Hildy Parks

Hildy Parks (March 12, 1926 – October 7, 2004) was an American actress, television writer, and Broadway performer born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Cleo (Scanland) and Steve McNeil Parks. Her career spanned stage, screen, and television across several decades, and she was also recognized as a book writer for Broadway productions.

Parks made her Broadway debut in Bathsheba in 1947 and remained active on Broadway through 1957, accumulating credits in more than two dozen productions. Among her stage appearances were Be Your Age, Magnolia Alley, To Dorothy, A Son, and Parade of Stars Playing the Palace. In 1984 she received a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.

Her television work began prominently with the daytime soap opera Love of Life, on which she portrayed Ellie Crown from the program's premiere in 1951 through 1955. Parks also appeared in a number of prime-time dramatic anthology series of the era, including Armstrong Circle Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, Kraft Television Theatre, and Studio One, and served as a recurring panelist on the game shows To Tell the Truth and Down You Go.

Parks made her film debut in The Night Holds Terror in 1955, appearing opposite Jack Kelly and Vince Edwards. Her subsequent film appearances were limited, including roles in Fail-Safe, Seven Days in May, and The Group, all released in the mid-1960s.

Parks was married first to actor Jackie Cooper. Her second marriage was to Broadway producer Alexander H. Cohen, with whom she had two sons and a daughter. Together, Parks and Cohen produced televised broadcasts of the ACE Awards, the Tony Awards, and the Emmy Awards. Parks also wrote the CBS: On the Air retrospective, a week-long program marking the network's 50th anniversary.

Parks died on October 7, 2004, at the age of 78 at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, following complications from a stroke.