Fred Parker Jr. (born 1980) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is known for his stage performances in '' The Best Man'' and '' Damage Control'', both in 2012.

Early life and education

Born and raised in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, he attended the Northside Independent School District, where he wanted to become an actor at the age of 12. When he was in junior high, he won

University Interscholastic League The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, musical, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest organ ...

(UIL) acting awards for his role in ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

''. He also won numerous

National Forensic League The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle school and high school students in the United States. It was formed as the National Forensic League in 1925 by Bruno Er ...

awards in prose, poetry, and duet acting. He went on to attend the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where he received a

bachelor of arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in theatre and dance. In college, he performed in plays such as ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'', and ''Vieux Carre''. In 2012, he took four levels of

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

training with the

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Ad ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, and has worked with acting coach Marco Perella.

Career

Film

In 2009, Parker's first film appearance was in '' From Mexico with Love'' as Jakes' Lackey, an uncredited role. He then went on to have small parts in the film ''

Deeper and Deeper "Deeper and Deeper" is a song by American singer Madonna from her fifth studio album, ''Erotica (Madonna album), Erotica'' (1992). It was written by Madonna, Shep Pettibone, and Anthony Shimkin and was produced by Madonna and Pettibone. In Aus ...

'' (2010) and in the TV series '' 90210'' (2010). In October 2014, Parker was announced to play country music singer Faron Young in the then-upcoming biopic about

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

(played by

Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is a British actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with ''Thor (film), Thor'' in 2011 and incl ...

) titled '' I Saw the Light''. The film was set to release sometime in 2015.

Theatre

In 2011, Parker became friends with

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

, who introduced Parker to theatre director Michael Wilson. Parker was then cast as Howie Annenberg in Vidal's play '' The Best Man'' directed by Wilson in 2012, alongside

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...

and John Larroquette. Parker has also performed in the off-Broadway play '' Damage Control'' as Chip Donahue.

Personal life

Parker is a member of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Fred Jr. 1980 births Living people Male actors from San Antonio University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts alumni 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors