Larry Parks
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Larry Parks (13 December 1914, Olathe, Kansas - 13 April 1975, Studio City, California), was an American stage and movie actor. His career was virtually ended when he admitted in 1951 to having been a member of a Communist party cell, an admission that led to his blacklisting by all Hollywood studios.
Parks grew up in Joliet, Illinois, and graduated from Joliet Township High School in 1932. Having attended the University of Illinois as a pre-med student, Parks played in stock companies for several years before signing a Hollywood contract in 1941. He made several forgettable films until he won the role of Al Jolson in the biopic The Jolson Story (1946), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Following his Oscar nomination, he made a few more minor movies, until he appeared in the sequel, Jolson Sings Again (1949), which was another huge boxoffice hit.
Larry Parks was summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee but he begged not to be forced to testify. He eventually did so in tears, only to find that he was blacklisted anyway. Following his admission before the committee, Columbia Pictures dropped him. Parks made only a few more films, but continued to eke out a living acting on the stage and doing occasional television programs. He appeared in the John Huston film Freud (1962).
He died from a heart attack at the age of 60. He was married to actress Betty Garrett in 1944. Her career also faced turmoil as a result of her marriage to Parks, but she nevertheless remained steadfast in her marriage vows, remaining his wife until his passing. Together they had two sons.
