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Trey Parker

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Trey Parker
Parker at The Amazing Meeting, January 20, 2007
Born
Randolph Severn Parker III

(1969-10-19) October 19, 1969 (age 54)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, director, producer, musician
SpouseEmma Sugiyama (2005–2008)[1]

Trey Parker (born Randolph Severn Parker III; October 19, 1969) is a Tony and Emmy Award winning American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.

Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short titled Jesus vs. Frosty. His first success came from Cannibal! The Musical. From there he made another short titled Jesus vs. Santa, which led him and his college friend, Matt Stone, to create the animated television series South Park, which began airing on television in 1997. He has won 4 Emmy Awards for his role in South Park, winning for both "Outstanding Programming More Than One Hour" and "Outstanding Programming Less Than One Hour".

He has co-written and co-directed the 2011 multi-Tony Award winning musical The Book of Mormon.

Early life

Parker was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Randy (a geologist) and Sharon (an insurance broker). The two share the first names and occupations of South Park characters Randy and Sharon Marsh.[2] He has an older sister named Shelley, which is also the name of Stan Marsh's older sister. In the sixth grade, Parker wrote a sketch titled The Dentist and appeared in his school's talent show. He played the dentist and had a friend play the patient. The plot involved what can go wrong at the dentist; due to the amounts of fake blood involved, Parker's parents were called and were upset. "The kindergartners were all crying and freaking out," Parker recalled.[3] As a teenager, Parker developed a love for musical theatre, and joined the Evergreen Players, a venerable mountain community theater outside of Denver. At 14, he performed his first role as chorus member in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Flower Drum Song and went on to also design sets for the community theater's production of Little Shop of Horrors. Parker attended high school at Evergreen High, where he continued his musical endeavors through starring as Danny Zuko in Grease. He also played piano for the chorus and was president of the choir counsel.[4][5]

Parker worked hard in school and had a part-time student job in a pizza restaurant. Parker was also a "film geek and music buff".[6] Parker grew up in the Conifer, Colorado area, and attended Berklee College of Music before transferring to the University of Colorado, where he majored in music and Japanese.[citation needed]

Career

In 1992, Parker and Stone created Jesus vs. Frosty.[7] It included four boys, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick and Eric Cartman. Both Jesus vs. Frosty and Cannibal! The Musical were made while they were students at the University of Colorado film school, studying under both Stan Brakhage and Jerry Aronson. Afterwards, the two friends set off for Hollywood in hopes of making more movies. Brian Graden, then an executive at Fox, put Parker to work making a pilot for a musical children's television series called Time Warped. The pilot, called "Rom and Jul," was a love story about a Homo erectus and an Australopithecus. Fox passed on the series, but Graden paid Parker and Stone $1,200 to make a new version of The Spirit of Christmas he could send out as a video Christmas card.[3]

They came up with two worthwhile ideas; one a sequel to Jesus vs. Frosty, titled Jesus vs. Santa, and one about a character that would later be recurring in South Park, Mr. Hankey.[8] They chose to write about the four boys. The result was The Spirit of Christmas, an animated short film that centered on four crude-acting, blob-shaped third-grade boys forced to intervene in a nasty fistfight between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus. The tape was a smash, passed around and copied endlessly in media circles in Los Angeles and New York City.[9] The video landed in the hands of Doug Herzog of Comedy Central. "It literally was the funniest thing I'd ever seen," he said in a 2006 interview. "We said, 'Develop a show.' So they went off and developed the show."[3] Stone and Parker produced 13 episodes for season 1. South Park is currently still under contract to produce new episodes through 2016.[10]

In 1997, they also released Orgazmo, a movie rated NC-17. In 1998, they starred in (but did not write or direct) BASEketball, another feature film, while being renewed for a second season of South Park. In 1999, Parker and Stone made South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, which gave the series a new level of prominence.[11] He was nominated for an Academy Award as the co-writer of one of the film's songs, "Blame Canada," but did not win. In 2001, the duo announced they would do 39 shorts between the lengths of 2 and 5 minutes. Although originally thought to be South Park related, they decided they would do something different. The result was the shorts Princess.[12] The content was so extreme that it was cancelled after two shows aired. In 2001, they also created That's My Bush!, another television series. Despite great reviews, the show was cancelled after one season for the cost per episode. In 2004, they made a film, titled Team America: World Police.[13][14] The film was not considered a box-office success, grossing 51 million dollars in theaters, despite largely positive reviews (78% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes.com).[15] As of 2011, South Park is in its fifteenth season.

Parker is also a member of the band DVDA with Stone, for which he plays keyboards and sings. DVDA's songs have appeared in many of the duo's productions. They include Orgazmo, BASEketball, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and Team America: World Police.[16][17][18][19]

Trey claimed to have been on acid with Matt Stone at the time of the 2000 Academy Awards, where they wore dresses popularized by Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow at previous awards shows.[20]

On September 28, 2007, Parker and Stone acquired the rights to the Canadian-made Kenny vs. Spenny, which premiered November 14, 2007 on Comedy Central with ten old and new episodes.[21]

In April 2010, Trey Parker and Matt Stone received a "warning" for allegedly representing the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume: "We have to warn Matt and Trey [South Park creators] that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show."[22] It was revealed in the next episode that the person in the bear costume was really Santa Claus and not the Prophet Muhammad.

