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Born August 16, 1924,
Fess Parker grew up on a farm outside San Angelo Texas. He was a
star quarterback for San Angelo High School. He's best
known for his portrayal of historic figures Davy Crockett and Daniel
Boone.
He enlisted in the U.S.
Navy in the latter part of World War II, hoping to become a pilot.
He was turned down because he was too tall at 6 feet 6 inches. He
then tried to become a radioman gunner, but he was found too big to
fit comfortably into the rear cockpit. He was finally transferred to
the United States Marine Corps as a radio operator and shipped out
for the South Pacific shortly before the atom bomb ended the war.
He was discharged in 1946
and went to Hardin–Simmons University in Abilene, Texas where he was
involved in an argument over a car accident and was stabbed in the
neck.
Fess retired from the
screen in 1964 and went into real estate, which was profitable. He
was later forced to sue his "Daniel Boone" producers over the
profits generated by the series.
The farm boy from San
Angelo who was every baby boomer's idol in the 1950s and launched a
craze for coonskin caps as television's Davy Crockett died March 18, 2010 in
California. |
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