Gerard Parkes obit

Gerard Parkes, Fraggle Rock actor, dead at 90

 

 He was not on the list.

Gerard Parkes, the Irish Canadian actor, best known for his roles on the hit children's series Fraggle Rock and the American crime movie The Boondock Saints is dead.

He died Sunday morning in a Toronto retirement home, four days after his 90th birthday, his niece and agent have confirmed to CBC News.

Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1924, Parkes came to Canada and launched his show business career on CBC Radio in the 1950s, before landing roles in TV, film and stage.

Parkes appeared in the 1960s CBC-TV adventure series The Forest Rangers, and popular children's shows The Littlest Hobo and Shining Time Station.

Winner of a Canadian Film Award for his performance in the 1968 feature film Isabel, Gerard also won a Dora award for his performance in a 1999 theatre production of Kilt and several awards for radio dramas.

Gerard Parkes as Doc on Fraggle Rock. "He had a thrill doing that show," says Parkes' agent Gerry Jordan. (Alliance Films)

'A magical man'

Despite his lengthy and diverse achievements, Parkes is probably best known for playing "Doc" on Jim Henson's popular TV series Fraggle Rock.

The grey-haired, bespectacled character, with the dog named Sprocket, was the only human to regularly appear on the 1980s children's program about a colony of colourful creatures who live under Doc's house.

When asked what Parkes would think about being remembered most for acting with puppets, Gerry Jordan, Parkes' agent of 30 years said "he'd love it."

"He had a thrill doing that show," Jordon told CBC News. "We got loads of fan mail from kids and adults around the world."

"He was a magical man and a terrific performer."

Gerard Parkes is survived by his partner of two decades, Sheelagh Norman. 

Parkes played the role of Doc in the North American version of Fraggle Rock. When he was cast in Fraggle Rock, Parkes was finishing a regular role as another type of "doc," playing Dr. Arthur Lowe (no relation to the English actor of the same name) on the Canadian TV series Home Fires. After Fraggle Rock, in addition to returning as Doc in A Muppet Family Christmas, he continued to work in children's television, guest starring as alcoholic photographer Phil (opposite Sesame Park puppeteer Nina Keogh) on the TVOntario puppet series Today's Special, and appearing regularly on PBS's Shining Time Station as store owner Barton Winslow.

 In 1988 he made a cameo appearance in the hit comedy Short Circuit 2 as a priest, and in 1989 he appeared in The Last Winter as the protagonist's grandfather. In 1995 he also portrayed the priest at St Bart's in New York in the Olsen Twins movie It Takes Two.

In 1996, he portrayed Jonathan Swift in the HBO Original Film Handel's Last Chance. In 1998, he appeared on an episode of PBS's Noddy, as Wally the Wanderer in "Noah's Leaving". He appeared with Willem Dafoe and Billy Connolly in The Boondock Saints (playing a Tourette's syndrome-afflicted bartender, also named "Doc"). He reprised the role for The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.

He appeared in The Adjuster (1991), premiering at the New York Film Festival. In 1991, it won the Special Silver St. George at the 17th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1993, the Toronto International Film Festival ranked the film 10th in the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time