Timothy Britten Parker

Timothy Britten Parker, also known as Toby Parker, is an American actor born on February 8, 1962, in Iowa City, Iowa. The eldest child of Barbara (née Keck) and Stephen Parker, he grew up alongside seven siblings, three brothers and four sisters, several of whom pursued careers in the entertainment industry, among them Sarah Jessica Parker and Pippin Parker. Following his parents' divorce, his mother married Paul Forste, and the family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Parker and his sister studied ballet on full scholarship at the Cincinnati Ballet. The household, which eventually included four additional Forste children, was one in which television was discouraged and reading was actively encouraged. Parker and his siblings also performed together in a touring production of The Sound of Music before the family moved to New York City in the late 1970s as the children began pursuing professional careers.

Parker made his Broadway debut in October 1976 as an understudy in a revival of The Innocents at the Morosco Theatre, a production adapted and directed by Harold Pinter. Two years later, he was cast in Runaways, which originated at The Public Theater before transferring to Broadway's Plymouth Theatre. In 1992, he appeared in the original cast of The Visit at Criterion Center Stage Right, taking on the roles of Ottilie Schill, Pedro Cabral, and Wechsler. In 1996, Parker joined the Broadway company of Rent, performing alongside Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, and Idina Menzel. His roles in the production included Gordon in "Life Support," the man in "Christmas Bells," and Mr. Grey in "La Vie Boheme," among others. His performances are preserved on the original Broadway cast recording, and he appeared with the cast at the 1996 Tony Awards, where the show performed "Seasons of Love" and "La Vie Boheme" on the evening Rent won four awards, including Best Musical. Parker later participated in one-night concerts marking the production's fifth and tenth anniversaries, and he joined the original cast onstage for the final Broadway performance of Rent, when the original and closing casts together performed an encore of "Seasons of Love."

A significant portion of Parker's career has been devoted to the role of Doctor Dillamond in the musical Wicked. He originated the character on the First National US Tour, which began previews in Toronto on March 9, 2005, and opened March 31 of that year. He departed that company on March 5, 2006, to join the Chicago sit-down production, replacing Steven Skybell on March 28, 2006, and remaining through December 10, 2006. Parker then originated the role in the Los Angeles sit-down production, which began previews on February 10, 2007, and opened February 21, with his final performance there on May 25, 2008. He subsequently joined the Broadway production on September 2, 2008, again replacing Skybell, and on October 27, 2008, he participated in The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken, a one-night benefit performance marking Wicked's fifth anniversary. After more than two years in the Broadway company, a tenure that made him the longest-running Broadway Dillamond at that time, he played his final performance in that engagement on October 31, 2010. Following a year away from the role, Parker returned to Doctor Dillamond in the Second National US Tour, replacing Martin Moran on December 20, 2011, and concluding on September 30, 2012. From March 20 through April 14, 2013, he covered the role in the First National Tour in the absence of Clifton Davis, returning to the company where he had originated the character in 2005. On September 23, 2014, he rejoined the Broadway production, replacing K. Todd Freeman, and played his final performance on January 31, 2016.

Beyond his stage work, Parker has maintained a recurring role as a Forensics Technician on Law & Order since 1991, a series on which his Rent castmate Jesse L. Martin also appeared. His film credits include Marshall Fine in Gold Coast, Bill in The Last Supper, and the M.C./King of Comedy in Joey Breaker. In 1986, Parker co-founded Naked Angels Theater Company in New York City alongside eleven other theater artists, including his brother Pippin Parker. The company operated out of a former picture-frame factory on Seventeenth Street and drew performers including Marisa Tomei, Fisher Stevens, Gina Gershon, and Matthew Broderick. Parker married Tiffany Denise Hayzlett on June 12, 2004, in Staatsburg, New York. Hayzlett worked as a producer and production manager on Sex and the City and the series Vinyl.