RIP Roger Perry

[MA]

Roger Perry, the veteran character actor who guest-starred on a memorable episode of the original Star Trek and portrayed Eastland headmaster Charles Parker on The Facts of Life, has died. He was 85.

Perry died Thursday night at his home in Indian Wells, California, after a battle with prostate cancer, his daughter, Dana Perry McNerney, told The Hollywood Reporter.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebri...cid=spartanntp

[BigManMike]

I was just coming here to post that but you beat me to it. Anyways, RIP Mr Parker

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by thebigcookie

I was just coming here to post that but you beat me to it.

Likewise.

[RetroGuy2000]

Rest in Peace, Mr. Parker! You were the second-best headmaster at Eastland School for Girls!

[Zoneboy]

Link

Roger Perry, the veteran character actor who guest-starred on a memorable episode of the original Star Trek and portrayed Eastland headmaster Charles Parker on The Facts of Life, has died. He was 85.

Perry died Thursday night at his home in Indian Wells, California, after a battle with prostate cancer, his daughter, Dana Perry McNerney, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Survivors also include his wife since 2002, actress Joyce Bulifant, perhaps best known for playing the wife of Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod) on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Perry earlier was married to Laugh-In star Jo Anne Worley from 1975 until their divorce in 2000.

A contract player at Desilu Studios who was discovered by Lucille Ball, Perry starred on a pair of ABC dramas in the 1960s that lasted just a season. He portrayed the son of Pat O'Brien on Harrigan and Son (their characters were lawyers in their own firm) and was a cop alongside Ben Gazzara and Chuck Connors on Arrest and Trial, a 90-minute program that was a forerunner to Law & Order.

And on a 1965 episode of CBS' The Munsters, Perry played a young man with admirable intentions who's out to rescue the beautiful niece Marilyn (Pat Priest) from a band of ghouls, but they are, of course, members of her loving family.

On the big screen, Perry appeared in not one but two Count Yorga movies; was a doctor in the infamous Ray Milland-Rosey Grier classic The Thing With Two Heads (1972); and played the father of Linda Blair's flautist character in the musical drama Roller Boogie (1979).

On the first-season Star Trek episode "Tomorrow Is Yesterday," which debuted in January 1967, Perry starred as Captain John Christopher, an U.S. Air Force pilot in the 1960s who is suddenly transported aboard the Enterprise in the future.

After seeing the episode in recent years, Perry thought that "maybe I could have done more at that particular moment with that particular scene," he said in a 2012 interview on StarTrek.com.

"I say that because one minute he's in a fighter plane and the next moment he's in this strange situation where he's in this room with these different people. It's such a momentous moment for him that I think I should have tried some different things."

Perry joined NBC's The Facts of Life in 1981 at the start of its third season after John Lawlor, who played Steven Bradley, the former headmaster at the Eastland boarding school for girls, exited the series.

Born on May 7, 1933, in Davenport, Iowa, the blue-eyed Perry made his onscreen debut in 1959 on an installment of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, then appeared in such films as The Flying Fontaines (1959), Connie Francis' Follow the Boys (1963) and Heaven With a Gun (1969), starring Glenn Ford.

His TV résumé also included a recurring role as John Costello on Falcon Crest and stints on Nanny and the Professor; Ironside; The F.B.I.; The Bob Newhart Show; Love, American Style; The Bionic Woman; and Barnaby Jones.

Perry also was a composer and songwriter. Barbra Streisand sang his song "A Kid Again" during her first TV special, 1965's My Name Is Barbra, and he composed the scores for L.A. theater productions of Make a Promise, Keep a Promise and a musical version of George Bernard Shaw's You Never Can Tell, in which he also starred with Bulifant.

The couple also starred on stage in The First Hundred Years (produced by John Forsythe); in Hanging by a Thread, with Patty Duke; and in The Happiness Bench, with Mariette Hartley.

Regarding The Thing With Two Heads, Perry said he went to see it at a theater on Hollywood Boulevard when it first came out.

"They had a sneak preview on a Friday night," he recalled. "I went down there and the place was packed. They showed the thing and everybody just laughed and laughed. It was a great comedy. They released it as some kind of a horror film, but it wasn't."

He and Worley appeared as a couple of such game shows as Tattletales and It's Your Bet.

Bulifant earlier was married to actors James MacArthur (Hawaii Five-O) and Edward Mallory (Days of Our Lives) and Bewitched and Our Miss Brooks producer William Asher.

