Walter F. Parkes Biography

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WALTER F. PARKES (Producer) is one of today's most active motion picture producers, in addition to being the co-head of DreamWorks Pictures with his wife and partner Laurie MacDonald. Parkes most recently produced the fantasy adventure hit “Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events,” starring Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep and Jude Law under the direction of Brad Silberling.

Parkes' upcoming films as a producer include and “The Legend of Zorro,” the sequel to the earlier hit “The Mask of Zorro,” which reunites Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones; the futuristic action thriller “The Island,” directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson; and the tentatively titled “Just Like Heaven,” which stars Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo under the direction of Mark Waters.

Together with MacDonald, Parkes previously produced “The Ring,” directed by Gore Verbinski, which became one of 2002's biggest sleeper hits. That same year, Parkes served as a producer on “Minority Report,” starring Tom Cruise, and “Catch Me If You Can,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, both for director Steven Spielberg. He and MacDonald more recently produced Spielberg's comedy drama “The Terminal,” starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They also produced the sequel “Men in Black II,” which re-teamed stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld. The couple had earlier produced the 1997 blockbuster “Men in Black,” for which they were named ShoWest Producers of the Year.

Parkes' additional credits as an executive producer or producer include the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning Best Picture “Gladiator,” Sam Mendes' “Road to Perdition,” the Jackie Chan starrer “The Tuxedo,” the recent remake of “The Time Machine,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “Deep Impact,” “Amistad,” “The Peacemaker,” “Sneakers,” which he also co-wrote, “Volunteers,” “Project X” and “True Believer.”

As co-head of DreamWorks Pictures, Parkes has also overseen such successes as Michael Mann's dramatic thriller “Collateral,” starring Tom Cruise; the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning Best Picture “American Beauty”; and the Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning drama “Saving Private Ryan,” which was the top-grossing film domestically of 1998.

A three-time Academy Award nominee, Parkes earned his first nomination as the director/producer of the 1978 documentary “California Reich,” which exposed neo-Nazi activities in California. He garnered his second Oscar nomination for writing (with Lawrence Lasker) the original screenplay for “WarGames,” and his third nod for his work as a producer on the Best Picture nominee “Awakenings.”