larry parks

I said I was going to do a post about my dear friend Larry Parks and so, my dear's, here it is....! Many many years ago....almost 61 years to be exact....I saw a film called "The Jolson Story" at one of the then two movie theatres in Great Neck, where I grew up. I was blown away.....! The film was about one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th Century, Al Jolson. At the time of the making of this film, Jolson's career was pretty much on the downhill side....but, this movie and it's sequel, "Jolson Sings Again", revived Jolson's career and introduced him to a whole new generation of people through the embodiment of the actor who played Jolson in these films, Larry Parks.I fell in love with both Larry Parks and Jolson right then and there. So along with two friends of mine who also became Larry Parks-Al Jolson "groupies", we went back to the Squire Theatre on the Saturday of that week when the theatre opened at 11 A.M. in the morning, and we carried in bags of sandwiches to sustain us for the day. (They didn't sell actual "food" food back then in movie theatre's....just candy, popcorn and soft drinks) We stayed in the theatre all day long and into the evening, leaving only when the theatre closed down for the night just after midnight.....(you could do that in those days...you could go in any time and stay as long as you liked for 25 cents....and people did this all the time.)

What is it the Larry Parks had? Well, aside from the fact that he was gorgeous, he had a sweetness about him that made you feel he was like the boy next door who also just happened to have the chops to become a big 'movie star'. Now, Al Jolson was a larger-than-life performer and Larry had to "be" Jolson without just doing an imitation....This was a new form of movie back then....they hadn't made too many Biographical films of famous performers who were still alive, back then....Jolson did his own singing for the film and Larry 'lip synched' the songs, and did it brilliantly, too.

The war had ended just the year before and Columbia Pictures had all these wonderful young talented people under contract. Larry Parks was one of those people. You believed he was Al Jolson, and especially if you were too young to have acrually seen Jolson perform. Larry received a Nomination for an Academy Award for his great great performance of Al Jolson that year....I tell you, this film was a stunner. More people went into show business because of this film than you can possibly imagine. And this was such a popular picture that there was a sequel, "Jolson Sings Again"....and it was as popular as the first picture. For a studio to do a sequel back in the late 1940's was practically unheard of....I know, that's hard to believe isn't it, when everything has a sequel or two or three, these days...., but, indeed, it was the 'unusual' back then...and because "Jolson Sings Again" was as big a hit as the first film, this further established Larry Parks as an A-list Star at Columbia Pictures....until the dark days came....I won't go into the details of what happened next because to really understand about it you need read Betty Garrett's book,
"Betty Garrett And Other Songs", in which she tells what happened from the most personal and factual viewpoint---the only time, no doubt, too---as Betty and Larry were married in 1944 and stayed married until his untimely death at 60 years of age, in April of 1975. Her book is a wonderful 'read' and you won't be sorry....So, suffice it to say, Larry was Blacklisted in the early 1950's durimg that horrible ugly McCarthy-Witch-Hunt period, and his career as a film star, never really recovered....Though he continued to perform on stage in plays and tour with Betty in a nightclub act, he only made two more feature films after that, and appeared in a few television shows, too, but his very last film was in 1960. It was "Freud" starring Montgomery Clift as Freud, and Directed by John Houston.

When I joined Theatre West in 1962, (it's first year of existance) Betty was there having been a founding member of this wonderful theatre group. It was a very very small group back then...maybe 25 people....And I had fallen in love with Betty about the same time I discovered Larry.
She was starring on Broadway in a show called "Call Me Mister" and she had "it"....Yes, the famous "it" factor was up there on that stage on Broadway....And MGM Studios thought so too and put her under contract. The Parks had met in 1943-44 and on their first date Larry knew this was the girl he wanted to marry....And marry they did. On September 8th, 1944, Betty and Larry were married in this lovely church on Hollywood Blvd., right here in Los Angeles....In 1974 they had their 30th Wedding Anniversary....That is the fast background. The thing that has always amazed me about Betty and Larry is that these two people had been so important to me before I ever met them and then after meeting them and working with Betty in "Spoon River" and living in the same hotel for those almost 5 months back when we were on Broadway---(And Larry was doing a play on Broadway at that same time....) we got to be truly good and close friends and they became even more important to me in a "real" flesh and blood way.

