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Walter F. Parkes

Walter F. Parkes

Walter F. Parkes is one of today's most active motion picture producers, in addition to being the co-head of DreamWorks Pictures with his wife and partner Laurie MacDonald. Parkes is currently producing two more films slated for release over the next year: the fantasy adventure Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep and Jude Law under the direction of Brad Silberling; and the horror sequel The Ring 2, starring Naomi Watts.

Together with MacDonald, Parkes previously produced The Ring, directed by Gore Verbinski, which became one of 2002's biggest sleeper hits. That same year, Parkes served as a producer on Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise, and Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, both for director Steven Spielberg. He and MacDonald also produced the sequel Men in Black II, which re-teamed stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld. The couple had earlier produced the 1997 blockbuster Men in Black, for which they were named ShoWest Producers of the Year.

In addition, Parkes was an executive producer on Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition, starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. He had earlier served as an executive producer on Ridley Scott's Gladiator, whose numerous honors included the Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Picture.

Parkes' additional credits as an executive producer or producer include the Jackie Chan starrer The Tuxedo, the recent remake of The Time Machine, The Mask of Zorro, Deep Impact, Amistad, The Peacemaker, Sneakers, which he also co-wrote, Volunteers, Project X and True Believer.

A three-time Academy Award nominee, Parkes earned his first nomination as the director/producer of the 1978 documentary California Reich, which exposed neo-Nazi activities in California. He garnered his second Oscar nomination for writing (with Lawrence Lasker) the original screenplay for WarGames, and his third nod for his work as a producer on the Best Picture nominee Awakenings.

As co-head of DreamWorks Pictures, Parkes has overseen such successes as the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning Best Picture American Beauty, and the Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning drama Saving Private Ryan, which was the top-grossing film domestically of 1998.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2004.

Walter F. Parkes Facts

OccupationProducer

Selected Filmography

The Devil's Dominion
Harry
Rings
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Twister
California Reich, The
The Uninvited
Computer Science 101
Flight
The Island
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