Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, and actor. He has worked with performers including Grace Kelly, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Loudon Wainwright III, Silverchair, Ry Cooder and Joanna Newsom. Born in 1943 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and reared in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Parks attended the American Boychoir School '57 in Princeton, New Jersey. He began his career as a child actor. B... more

Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, and actor. He has worked with performers including Grace Kelly, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Loudon Wainwright III, Silverchair, Ry Cooder and Joanna Newsom. Born in 1943 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and reared in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Parks attended the American Boychoir School '57 in Princeton, New Jersey. He began his career as a child actor. Between 1953 and 1958 he worked steadily in films and television, including the 1956 movie The Swan (which starred Grace Kelly). He appeared as Ezio Pinza's son Andrew Bonino on the NBC television show Bonino. One of his costars on Bonino was 14-year-old Chet Allen, who appeared as Jerry Bonino. Parks and Allen were roommates at the Boychoir School. Parks also had a recurring role as Little Tommy Manacotti (the kid from upstairs) on Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners. Parks originally studied the clarinet, but had moved to the piano before... less