Theater productions

Parker and Stone have collaborated with Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez on a musical about Mormons; it is titled The Book of Mormon, and stars Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad.[23] It has been produced by Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino. It opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011, following previews from February 24, 2011.[24] The Book of Mormon won nine Tony Awards in 2011, including that of Best Direction of a Musical for Parker and co-director Casey Nicholaw.

Voices on South Park

Personal life

In 2006, Parker married Emma Sugiyama. The officiant was 1970s sitcom producer Norman Lear.[1][25] That marriage ended, and Parker is now living with a woman and her son.[25][26]

On a September 2006 airing of the ABC news program Nightline, Parker articulated his position on religion. He stated that he believes there is knowledge that humanity may not yet possess, and cautioned that it would take a long time to explain exactly what he meant by his belief in God. Parker further remarked, "Basically ... out of all the ridiculous religion stories which are greatly, wonderfully ridiculous — the silliest one I've ever heard is, 'Yeah ... there's this big giant universe and it's expanding, it's all gonna collapse on itself and we're all just here just 'cause ... just 'cause'. That, to me, is the most ridiculous explanation ever."[27]

Discography

Filmography

Year Production Role Other notes
1992 Jesus vs. Frosty Actor, Producer, Writer
1993 Cannibal! The Musical Director, Actor, Producer, Writer
1995 Jesus vs. Santa Actor, Producer, Writer
Time Warped (un-aired television series) Creator, Actor
Your Studio and You Actor, Writer, Director Cameo
1996 Orgazmo Director, Actor, Writer, Producer
1997 South Park (Television series; 1997–present) Co-Creator, Voice Actor, Writer, Director, Executive Producer
1998 BASEketball Actor
1999 South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Director, Voice Actor, Writer, Producer, Music Co-Composer Nomination - Academy Award for Best Original Song
Terror Firmer Actor
2000 Even If You Don't Director Music Video
2001 Princess Director, Writer, Voice Actor, Producer Animation Shorts
That's My Bush! (Television Series; 2001) Co-creator, Writer, Executive Producer Cameo
2004 Team America: World Police Director, Writer, Voice Actor, Producer
Tales from the Crapper Actor Cameo
2005 The Aristocrats Guest Appearance
2007 Kenny vs. Spenny Executive Producer
2007 Saul of the Mole Men Voice actor Television series, intro sung by him

Awards and Nominations

Tony Awards

Trey Parker has won four Tony Awards.[28]

Emmy Awards

Parker has been nominated for ten Emmy Awards for South Park, winning four.

Grammy Awards

Parker has been nominated for one Grammy Award.

Academy Awards

Parker has been nominated for one Academy Award.

References

  1. ^ a b Leonard, Devin (2006-10-18). "How Trey Parker and Matt Stone made South Park a success". CNNMoney.com. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  2. ^ "Trey Parker Biography". tv.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  3. ^ a b c Devin Leonard (October 27, 2006). "South Park creators haven't lost their edge". CNN. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  4. ^ "Frank Rich's Liner Notes for The Book of Mormon", Playbill, May 20, 2011 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  5. ^ "The Book of Mormon: Colorado's kings of pop-culture subversion", The Denver Post, June 12, 2011 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  6. ^ Paul Harris (April 1, 2007). "Undisputed kings of cartoon satire". The Guardian. Retrieved June 17, 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "The Spirit of Christmas: Jesus vs. Frosty". spscriptorium.com. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  8. ^ "The South Park Timeline". spscriptorium.com. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  9. ^ Ginia Bellafonte (August 18, 1997). "The Next Generation". Time. Retrieved June 17, 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "South Park Extended Through 2016!". Comedy Central Insider. Comedy Central. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  11. ^ "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut". bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  12. ^ "Princess". spschat.com. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  13. ^ "Trey Parker and Matt Stone talk Team America: World Police". movieweb.com. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  14. ^ "Interview with Matt Stone". BBC Movies. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  15. ^ "Team America: World Police (2004)". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  16. ^ "Soundtracks for South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  17. ^ "Soundtracks for Orgazmo". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  18. ^ "Soundtracks for BASEketball". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  19. ^ "Soundtracks for Team America: World Police". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  20. ^ Otto, Jeff. "Interview: Trey Parker and Matt Stone". IGN. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  21. ^ Associated Press (2007-09-28). "Cdn. show hits Comedy Central thanks to South Park creators". cbcnews.ca. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  22. ^ Hassaballa, Hesham (2010-04-26). "Hesham Hassaballa: What would Prophet Muhammad do?". Chicago Tribue. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  23. ^ http://www.bookofmormonbroadway.com/cast.html
  24. ^ "Book of Mormon Play To Hit Broadway". current.com. 2010-04-19. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  25. ^ a b Swanson, Carl. "Latter-Day Saints", New York Magazine, March 6, 2011 , Page 2
  26. ^ Swanson, Carl. "Trey Parker and Matt Stone Talk About Why The Book of Mormon Isn’t Actually Offensive, and the Future of South Park", New York Magazine, March 11, 2011
  27. ^ Jake Tapper and Dan Morris. "Secrets of South Park", Nightline/ABC News, Sept 22, 2006
  28. ^ Johnson, Reed. "Book of Mormon' big winner at Tonys". The Envelope. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  29. ^ "Nominees and Winners". Grammy.com. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  30. ^ "The 72nd Academy Awards (2000) Nominees and Winners". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2011-12-01.

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