Film fest to be hosted for San Angelo star’s 100th birthday

SAN ANGELO, Texas ( Concho Valley Homepage ) — Fess Parker, a San Angelo movie legend renowned for his Wild West escapades on the silver screen, will soon have a film festival held in his honor on the day that would’ve been his 100th birthday. Here’s a look at what’s happening and the legacy Parker left behind.

A film Fess-tival a century in the making

The free two-day film festival is slated to be held at the Fort Concho National Historic Landmark’s Quartermaster Building beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, the day which would’ve been Parker’s 100th birthday if he were alive today. The event will then kick back up on Saturday, Aug. 17, at 2 p.m. in the same location.

Attendees will get to watch movies starring Parker during the festival, including “Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier,” a Disney film in which Parker played the coonskin-capped pioneer himself.

Free refreshments will be provided during the event. San Angelo City Councilmember Larry Miller and Fort Concho Site Manager Robert Bluthardt, the minds spearheading the film festival, have also considered offering a birthday cake in honor of the centenary celebration.

Photos from moments in Parker’s life provided by his family will also be on display during the event. These photos will also feature memorable quotes said by Parker.

According to Miller, the festival will provide the people of San Angelo a chance to witness the history-defining handiwork of a local legend and shed light on one of the city’s most prominent contributors to national culture.

“If it hadn’t been for Walt Disney and Fess Parker, Davy Crockett would probably be known to the people in Texas and maybe Tennessee,” Miller said. “Other than that, he would’ve just been a relatively unknown character in American history.”

The event may become more than just a one-and-done occurrence, too, with Miller stating that the film festival may be held in the years that follow its inaugural observance. Miller also revealed there has been talk of creating a “permanent monument,” sharing his personal fondness for the painting of a mural.

“I like the idea of possibly doing a mural for him, and there are other people down there thinking about something even more permanent than a mural,” Miller said.

In the end, Miller hopes that the people of San Angelo develop a sense of pride for their town by remembering Parker’s accomplishments in the movie industry.

“Especially during Fess Parker’s day, we’re a relatively small town. I imagine that in its growing years, we were probably significantly less than 50,000 people,” Miller said. “And yet, here’s a person who came from a West Texas background that really made a name for himself and, in doing so, has become an important element in our history.”

From the Alamo to Boonesborough: Remembering Parker

Parker passed away at the age of 85 due to natural causes on March 18, 2010, while in his home in Santa Ynez, California, taking with him decades of experience as a movie star. Parker got his origins in San Angelo, however, and the city was a place many said he never forgot.

“He’s a part and parcel of San Angelo,” Bluthardt said. “He never forgot about San Angelo, even after he made it big. … He would come back and regularly visit and spend time with friends and always kept San Angelo in his front sights, so they say.”

Bluthardt said that Parker was known for his kind demeanor, something that was immutable even during his time in the spotlight.

“if you spoke to anybody about Fess Parker, you’d hear words such as gentlemanly, courteous, kind, soft-spoken, a universally good guy,” Bluthardt said. “Some people make it big and go to Hollywood and become horses’ patoots, but others never change, and Fess Parker, if you talked to anybody who knew him really well, they would tell you he never changed.”

Parker was born in Forth Worth on Aug. 16, 1924, but was raised in San Angelo. According to Hardin-Simmons University , Parker would grow up and attend San Angelo High School — a school then located at what is now the older Central High School building — where he would play as a member of the football team.

After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, Parker went to Hardin-Simmons University from 1943 to 1947 before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin for a degree in law. He would shift his focus to acting while at the University of Texas, earning a bachelor of arts degree in 1950 before moving to California to get a master’s degree in drama at the University of Southern California.

Parker launched his acting career in 1951 as an extra in the “Mister Roberts” play. He would get his first big break in 1954 by playing Crockett in Walt Disney’s “Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier.” The film’s success would popularize both Parker and Crockett, cementing their places in theaters and American culture.

“Fess Parker made Davy Crockett and, one could argue, Davy Crockett made Fess Parker,” Bluthardt said.

IMDb stated in Parker’s biography that he would go on to be typecast in multiple other Western-themed Disney movies as Davy Crockett or in other roles, as seen in “Old Yeller.” Parker would eventually find long-lasting success with the “Daniel Boone” TV series, where he would play the titular frontiersman and explore the region of Boonesborough for six years.

Following “Daniel Boone,” Parker retired in 1973 and eased into a second career as a real estate developer. He would also develop a successful winery and vineyard business later in life. That wouldn’t stop fans from remembering the legacy he left in the entertainment industry, however.

“The story goes that, in the latter years, people would come up to him and want him to put on a coonskin cap because that, of course, was his famous appearance,” Bluthardt said. “They would hand him these caps and insist that he wear them for a photograph, and his standard response allegedly was, ‘Well, no, I think it would look better on you!'”

With the film festival on the horizon and a legacy of blockbuster proportions driving it forward, Bluthardt believes the celebration will help San Angelo pay homage to a hometown celebrity.

“Every city, no matter how small, has people who became famous, and San Angelo is no exception,” Bluthardt said. “Fess Parker grew up here. He was a kid here. He played football here. He made friends here, and he stayed in touch with those friends until his dying day. He always remembered San Angelo, and I think it’s time that we remembered him.”

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