Volume III: Biographies

PARKER, Barnett *

Actor (1915-1916)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Barnett Parker was an actor with Thanhouser during the 1915-1916 period.

Biographical Notes: William Barnett Parker was born on September 11, 1886 in Batley, Yorkshire, England. He was educated at Harrowgate College, after which he followed a stage career under the training of George Alexander, Marie Tempest, and Fred Terry, with his first professional appearance being in His House in Order. In New York City his initial appearance was as Wilfred Tavish, with Billie Burke, in The 'Mind the Paint' Girl, which was first acted at the Lyceum Theatre on September 9, 1912. In April 1913 he was at the Empire Theatre in The Amazons, at the Lyceum again in The Land of Promise in December 1913, in My Lady's Dress at the Playhouse in October 1914, in Taking Chances at the 39th Street Theatre in March 1915, in Mary's Ankle at the Bijou in August 1917, in Papa at the Little Theatre in April 1919, and other productions through the 1920s. Over a period of time Barnett Parker was seen with Lou Tellegen, Lew Fields and others, and played in many productions, of which he considered Hobson's Choice to be particularly notable. His first motion picture involvement may have been with Thanhouser, for whom he appeared in several films in 1915 and 1916.

The Moving Picture World, October 28, 1916, told of his work on the screen and stage: "Barnett Parker, who is Astorbilt in Prudence the Pirate,...has been successful in every branch of the dramatic profession. Mr. Parker has supported George Alexander, Marie Tempest, Billie Burke, and Lou Tellegen in comedies and dramas. He had an important part in Hobson's Choice, the successful Scotch play. He has been in musical comedy and in motion pictures. When Lew Fields starred himself in Step This Way he searched for an actor who could sing and also could play a 'silly ass' Englishman. He wanted a man who would put on a characterization a little different from the stereotyped comedy Englishman, and he chose Mr. Parker.

"Mr. Parker was under contract with Edwin Thanhouser, but arrangements were made so that Mr. Parker worked in New Rochelle in Prudence the Pirate in the daytime - except on matinee days - and appeared in New York in Step This Way in the evening. Mr. Parker thrived on the hard work, which proved that he really wasn't the weakling he portrayed in musical comedy. In Prudence the Pirate Mr. Parker had a chance to be a hero. He always longed to be a hero. He always longed to be a hero, for he was sick and tired of playing silly asses. In the first part of Miss Hulette's picture he is a weak, young, society favorite, but he proves to have red blood in him when he swims to the burning pirate ship, rescues Miss Hulette from the cabin in which she has been locked and helps her and 'Panthus,' her puppy, to reach a buoy and safety. Mr. Parker's first motion picture was the Thanhouser play, The Flight of the Duchess. He was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1887, and was educated in that country."

The October 1916 edition of The Motion Picture News Studio Directory stated that he was 6'1" tall, weighed 175 pounds, and had blonde hair and blue eyes. He may have been between engagements at the time, for his mailing address was the letter list maintained for itinerant show people by The New York Dramatic Mirror. The 1918 edition of the same directory gave his mailing address as Thanhouser in New Rochelle, which represented an uncorrected earlier listing.

Although Barnett Parker stated that he preferred stage acting to screen work, he appeared in many films to the time of his death, when he was in the Twentieth Century-Fox feature, Confirm or Deny. An article in the New York Herald Tribune, November 23, 1936, characterized Parker as a veteran character actor who turned down numerous film propositions because he liked the stage better, but noted that he had just signed a long-term movie contract and was scheduled to appear in Greta Garbo's next picture. Among his later pictures was the 1939 MGM production of At the Circus, featuring the Marx brothers.

After a series of heart attacks, Barnett Parker died at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, on August 5, 1941, in Los Angeles, California. He was survived by two sisters, both of whom lived in England. An obituary in The New York Times, August 6, 1941, disregarded facts and informed readers that Parker had pursued his career in England for nearly all of his life and had arrived in the United States just six years before his death, at which time "talent scouts discovered him"!

Note: His first name was spelled "Burnett" in many notices.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1915: Con, the Car Conductor (Falstaff 9-23-1915), Capers of College Chaps (Falstaff 10-11-1915), Bill Bunks the Bandits (Falstaff 12-16-1915)

1916: The Flight of the Duchess (3-11-1916), The Traffic Cop (4-8-1916), Prudence the Pirate (10-22-1916)

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