{{Short description|Jamaican-American actor}} {{moreref|date= December 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} {{infobox person |birth_date = |birth_place = Kingston, Jamaica |occupation = Actor |alma_mater = Cornell University }} '''Evan Dexter O'Neal Parke''' is a Jamaican-American actor. He is best known for his role as Hayes in ''King Kong''.
==Early life, family and education== {{expand-section| date= December 2025}} Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, he was raised in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and then on Long Island, New York.<ref name= "BF Django">{{cite web| url= https://www.blackfilm.com/read/evan-parke-joins-django-unchained/ | website= blackfilm.com| title= Evan Parke Joins Quentin Tarantino Fiim Django Unchained| date= 2012-02-10| publisher= | access-date= 2025-12-26}}</ref>
He was an economics major at Cornell University. He later earned a masters degree from Yale School of Drama.<ref name= "BF Django" /> In 1997, Parke attended the New York Film Academy, focusing on film producing. This was funded with a William & Eva Fox Foundation Fellowship.<ref name= "BF Django" />
==Career== His onscreen performances began on television with a role on the soap opera ''All My Children''<ref name= "BF Django" /> but also he performed in movies such as ''The Cider House Rules''. Since 2014 his focus has been television.
Parke's stage performances include ''Colored People's Time'', ''The Old Settler'' and ''The Lion King'' on Broadway.<ref name= "BF Django" />
He played Hayes in ''King Kong''. In 2018 he was cast in the unsold pilot ''Salvage''.<ref>{{cite news |title='Salvage': Joelle Carter & Evan Parke Join ABC Drama Pilot |first=Denise |last=Petski |date=2018-03-08 |work=Deadline Hollywood |url=https://deadline.com/2018/03/salvage-joelle-carter-evan-parke-abc-drama-pilot-1202319201/ |access-date=2023-03-28}}</ref>
==Filmography== {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| *''The Cider House Rules'' (1999) - Jack *''The Replacements'' (2000) - Malcolm La Mont *''Planet of the Apes'' (2001) - Gunnar *''Nightstalker'' (2002) - Lieutenant Mayberry *''Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang'' (2005) - Dexter Clinic Guard *''Fellowship'' (2005) - Second Homeless Man *''King Kong'' (2005) - Benjamin "Ben" Hayes *''The Air I Breathe'' (2007) - Danny *''Insanitarium'' (2008) - Charles *''All Roads Lead Home'' (2008) - Basham *''Django Unchained'' (2012) - Baghead *''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' (2014) - S.H.I.E.L.D Agent }}
==Television== {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| *''All My Children'' (1997–1998) - Rafe *''As the World Turns'' (1999) - Judge Blanchard *''Alias'' (2001–2002) - Charlie *''Brother's Keeper'' (2002) - Junior *''Second String'' (2002) - Mumms *''L.A. Dragnet''<!--- renamed from just Dragnet for second season, his only season ---> (2003–2004) - Detective Raymond Cooper *''Charmed'' (2005) - Kahn *''E-Ring'' (2005) Kamal *''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (2006) - Gorro *''Without a Trace'' (2007) - Frank Cole *''Desperate Housewives'' (2010) - Derek Yeager *''The Young and the Restless'' (2010–2012) - District Attorney, Spencer Walsh *''Blue Bloods'' (2017) - Duwan Brown *''The Blacklist'' (2018) - Detective Norman Singleton *''Tell me a Story'' (2019) - Ken Morris *''Star Trek: Picard'' (2020) - Tenqem Adrev *''The First Lady'' (2022) - Allen Taylor<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/the-first-lady-regina-taylor-michelle-obamas-mother-showtime-anthology-series-saniyya-sidney-evan-parke-julian-deniro-1234733489/|title='The First Lady': Regina Taylor To Play Michelle Obama's Mother In Showtime Anthology Series; Saniyya Sidney, 2 More Cast|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Denise|last=Petski|date=April 13, 2021|access-date=April 13, 2021}}</ref> *''Good Sam'' (2022) - Byron Kingsley }}
==Video games== *''Peter Jackson's King Kong'' (2005) - Benjamin "Ben" Hayes *''Detroit: Become Human'' (2018) - Luther
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parke, Evan}} Category:20th-century American male actors Category:20th-century Jamaican male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category:21st-century Jamaican male actors Category:Cornell Big Red football players Category:David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni Category:Jamaican emigrants to the United States Category:Jamaican male film actors Category:Jamaican male television actors Category:Living people Category:Male actors from Brooklyn Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
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