Fess Parker

Played college football at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX in the 1940s before transferring to the University of Texas-Austin.

Graduate of the University of Texas at Austin - BA 1950.

A former college athlete at the University of Texas, Fess studied drama in the early fifties and debuted in Springfield Rifle (1952). He made only a handful of movies until he was signed by Walt Disney to star in the "Davy Crockett" series.

Appeared as an uncredited extra in Man on a Tightrope (1953). He is seen for a few seconds near the end of the movie as a U.S. GI sitting in a jeep guarding the border.

When Walt was looking for an actor to play the part of Davy, he screened the sci-fi movie Them! (1954) with James Arness.

When he saw Fess in a scene, he chose him over Arness and Fess became an instant celebrity when "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" debuted in 1955. His appeal with children was enormous with the coon-skinned hat, the #1 hit song "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett", The Davy Crockett Bubble Gum Cards and Comic Books.

But the craze ended almost as fast as it started in 1956, and Fess was typecast.

Fess appeared in other Disney movies dealing with the early years of Davey and also in non-Crockett parts such as Old Yeller (1957).

By 1959, unable to achieve the success that he had gained as Crockett, his career had leveled off. He made guest appearances on a number of television shows, but his attempted return to television in the series Mr.

Smith Goes to Washington (1962) was not successful.

Unable to procure the rights to play Crockett from Disney, Fess tried the frontiersman role once again with the TV series Daniel Boone (1964). He played this role for six years and the fact that he had a beautiful red-headed wife in a color series did not hurt him at all.

Retired from Hollywood in 1973; among his successful California businesses are an ocean-front resort in Santa Barbara; a 21-room inn in Los Olivos; and an award-winning winery.

He was a major supporter of the Republican Party and once considered running for the senate in Nevada. He was a close friend of President Ronald Reagan, who in 1985 asked him to become his ambassador to Australia.

Attended the funeral of longtime best friend, Buddy Ebsen, when the actor passed away in 2003.

Song "King of the Wild Frontier" was Number 1 on the "Hit Parade" for 16 weeks. Parker was paid $150. (source: interview with Fess Parker in the SF Chronicle, "Datebook" ("Pink") section, November 12, 2006).

Interviewed about the beginnings of his career and his "Davy Crockett" experiences in the book "Wild Wild Westerners" by Tom Weaver (BearManor, 2012).