This friendship continues to this day and extends to their two sons, Garrett Parks and his wife Karen and their daughter Maddie, and to Andrew Parks, (called Andy) and his wife Katy....In fact in my capacity as a minister, I married both of 'the boys'---they will always be called 'the boys', I think....Garret and Karen in November 1991 and Andy & Katy in September, 2002.

We have shared so very many important times together, some very joyous times and some deeply sad times, too. The milestones of long term friendships just cannot be replaced by 'new' things.
Not that the 'new' aren't important---they certainly are and I am grateful for all the new friendships and experiences I still encounter. But at my age, to be close to people still, who knew both my parents and my siblings and my significant others, is a great gift. And these things cannot be replaced nor can they ever happen anymore...certainly not with my parents. All this is by way of saying that The Parks and I shared a lot over the years.

Larry made many many films during his career before the dark days happened....Click on his name and it will take you to The Internet Movie Data Base where you can see his body of film work. It is very very impressive. Larry Parks deserves a "star" on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk Of Fame. He still doesn't have one. Many people feel that the stumbling block is The Blacklist. It certainly can't have anything to do with his credits in films and theatre....he has those, including his Academy Award nomination, and if he had done nothing else but "The Jolson Story" and "Jolson Sings Again", these two films alone should have assured him having a 'star' on The Walk Of Fame, but as you will see if you click on his name, there is so much more. And it's not the cost....because the money would be found one way or another....that is not the problem. The only other stumbling block is that they only give one star a year, postumously. But here is what is truly distressing: That someone like Donald Trump gets a "star" on The Walk Of Fame, and Larry Parks still doesn't have one...well....there is something wrong with this picture.

You know, in the early days of this Walk Of Fame Project some people would have more than one 'star'....like Gene Autrey. Because his career covered films, records, radio and television...he has four stars. Bob Hope, at least three stars, maybe four....Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, etc....Because of space on the streets of Hollywood, now people who's careers span Films, TV, Records, etc....get just one star.
Well, that's all we want for Larry Parks. One star. One Star on The Walk Of Fame, please. Betty has hers, Thank God....and now, Larry should get his.

Years ago---almost twenty years now, I began this campaign to try to get Larry a star...it was almost a 'crusade'...And it was an amazing thing that happened....I distributed a Petition through the good graces and generosity of Milton Goldman, who was a big big entertainment lawyer in New York who's client list and friends read like a Who's Who of show business. He circulated his copy to as many people as possible and the got all these fantastic people to sign it. Big stars of the day who's names should have carried a lot of weight, like Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Kitty Carlysle, Maureen Stapleton, to name just three...I cannot find my copy of this petition---it is somewhere, but I don't know where, The point is, with over one hundred (100) BIG names on this petition, and it didn't happen.

There is someone right now today who may have some 'clout' with the Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce, because maybe that is what it is going to take, and the hope is that this person can convince them that the time is 'now' for Larry Parks to finally receive his "star"....I hope and pray that this will happen, and soon. It would be so wonderful for Betty to have this happen in her lifetime---it is her dearest wish, you know. If you want to help, please write the Walk People: info@hollywoodchamber.net. It certainly can't hurt and who knows, if enough people from all over this country and the world bombard them with LARRY PARKS' name.....maybe, just maybe this will finally finally happen.

Larry was a dear sweet man who was a good friend and was always supportive of anything you were doing. If you appreared on some show on tv, you would hear from him the next morning telling you how wonderful you were---no matter the size of the part. He was a good man, a wonderful husband, and a devoted father....He is still so very missed by all who knew him and loved him, including his legion of fans all over the world. Check out Larry's 'tribute' page....it is a joy!

I am going to leave this post up for a little longer than usual because it is a little longer than usual and I'd like as many people as possible to see it...But not to worry, I will put up something 'new', before you know it....thanks for understanding.



More To Come.....