Hildy Parks, Producer-Writer-Actress, Dies at 78

Parks’ television writing and producing credits included 20 years of the the American Theatre Wing¹s Tony Awards telecasts, for which she received multiple Emmy Award nominations and a 1980 Emmy for her writing. She wrote the 37th and 38th annual Emmy Awards for ABC and NBC; Placido Domingo: Steppin’ Out With The Ladies for ABC; and NBC’s 60th anniversary celebration. Additionally, Parks wrote and produced three Night of 100 Stars shows, as well as Parade of Stars. She was the chief writer and script editor for CBS: On The Air, a week-long series of programs celebrating the 50th anniversary of the CBS television network. Parks also wrote the script for William, an ABC special geared to introduce the works of Shakespeare to children, starring Lynn Redgrave.

In 1984, Parks and Cohen co-produced Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist on Broadway. During the 1983-84 season, she was also represented on Broadway by Edmund Kean, La tragédie de Carmen, and Play Memory. Her more recent Broadway credits include Accomplice, Sacrilege, Taking Sides, and The Herbal Bed.

Born in Washington, D.C., Parks graduated from the University of Virginia, and shortly thereafter came to New York to make her stage debut as Curley’s wife in Of Mice and Men at The New School. Her Broadway debut was in Bathsheba with James Mason. She later appeared in Tennesee Williams’ Summer and Smoke, was the only woman in the London cast of Mr. Roberts, and appeared in the films Fail Safe and The Group, among others. She made regular appearances on such major television shows as Philco Playhouse, Studio One, and to To Tell the Truth; and had a recurring role in the daytime series Love of Life. Her 1950 marriage to actor-director Jackie Cooper ended in divorce in 1951.

Parks is survived by her two sons with Cohen, Gerry and Christopher Cohen; and by her stepdaughter, Barbara Cohen Hoffman. A private memorial for the family will be held at Frank Campbell¹s Funeral Home on Sunday, October 10.