Actor Michael Parks has died at the age of 77. He was a favorite of directors like Quentin Tarantino and David Frost. He is probably best know to modern audiences for his role as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in Tarantino films like From Dusk Til Dawn, Kill Bill Part 1 & Grindhouse. He also played Jean Renault in Frost's Twin Peaks.
For those of us of a certain age, he will always be Jim Bronson. The American TV series Then Came Bronson was television's attempt to do an Easy Rider. Bronson was a newspaper reporter who walked away from it all, bought a Harley & took off across America. Parks was billed as the next James Dean. Here's a sample:
Parks was also a singer. He sang the closing theme for Then Came Bronson. It became a big hit:
R.I.P., Mr. Parks.