Corey Parker, an actor on Will & Grace, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning and Love Boat: The Next Wave, has died. He was 60.
Parker died Thursday in Memphis, Tennessee, following a cancer battle, his family told TMZ.
“I believe he left this world weightless, at peace & surrounded with love. I am writing to you, Corey, here, directly, because this is how I… we… keep you with us. I have known and loved you for the past 45 years, since our E.S.T days in NY as hungry wild artists. You were a massive part of my creative work, my creative family, for decades,” his sister, Noelle, shared in a statement via BGB Studio. “And so we celebrate your incredible talent, your unparalleled passion and joy in the work and in your family, your huge gift for and devotion to teaching, your generosity, your love. All our lives are so much richer for knowing you, and you carry on in each of us, and in what you gifted and inspired in us… forever.”
The son of actress Rocky Parker, he began acting at the age of four and continued throughout his adolescence. His first listed credit stems from a 1983 episode of As the World Turns, following by his first film appearance in 1984’s Scream for Help.
In 1985, Parker starred in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, the fifth movie in the horror-slasher franchise. His additional film credits include 9 1/2 Weeks, Biloxi Blues and The Rainmaker, among others.
On the small screen, he appeared in six episodes of Thirtysomething; six episodes of Eddie Dodd in 1991; starred in the American sitcom Flying Blind as Neil Barash; Blue Skies (1994); the 1998 Love Boat revival The Next Wave; five 2000 episodes of Will & Grace; and one episode of Nashville in 2014.
Parker was also an established acting coach, beginning that part of his career in 2000. He went on to teach at Duke University, Rhodes College and the University of Memphis, and lent those talents to the 2022 Marvel series Ms. Marvel.
