Fess Parker
American actor (1924–2010)
Fess Elisha Parker Jr. (born F. E. Parker Jr.; August 16, 1924 – March 18, 2010) was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of the title characters in Walt Disney Productions' television miniseries Davy Crockett (1954–55; ABC) and the television series Daniel Boone (1964–70; NBC).
Early years
Parker was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and raised on a farm in Tom Green County near San Angelo. His father – born Fess Parker but later added the initial "E." – was a tax assessor. The name Fess had been given to him in honor of the educator and politician Simeon D. Fess. Parker decided to change his name from F. E. Parker Jr. to Fess Elisha Parker Jr. He selected the middle name himself, when he was a teenager (about 1937), because it sounded rhythmic and matched his middle initial.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the latter part of the Second World War, hoping to become a pilot. He was turned down because he was too tall at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m).
The public source identifies “Fess Parker” as american actor (1924–2010). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fess, Parker and American.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q553575. VIAF identifies the subject as 59284981. The Library of Congress control number is n95070665. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1924, 2010, 1954 and 1964.
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This entry incorporates text from “Fess Parker” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.