In addition to his daughter and his wife, survivors also include his brother, Nick; son Christopher; stepchildren Charlie (and his wife, Jenny), Mary and John; grandson Parker; and step-grandchildren Riley, Ford, Daisy and Evan.

['80sSitcoms]

RIP Mr. Parker...all our respect from the "Facts" fan community.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Rest in Peace, Mr. Parker! You were the second-best headmaster at Eastland School for Girls!

Was he really? I think that honor should go to Mr. Harris who succeeded Mr. Bradley. After all, Mr. Parker gradually became more of a jerk as the series went on, to the point of yelling at Mrs. Garrett in "Read No Evil", and being downright offensive and an antagonist in "Brave New World" (after all, anyone who yells at Mrs. Garrett ends up getting on the wrong side of the fans, lol). I found that quite unfortunate, as he was an enjoyable character in some previous episodes.


All the same, friendly or not, he took what the writers gave him and obeyed the direction, and Mr. Parker was definitely a thread in the fabric that made up the "Facts of Life" tapestry.

(*Update* - Actually I would agree that Mr. Parker was the second-best headmaster until he started to become an unreasonable jerk; the unfortunate face he did so was a detriment to his character)

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Was he really? I think that honor should go to Mr. Harris who succeeded Mr. Bradley.

Not Mr. Harris. After hearing a rumor, he jumped to the very wrong conclusion that Mrs. Garrett had a drinking problem.

Also: he wears a toup.

After all, Mr. Parker gradually became more of a jerk as the series went on, to the point of yelling at Mrs. Garrett in "Read No Evil", and being downright offensive and an antagonist in "Brave New World" (after all, anyone who yells at Mrs. Garrett ends up getting on the wrong side of the fans, lol). I found that quite unfortunate, as he was an enjoyable character in some previous episodes.

Mr. Parker was good to Edna for a lot of years. At the end, I suspect the demands of the board, and that conservative group of parents, were just too much. The stress was killing him, and he unfortunately took things out on Mrs. G.

All the same, friendly or not, he took what the writers gave him and obeyed the direction, and Mr. Parker was definitely a thread in the fabric that made up the "Facts of Life" tapestry.

(*Update* - Actually I would agree that Mr. Parker was the second-best headmaster until he started to become an unreasonable jerk; the unfortunate face he did so was a detriment to his character)

I notice no one has taken up for Mr. Crocker...

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Not Mr. Harris. After hearing a rumor, he jumped to the very wrong conclusion that Mrs. Garrett had a drinking problem.

But it was all over the school, and he was even concerned about Mrs. Garrett; he wanted to get her help.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Also: he wears a toup.

No kiddin', a toup?

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Mr. Parker was good to Edna for a lot of years. At the end, I suspect the demands of the board, and that conservative group of parents, were just too much. The stress was killing him, and he unfortunately took things out on Mrs. G.

He wasn't good to Edna for a lot of years, he was good to her for about 2 to 2 1/2 years. But you're only referencing "Read No Evil", whereas he was at his worst in "Brave New World".

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I notice no one has taken up for Mr. Crocker...

He may not have been a good headmaster, but he was funny.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

But it was all over the school, and he was even concerned about Mrs. Garrett; he wanted to get her help.

Nancy wanted to get Mrs. Garrett help. Mr. Harris heard a rumor, and, based on a single phone call, decided to act. Is that responsible headmastery? I think not.

He then goes to Mrs. G's room, and confronts her, in her own bedroom, about her "drinking problem". Shouldn't that kind of thing be done in his office, rather than in the place she's most vulnerable?

Also, where was Mr. Harris when four girls were about to be expelled? Nowhere to be found, that's where. In a school with only a couple hundred students, and something like 2% of them are about to be expelled, he sends the school dietitian to bail them out?!

No, Mr. Harris didn't handle things correctly, and the proof is this: he was only there for one year.

No kiddin', a toup?

He wasn't good to Edna for a lot of years, he was good to her for about 2 to 2 1/2 years. But you're only referencing "Read No Evil", whereas he was at his worst in "Brave New World".

Mr. Parker was a jerk at the end, but it was the pressures of the office, I'm sure. Even at the end of "Read No Evil", we see why he's been a jerk.

He even visits Edna's Edibles later on. Would Mr. Harris do that?

He may not have been a good headmaster, but he was funny.

