LOS ANGELES - Actor Fess Parker, who became every baby boomer's idol in the 1950s and launched a craze for coonskin caps as television's Davy Crockett, died Thursday of natural causes. He was 85.
Family spokeswoman Sao Anash said Parker, who also was TV's Daniel Boone and later a major California winemaker and developer, died at his Santa Ynez Valley home. His death came on the 84th birthday of his wife of 50 years, Marcella.
"She's a wreck," Anash said, adding that Parker was coherent just minutes before his death.
The first installment of "Davy Crockett," with Buddy Ebsen as Crockett's sidekick, debuted in December 1954 as part of the "Disneyland" TV show.
The 6-foot-6-inch Parker was quickly embraced by youngsters as the man in a coonskin cap who stood for the spirit of the American frontier. Boomers gripped by the Crockett craze scooped up Davy lunchboxes, toy Old Betsy rifles, buckskin shirts and trademark fur caps. "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" ("Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee ...") was a No. 1 hit for singer Bill Hayes. Parker's own version reached No. 5.
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The first three television episodes were turned into a theatrical film, "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier," in 1955.
True to history, Disney killed off its hero in the third episode, "Davy Crockett at the Alamo," where the real-life Crockett died in 1836 at age 49. But spurred by popular demand, Disney brought back the Crockett character for some episodes in the 1955-56 season, including "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race."
But just as suddenly as it had taken the country by storm, the craze died.
Parker's career then leveled off before he made a TV comeback from 1964 to 1970 in the title role of the TV adventure series "Daniel Boone" - also based on a real-life American frontiersman.
After "Daniel Boone," Parker largely retired from show business, except for guest appearances, and went into real estate.
