Michael Parks, a character actor who was a favorite of Quentin Tarantino, died Tuesday at at the age of 77.
Parks appeared in both of Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies as well as "From Dusk Till Dawn" and "Django Unchained." He was also a favorite of directors like Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez, and had roles in the former's "Tusk" and the latter's "Grindhouse."
Parks began his career in 1961 in the TV series "The Real McCoys." He went on to appear in "Perry Mason," "Sam Benedict," and "The Colbys." And he played Jean Renault in "Twin Peaks."
He starred in and sang the theme song to "Then Came Bronson," a short-lived TV series in 1969. The song, "Long Lonesome Highway" made it to No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Parks went on to record several albums, including "Red State Sessions," which he made while filming Smith's "Red State" in 2011.
Parks is survived by wife Oriana and son James. Smith penned a heartfelt tribute to the actor on Instagram:
Kelly Woo is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Duke University and has written for AOL, Entertainment Weekly, Variety, and Yahoo.