kay (voice)	5 episodes
1993	Dead Before Dawn	Robert Edelman	TV movie
1994	Burke's Law	Ben Hutchins	Episode: "Who Killed Nick Hazard?"
1995	Simon & Simon: In Trouble Again	A.J. Simon	TV movie
1995	ABC Afterschool Special	John Atkins	Episode: "Long Road Home"
1996	Have You Seen My Son	Mike Pritcher	TV movie
1996	Dead Man's Island	Lyle Stedman	TV movie
1996	Walker, Texas Ranger	Sgt. Bob Horne	Episode: "The Brotherhood"
1997	Something Borrowed, Something Blue	Richard Ives	TV movie
1997	Promised Land	Dr. Smith	Episode: "Take Back the Night"
1998	The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue	Troy (voice)	Direct-to-video
2003–04	JAG	Harrison Kershaw	4 episodes
2009	Endangered Species: California Fish and Game Wardens	Narrator (voice)	Documentary

References

1. "Sydney Walling, Colonel Dames Member, Author". The Washington Post. November 29, 1982. p. D6. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
2. "Miss Sullivan Wed to Jameson Parker". The Washington Post. June 9, 1933. p. 20.
3. Saxon, Wolfgang (January 26, 1997). "L. Metcalf Walling, 88, Who Helped Set Labor Policy in New Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
4. "Anne Davis Betrothed to Francis Parker 2d", The New York Times; June 4, 1969; accessed March 4, 2012
5. "Jameson Parker: Biography", TV Guide accessed March 4, 2012.
6. Beloit College: "F. Jameson Parker II', accessed March 4, 2012
7. Canby, Vincent: "Film: Small Circle of 3 College Friends", The New York Times, March 12, 1980, accessed March 4, 2012
8. "50 Top-Grossing Films". (Week ending March 19, 1980). Variety, March 22, 1980
9. Maslin, Janet: "TV: Movie Tells Story Of West Point Women", The New York Times, February 27, 1979, accessed March 4, 2012
10. O'Connor, John J.: "TV: Film of an Affair, Anatomy of a Seduction", The New York Times, May 8, 1979, accessed March 4, 2012
11. Nina Darnton, "Film: American Justice" The New York Times,September 19, 1986, accessed March 4, 2012
12. Parker, Jameson. "Homepage Biography". Jameson Parker Homepage. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
13. Swan, James A.: "A True Hero's Journey" ESPN Outdoor, October 2, 2003 Archived March 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 4, 2012
14. Virginia Marriage Records, file 69 024277
15. Virginia Divorce Records, file 75-010115
16. New York City Marriage Licenses Index, 1950-1995
17. Mrozek, Thom (December 11, 1993). "Studio City Man Gets 9 Years in Shooting of Actor Parker". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 3, 2019.

External links

• Jameson Parker at IMDb