He was definitely... out there. I sure wouldn't want to work for him!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Nancy wanted to get Mrs. Garrett help. Mr. Harris heard a rumor, and, based on a single phone call, decided to act. Is that responsible headmastery? I think not.

Mr. Parker was irrational and insensitive and insulting. That is not responsible headmastery either. He was the catalyst for Edna leaving Eastland.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

He then goes to Mrs. G's room, and confronts her, in her own bedroom, about her "drinking problem". Shouldn't that kind of thing be done in his office, rather than in the place she's most vulnerable?

Maybe he figured that, as an alcoholic, it would be best to speak to her where she's most comfortable. (lol)

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Also, where was Mr. Harris when four girls were about to be expelled? Nowhere to be found, that's where. In a school with only a couple hundred students, and something like 2% of them are about to be expelled, he sends the school dietitian to bail them out?!

We don't know how busy he was. But he was going to expel them and Mrs. Garrett herself took it upon herself to go get the girls, promising to take full responsibility for them.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

No, Mr. Harris didn't handle things correctly, and the proof is this: he was only there for one year.

It's hard to say that since there was no headmaster mentioned for at least an entire year, lol. And we don't know why he left, we fans can only speculate.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Mr. Parker was a jerk at the end, but it was the pressures of the office, I'm sure. Even at the end of "Read No Evil", we see why he's been a jerk.

But we don't see why in "Brave New World". There is no excuse for his behavior toward Edna. It's a disgusting turn in his character.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

We even visits Edna's Edibles later on. Would Mr. Harris do that?

Hard to say since they only wrote him in one time. But when Charles visited Edna it was "too little, too late". You can see her take pride in showing him that she succeeded in making it on her own, and I always root for her all the way when I see that, lol.

I don't know why I'm playing devil's advocate on this, I'm not even that big a Mr. Harris fan. I guess he does make me laugh in his one scripted appearance.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Mr. Parker was irrational and insensitive and insulting. That is not responsible headmastery either. He was the catalyst for Edna leaving Eastland.

Mrs. Garrett left Eastland because she wanted to go into business for herself. Any differences between Mr. Parker and Mrs. Garrett could have been worked out; and of course they do work it out: he's happy for her, and she even gives him a tour of the shop. They part on good terms.

Maybe he figured that, as an alcoholic, it would be best to speak to her where she's most comfortable. (lol)

Haha! But that was highly inappropriate.

We don't know how busy he was.

A headmaster should never be "too busy" to look into a school disciplinary issue this serious.

But he was going to expel them and Mrs. Garrett herself took it upon herself to go get the girls, promising to take full responsibility for them.

She did. But since when is it the school dietitian's responsibility to discipline students? Mr. Harris failed in his duties.

It's hard to say that since there was no headmaster mentioned for at least an entire year, lol. And we don't know why he left, we fans can only speculate.

In June of '81, Mr. Harris confronted Mrs. Garrett about her supposed "drinking problem". If this is how he handled all staff issues, it's no surprise he was canned. In fact, in the very next episode, Mr. Parker appears, so it seems like Mr. Harris left Eastland right after this incident.

Mr. Parker, on the other hand, stays at Eastland from at least October 1981 to at least November 1983: he appears in seasons 3, 4, and 5, making his tenure at Eastland the longest we know of: longer than Mr. Crocker, Mr. Bradley, and Mr. Harris combined! We actually never heard when he leaves, meaning he could have been headmaster for many more years, maybe even until 1988 when Blair takes over.

Furthermore, Mr. Parker even inaugurates the Eastland-Langley partnership that allows Eastland juniors to take courses at Langley College, allowing them to matriculate faster. Now that's just good administration!

But we don't see why in "Brave New World". There is no excuse for his behavior toward Edna. It's a disgusting turn in his character.

It was the beginning of the school year. Just too much pressure.

Hard to say since they only wrote him in one time. But when Charles visited Edna it was "too little, too late". You can see her take pride in showing him that she succeeded in making it on her own, and I always root for her all the way when I see that, lol.

Edna is justified in her pride, but he also is supportive of her new venture. He even seems thrilled to take a tour of her new shop, and even orders a dozen of her pastries. Those are not the actions of a jerk.

I don't know why I'm playing devil's advocate on this, I'm not even that big a Mr. Harris fan. I guess he does make me laugh in his one scripted appearance.

He's a funny guy, but he's no Charles Parker!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Mrs. Garrett left Eastland because she wanted to go into business for herself.

