Lara Parker, star of soap opera ‘Dark Shadows,’ dead at 84
Facebook Monday.She died just one week before her 85th birthday.“For more than 50 years, our lives were intertwined through our mutual love of literature, writing, and acting,” Scott wrote of her late “Dark Shadows” co-star.“We could not have been more unalike, and therein lay the magic of our enduring friendship. My thoughts are with her family in this sad time of grief and remembrance.”Parker’s daughter, Caitlin Hawkins, confirmed her mother’s death in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.Before kickstarting her career in entertainment, Parker enrolled in Vassar College in New York, where she roomed with none other than Jane Fonda.She later completed her undergraduate degree at Southwestern at Memphis, which is now Rhodes College, before graduating from the University of Iowa with a master’s degree in drama.She went on to marry her first husband, Tom Parker, and the pair welcomed two sons, Rick and Andy during their time living in Wisconsin.Lara then decided to kickstart her acting career, and traveled to NYC where she landed a role in Dan Curtis’ series, “Dark Shadows.”During her stint on the six-season-strong show, the actress starred in a film based on the series, “Night of Dark Shadows,” in 1971.A year prior, she starred alongside Robert De Niro in Brian De Palma’s “Hi, Mom!”After wrapping “Dark Shadows,” Lara relocated to LA to continue expanding her onscreen portfolio, including a role in the 1973 drama “Save The Tiger,” which earned Jack Lemmon a Best Actor Oscar.