Frank Parker, Beloved Days of Our Lives Patriarch, Dead at 79

Days of Our Lives actor Frank Parker, who played Shawn Brady on the NBC soap for nearly a quarter-century, has died from complications of Parkinson’s disease and dementia, our sister site, Deadline, reports. He was 79.

Parker made his Days debut as the Brady patriarch in 1983 and played the role (opposite longtime leading lady Peggy McCay) until his retirement in 2008. On the show, Shawn died during an airplane disaster after giving up his oxygen mask to save his son, Bo.

Additional credits include General Hospital (as diner owner as Paddy Kelly), plus guest stints on Gomer Pyle: USMC, Lost in Space, Daktari and Hogan’s Heroes, Mission: Impossible, Mod Squad, Little House on the Prairie, S.W.A.T., Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Battlestar Galactica and Quincy, M.E..

Stephen Nichols, who played Parker’s onscreen son-in-law Patch on Days, paid tribute to his former co-star on social media late Tuesday. “Rest In Peace Frank Parker,” he wrote. “Good man Good actor. Best TV pop in law. So full of Blarney and Joy! Much love on your Journey.”

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