Background
Born in Columbus, Georgia, Parrish was the son of factory cashier Gordon R. Parrish and actress Laura R. Parrish.
Actor director film editor screenwriter
Born in Columbus, Georgia, Parrish was the son of factory cashier Gordon R. Parrish and actress Laura R. Parrish.
The Parrish siblings, including Beverly and Helen, entered into acting in the 1920s when the family moved to Los Los Angeles Parrish made his debut film appearance in the Our Gang short Olympic Games (1927). He then appeared in the anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Charles Chaplin"s City Lights (1931), and several films for director John Ford.
Filmmaking Memoirs Summing up Parrish"s career, Allen Grant Richards commented that "Other than his excellent editing work and early directing, Parrish may be most remembered as storyteller from his two books of Hollywood memoirs." Filmmaker Kevin Brownlow wrote of Parrish"s first memoir, Growing Up In Hollywood (1976), "His stories about these pictures were marvellous in themselves, and he often came at them sideways, so not only the punchline but the situation took you by surprise.
We all entreated him to write them down and in 1976 he did so, producing one of the most enchanting - and hilarious - books about the picture business ever written ought to be reprinted in this centenary year." The sequel, Hollywood Doesn"t Live Here Anymore (1988), followed. Growing Up In Hollywood.
New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. 1976. Online Computer Library Center 1659633.
Hollywood Doesn"t Live Here Anymore.
Boston: Little, Brown. 1988. Online Computer Library Center 16901046.
Parrish"s second Academy Award nomination, shared with First Rate (at Lloyd's) Clark, was for the political drama directed by Rossen, All the King’s Men (1949). In the first versions done by First Rate (at Lloyd's) Clark, the film was poorly received by preview audiences and studio executives.