APR. 20, 1965
New Stars Hit Chicago!
"Without a doubt, and with neither hesitation nor reservation, I have to pick him as the greatest young actor in this business today - a real actor who should become a great star." The real actor? Mike Parks. Who said it? Bette Davis.
Saturday, April 10th, after seeing the preview of Mike's first movie, we interviewed Mike Parks and the director of the movie, Brian Hutton. These two possess very humorous personalities.
Brian Hutton, mocking himself, related why he became a director. "I was an actor, but I couldn't get any jobs; I was a writer, but I couldn't sell any scripts; so, I became a director." However, Brian became very serious when asked about Mike's talent. "He's a marvelously intuitive actor."
At 26 years old, Mike has been in over 60 plays, has appeared in 13 television programs, and has starred in three movies, none of which have yet been released.
Born in Corona, Calif., he is the first of his family to go into show business. After attending 21 different elementary schools, Mike left home at the age of 15, "not to run away from anything," he says, "but to it." He made a living by doing everything from fighting forest fires to upholstering caskets. Once he even tried out for the Pittsburg Pirates, but turned down a recruit job with its San Jose, Calif., farm club because it paid less than upholstering caskets did.
During this time, Mike never stopped performing before audiences, and managed to obtain some higher education at El Camino Junior College and at Los Angeles State College. The big turning point of his career as a
Universal then gave him star billing with Ann-Margaret and Janet Margolin (of "David and Lisa") in his second film, "Bus Riley's Back in Town." He was borrowed by another studio for the role of Adam in "The Bible."
Even though he has appeared on television and in three movies, the premiere of "Wild Seed" was the first time Mike had ever seen himself on the screen. His reaction was, "It frightens me."
Mike was then asked several questions about his acting. "I don't think about character. Sometimes I never get the lines.
I just get the character's thinking." "I don't know about method acting." "What do I look for in a script? Honest feeling."
Although Mike's roles, thus far, have been chiefly dramatic, he seems to have a natural ability for humor. "I'd love to do a comedy."
"Wild Seed," a well-directed, beautifully acted movie, deserves more credit than other movies of the same quality because it is the first for almost everyone connected with it. It is Mike Parks first movie and only Celia Kaye's (the female star) second. It is Al Ruddy's first production. Brian Hutton had never before directed a movie, and Conrad Hall, the cinematographer, had not previously been first cameraman on a motion picture.
The world premiere of "Wild Seed" will be May 5th in Chicago. This movie is well worth seeing.