Fess Parker

Tall, tousle-haired Fess Parker excelled in athletics while attending the University of Texas. First appearing in films in 1952, he enjoyed his first sizeable role -- a Southern-accented ballplayer -- in The Kid From Left Field (1953). It was his one-scene bit as a terrified witness to an "alien close encounter" in the 1954 horror classic Them! (1954) that brought Parker to the attention of Walt Disney. Parker attained worldwide popularity when cast by Disney as Davy Crockett in a series of phenomenally successful TV specials. He remained on the Disney lot until 1959, starring in such films as The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1957), Old Yeller (1957), and Light in the Forest (1958). His film stardom levelling off after 1959, Parker made a TV comeback in 1962 with an indifferent sitcom version of the old Capra flick Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1962). He was more successful with his five-year tenure in the title role of the weekly TV adventure-fest Daniel Boone (1964-1970). One would think that Fess Parker could live comfortably off his TV residuals, but this was not the case; Parker made his fortune in real estate, after a frustrating, drawn-out suit with Daniel Boone's producers, who (according to Parker) reneged on their "percentage of profits" agreement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide