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

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Corey Parker, an actor who appeared in shows like Will & Grace and several Friday the 13th movies, recently passed away after fighting cancer. His aunt told TMZ he had been diagnosed with advanced stage 4 metastatic cancer following hip replacement surgery earlier this year. A GoFundMe campaign created to support him raised over $60,000. Parker was a popular acting coach, remembered by his students as a positive influence, mentor, and source of encouragement.

Parker passed away in Memphis at age 60. In his later years, he lived in Tennessee while continuing to teach online classes for The BGB Studio in Los Angeles and leading a monthly workshop in Nashville.

Parker began his acting career in 1984 with the horror film Scream for Help. The next year, he appeared in Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning. He then starred in the Fox sitcom Flying Blind alongside Téa Leoni, playing a nerdy graduate who starts dating a spontaneous woman. Although the show received good reviews, it was canceled after just one season in 1993. Later, he was a regular on Love Boat: The Next Wave for two seasons (1998-1999). He also had a short-term recurring role as Josh, Debra Messing’s somewhat wishy-washy boyfriend, in seasons 2 and 3 of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.

Corey Parker Comes From a Family of Artists


Fox

Corey Parker was born in New York City on July 8, 1965, and started his acting career very young, appearing in commercials for brands like Pepsi and Fisher-Price when he was just four years old.

Let’s talk about Patrick Dempsey’s early life, because it’s… complicated. His mother, Rocky Parker, was an actress and acting coach, and she eventually married Patrick himself. Now, get this – they met on the set of Brighton Beach Memoirs back in 1984, when Dempsey was just 18 and she was 44. They actually got married in 1987, but it didn’t last, ending in divorce in 1994. Dempsey himself has talked about it, and honestly, it’s pretty revealing. In an interview with Barbara Walters, he called the relationship a “Freudian nightmare” and admitted he felt like he needed a mother figure. It’s a fascinating, if somewhat unsettling, piece of his personal history that clearly shaped him.

Corey Parker trained actors in cities like Tennessee, New York, and Los Angeles, and some of his students later appeared in shows such as Sun Records and Ms. Marvel.

In a GoFundMe update on February 17th, Parker shared that his cancer is terminal and he is beginning hospice care. He expressed gratitude to his former students, explaining that their generous donations have helped him cover his $1,485 monthly health insurance premium. He is survived by his wife, Angela.

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2026-03-09 23:02