Look back at the leading ladies of the s who made their mark with iconic roles and some major hairstyles, too. See the gallery. Looking for something to watch?

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After a brief change of pace as an idealist politician in the TV series Mr. Smith Goes to Washington —63 , Parker returned to the frontier in Daniel Boone —70 , several episodes of which he produced and directed. Parker served in the U. His movie appearances included supporting roles in such films as the western Thunder over the Plains , the science-fiction cult hit Them! Parker retired from acting in the early s and became a successful California real-estate developer; in he opened the Fess Parker Winery in Los Olivos, Calif. Fess Parker.
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Fess Elisha Parker Jr. Parker Jr. He enlisted in the U. Navy in the latter part of World War II , [6] [7] hoping to become a pilot. He was finally transferred to the United States Marine Corps as a radio operator and shipped out for the South Pacific shortly before the atom bomb ended the war. After an automobile collision, he was stabbed in the neck by the other driver during an argument. One of his roommates there was the future actor L. Parker graduated from UT in with a degree in history. He had been initiated into the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
A former college athlete at the University of Texas, Fess studied drama in the early fifties and debuted in Springfield Rifle He made only a handful of movies until he was signed by Walt Disney to star in the "Davy Crockett" series. When Walt was looking for an actor to play the part of Davy, he screened the sci-fi movie Them! When he saw Fess in a scene, he chose him over Arness and Fess became an instant celebrity when "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" debuted in But the craze ended almost as fast as it started in , and Fess was typecast. Fess appeared in other Disney movies dealing with the early years of Davey and also in non-Crockett parts such as Old Yeller By , unable to achieve the success that he had gained as Crockett, his career had leveled off. He made guest appearances on a number of television shows, but his attempted return to television in the series Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was not successful.