She did, but she left because she refused to take anymore abuse from Mr. Parker.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Any differences between Mr. Parker and Mrs. Garrett could have been worked out; and of course they do work it out: he's happy for her, and she even gives him a tour of the shop. They part on good terms.

I disagree. They did not work it out. She left because she could not work it out with him; he refused to listen to her or respect her any longer. So it was a providential time to go into business for herself. He perhaps saw the error of his ways later, but it was too late; he saw what he lost by losing Edna (it's almost certain if he had respected her and not begun mistreating her, she wouldn't have even left Eastland).

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

A headmaster should never be "too busy" to look into a school disciplinary issue this serious. But since when is it the school dietitian's responsibility to discipline students? Mr. Harris failed in his duties.

He did look into it, immediately. He didn't fail, he took action; he expelled them. Mrs. Garrett jumped in of her own accord to intervene on their behalf. Without her, they would have gone the way of Tumpy.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Furthermore, Mr. Parker even inaugurates the Eastland-Langley partnership that allows Eastland juniors to take courses at Langley College, allowing them to matriculate faster. Now that's just good administration!

There's a difference between being a good administrator and a good human being; in "Read No Evil" and especially in "Brave New World", he is not acting like a respectful human being. You should be a respectful human being before anything else.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It was the beginning of the school year. Just too much pressure.

That is NO excuse. I have personal experience with disrespect and bullying, so I allow no excuses for disrespecting a fellow human being (that's why I react so strongly when I see things like this).

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Those are not the actions of a jerk.

But the ones in RNE and BNW are.

[Lorimar Television]

So sad, may he R.I.P.

Side note: Idk why they didn't keep Mr. Bradley as the headmaster, he's the only character not to appear after season 1 (Not counting Ms. Mahoney). He must have only worked there for a year.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

Idk why they didn't keep Mr. Bradley as the headmaster, he's the only character not to appear after season 1 (Not counting Ms. Mahoney). He must have only worked there for a year.

I think you're right that he was headmaster for only one year. From some of his dialogue it certainly seems that way, yet you have moments such as in "Running" when he beams over Sue Ann having won the state track meet the past two years, and if she wins this third year, he finally gets to keep the trophy.

But in his first four shows, he sometimes does seem to be the "new" headmaster".

So, go figure, lol.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

I disagree. They did not work it out. She left because she could not work it out with him; he refused to listen to her or respect her any longer. So it was a providential time to go into business for herself. He perhaps saw the error of his ways later, but it was too late; he saw what he lost by losing Edna (it's almost certain if he had respected her and not begun mistreating her, she wouldn't have even left Eastland).

But would she have stayed? We heard in earlier episodes that she was barely making ends meet. She had to moonlight, and even mentioned having to eat dog food because she lost her pension.

Mrs. Garrett never seemed to stay long in any one job: she was a maid in Manhattan for two years, and then became a housemother for a year. Then she became a school dietitian for three years: a record for her. She also worked in a Howard Johnson's. Then she went into business for herself, in a bakery, for two years. Then she started a Spencer's-type store, for one year. Then she moved to Africa. She mentioned she had previously been a nurse. She took aviation lessons to become a pilot. She took college classes.

Edna was an amazing woman. The idea that she would ever settle down into just one job is not really supported by the scripts: she moved around a lot, changed jobs, changed entire careers, even left the continent for good. There's no way Edna Garrett would have stayed in a low-paying job for very long. She'd move on, no matter what the situation.

He did look into it, immediately. He didn't fail, he took action; he expelled them.

Without even speaking with them. That's not a headmaster!

Mrs. Garrett jumped in of her own accord to intervene on their behalf. Without her, they would have gone the way of Tumpy.

No disagreement there! It was Mrs. Garrett who provided the correct disciplinary actions. Mr. Harris couldn't even be bothered to speak to the girls whose academic careers would have been severely damaged. That is just wrong. So, so wrong.

That is NO excuse. I have personal experience with disrespect and bullying, so I allow no excuses for disrespecting a fellow human being (that's why I react so strongly when I see things like this).

As someone who has very recently left his job of the past almost 15 years due to disrespect from work supervisors (in a school, even), I understand what you're saying. But prolonged abuse is very different than an isolated incident.

Mr. Parker learned his lesson, and they parted on good terms. I wish my own school administration dispute had ended on terms as good as Charles' and Edna's. I can't look on Charles as a bad man.