Corey Parker, an actor known for a stint on 1990s sitcom “Will & Grace” and in a “Friday the 13th” franchise movie, has died.
He was 60.
The veteran actor and coach died of cancer Thursday in Memphis, his aunt Emily Parker told TMZ, which first reported the news. His official cause of death was not given, though an online funding appeal said he had been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer. After several updates about his treatment, Parker posted on Feb. 17 that he was preparing for hospice.
“Parker has left us, this earth, this reality, finally to rest,” BGB Studio, where he had taught for the past several years, posted on social media Saturday. The studio shared a quote from his sister Noelle, who wrote, “I believe he left this world weightless, at peace & surrounded with love.”
Born and raised in New York City, Parker began acting at age 5, according to his IMDB bio. By age 14 he was studying with teachers from the Actors’ Studio and went on to graduate from the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan. When he was 20, the Actors’ Studio accepted him as one of its youngest members ever.
In 1985 Parker played the doomed Pete in “Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning” and was cast alongside Christopher Walken and Matthew Broderick in 1988’s “Biloxi Blues.”
Parker held many television roles over the following decades, perhaps most memorably as hippie-ish boyfriend Josh to Debra Messing’s Grace Adler during the second and third seasons of “Will & Grace” during its initial 1998-2006 run. Before that he played Dr. John Morgan, the ship’s physician on the two-season “Love Boat: The Next Wave” from 1998-99, and appeared in 22 episodes of comedy series “Flying Blind” from 1992–1993, among many other television sojourns.
He was no stranger to the stage either, appearing in numerous productions both on and off Broadway, according to the Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he was a member.
After “Will & Grace,” Parker segued into coaching, and was beloved by his students and collaborators at BGB Studio, where he shepherded talent onto screen and stage. “I think actors are the gold mine, the source of authenticity and creativity,” he once said, according to the studio.
“I have known and loved you for the past 45 years, since our E.S.T days in NY as hungry wild artists,” wrote his BGB colleague and longtime friend Risa Bramon Garcia, addressing him directly in the studio’s tribute. “You were a massive part of my creative work, my creative family, for decades.”
She lauded his generosity as well as “your incredible talent, your unparalleled passion and joy in the work and in your family, your huge gift for and devotion to teaching.”
