Actor Corey Parker Dies at 60, Starred in ‘Will & Grace’ and ‘Friday the 13th’

Veteran actor Corey Parker, whose career spanned four decades across film and television, has died at age 60. Parker passed away Thursday in Memphis, Tennessee, following a battle with cancer, according to the family. The specific type of cancer has not been disclosed.

The New York-born actor leaves behind a body of work that touched some of the most beloved projects of the 1980s and 1990s, from horror franchises to prime-time sitcoms. In his later years, he transitioned successfully into coaching the next generation of performers.

Parker launched his screen career in the mid-1980s, landing the role of Pete in “Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning”. The 1985 horror sequel placed him among the unlucky souls who cross paths with Jason Voorhees. He followed that with a small but memorable part in the Kim Basinger erotic drama “9½ Weeks”.

His versatility showed early. In 1988, he appeared in Neil Simon’s “Biloxi Blues” alongside Matthew Broderick, playing Arnold B. Epstein in the coming-of-age military comedy. Two years later, he joined Susan Sarandon and James Spader in the romantic drama “White Palace” .

Parker’s leading moment arrived in 1992 when he starred opposite Téa Leoni in the Fox sitcom “Flying Blind”. He played Neil Barash, an awkward college graduate who falls for Leoni’s free-spirited Alicia. The show ran for 22 episodes and featured an ensemble of future stars including Lisa Kudrow, Peter Boyle, Andy Dick, and Noah Emmerich in guest roles.

Critics embraced the show’s sophisticated humor. Entertainment Weekly graded the pilot B+, calling it “so well written, so zippily sexy” that it stood out from Fox’s usual comedies. Though the series lasted only one season, it cemented Parker’s reputation as a reliable comedic actor.

Television audiences also knew Parker from his recurring role as Josh, one of Grace Adler’s boyfriends, on five episodes of the hit sitcom “Will & Grace”. He appeared in the series during its original 2000 season run. His other television credits include “Thirtysomething,” “Love Boat: The Next Wave,” “Touched by an Angel,” and the short-lived “Blue Skies”.

Parker grew up surrounded by performance. His mother, Rocky Parker, was also an actress and famously married Patrick Dempsey in the late 1980s . His sister Noelle pursued acting as well. Rocky passed away in 2014.

In his later career, Parker shifted focus to teaching. He worked as an acting coach on the CMT series “Sun Records” and provided coaching for the Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel” . He served as a guest artist at Rhodes College and the University of Memphis, and instructed at HB Studio in New York .

His approach to coaching grew from his own training. Parker began acting at age four in commercials and later attended the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan. He trained with teachers from the Actors Studio starting at 14 and became a member of both the Actors Studio and the Ensemble Studio Theater.

Parker continued working on screen through the 2010s, with roles in the series “Nashville” and films including “Being Awesome” and “The Trouble”. At the time of his death, he had a project titled “Demon Lake” listed as in development.

He was 60 years old.