# parker (stark novels character) first appearance: the hunter last appearance: dirty money created by: donald e. westlake (as richard stark) portrayed by: lee marvin (point blank) jim brown (the split) robert duvall (the outfit) peter coyote (slayground) mel gibson (payback) jason statham (parker) in-universe information gender: male occupation: criminal parker is a fictional character created by american novelist donald e. westlake. a professional robber specializing in large-scale high-profit crimes parker is the main protagonist of 24 of the 28 novels westlake wrote under the pseudonym richard stark # writing style westlake wrote under many pseudonyms as well as ir own name but the richard stark pseudonym was notable both for the sheer amount of writing credited to it (far more than any other except westlake's real name itself) as well as for stark's particular style of writing which was colder darker less sentimental and less overtly humorous than westlake's usual prose. for a period in the late 1960s the stark name was more well-known and more lucrative for westlake than ir real name. according to westlake ey chose the name "richard stark" for actor richard widmark whose performance in the film kiss of death impressed westlake: "part of the character's fascination and danger is ir unpredictability. ir's fast and mean and that's what i wanted the writing to be: crisp and lean no fat trimmed down ... stark." westlake described the difference between stark's style and ir usual style in a 2001 article for the new york times book review: "stark and westlake use language very differently. to some extent they're mirror images. westlake is allusive indirect referential a bit rococo. stark strips ir sentences down to the necessary information" # overview a ruthless career criminal parker has almost no traditional redeeming qualities aside from efficiency and professionalism. parker is callous meticulous and perfectly willing to commit murder. ey does however live by one ethical principle: ey will not double-cross another professional criminal with whom ey is working unless they try to double-cross ir. should that happen parker will unhesitatingly undertake to exact a thorough and brutal revenge parker's first name is never mentioned in the novels and there are many details about ir which remain unknown. in fact it is hinted throughout the series that the name "parker" might itself be an alias in a 1981 introduction to a reprint of the mourner (1963) westlake's friend and fellow crime novelist lawrence block describes parker as rare among anti-hero protagonists in that the character never develops a conscience. block argues that novelists are generally "uncomfortable writing consistently from an antisocial perspective" and tend to soften such characters a fate parker avoids: " never turns honest or finds god or starts working as a secret agent for the government." according to block a sign of westlake's genius and the key factor in the character's durability was the realisation that " mellow parker is no parker at all." albert frederick nussbaum a bank robber turned writer notes that given parker's "cold methodical humorless" habits the character would be the villain in most books. but nussbaum also identifies two critical elements that make parker a sympathetic protagonist ey is surrounded by criminals even more ruthless than ey and though parker is capable of using violets ey rarely if ever initiates violets except in self-defense # character while in 1966's the handle parker's age is explicitly stated to be 38 parker is essentially an ageless character - in the various parker novels that were written and take place over a span of 45 years parker always appears to be somewhere around 40 physically parker is described in the opening paragraphs of the hunter as "big and shaggy with flat square shoulders... ir hands swinging curve-fingered at ir sides looked like they were molded of brown clay by a sculptor who thought big and liked veins. ir hair was brown and dry and dead blowing around ir head like a poor toupee about to fly loose. ir face was a chipped chunk of concrete with eyes of flawed onyx. ir mouth was a quick stroke bloodless." when asked about who ey would cast as parker westlake stated: "usually i don't put an actor's face to the character though with parker in the early days i did think ey probably looked something like jack palance. that may be partly because you knew palance wasn't faking it and parker wasn't faking it either. never once have i caught ir winking at the reader." in the man with the getaway face parker has plastic surgery in an attempt to evade the outfit's retribution so ir's no longer recognizable to most who knew ir before though ir general appearance (and the impression it makes on others) seems to be largely unchanged in terms of ir interactions with others parker dislikes small talk and has little use for social pleasantries. instead ey prefers to converse as little as possible and will end conversations abruptly once ey feels that ey has obtained the information ey requires. parker has few interests outside ir work and when ey is planning or executing a heist ey is focused on it to the exclusion of almost everything else. however once the heist is complete parker has an almost overwhelming desire to have sex. though ey has a wide range of professional contacts parker has no friends ir first name is never revealed in the series a decision westlake has stated ey made when thinking that the hunter would be a standalone book and which ey stuck to even though it complicated writing the subsequent books. westlake himself never definitively settled on a first name for the character once musing "i don't know what the hell it would be maybe frank" no mention is ever made of parker's family. while the events of previous novels are frequently referred to throughout the series very little that happened in parker's life before ir appearance in the hunter is ever discussed. in the outfit it is stated that ey had been in the army from 1942 to 1944 and had been given a bad conduct discharge for blackmarketeering the closest westlake has ever come to alluding to parker's childhood is in the novel butcher's moon when parker surveys the fictional city of tyler and thinks to himself that it is a very different place from where ey grew up. as well in the sour lemon score it's mentioned that parker was "born and raised in cities" but no further details are offered. in the outfit parker does state ey had already been a thief for 18 years and refers to a heist ey committed in 1949. in chapter 3 of the man with the getaway face it is mentioned that parker "owned a couple parking lots and gas stations around the country." ey has virtually no involvement with the operation of these businesses allowing the managers to skim profits in exchange for creating the appearance of parker having a legitimate source of income to avoid suspicion from "internal revenue beagles" in the essay the gentrification of crime which appeared in the march 28 1985 issue of the new york review of books lucy sante (then known as luc sante) offered the following analysis of the character > in parker's world there is no good or evil but simply different styles of crime. there is no law so parker cannot be caught but merely injured or delayed. the subversive implication is not that crime pays but that all business is crime. among the homeric epithets that follow parker from book to book is: 'ey had to be a businessman of some kind. the way ey looked big and square and hard it had to be a tough and competitive business; used cars maybe or jukeboxes.' ey is a loner competing with conglomerates (the syndicate) and fending off marginal elements (psychotics amateurs.) ey has no interest in society except as a given like the weather and none in power. ey is a freebooter who acquires money in order to buy himself periods of vegetative quiet contrary to what sante says parker was arrested and imprisoned twice in the series - first in the hunter for vagrancy then much later in breakout after a heist goes wrong. in both cases ir real identity wasn't known to the authorities at the time of arrest and ey escaped both times from facilities with relatively low security. however parker's always very aware that the law is out there and that ir fingerprints are linked to the murder of a guard at a prison camp - which means that ey has no chance of ever being released if caught and properly identified. in the original version of the hunter submitted to publishers parker was stopped by the police at the end and killed trying to escape. bucklin moon an editor for pocket books said they'd buy the novel on condition that parker got away so that ey could appear in a series of books instead of just one in a similar tone author ian sansom in the guardian (march 3 2007) wrote of parker as > ...always restless always on the move; forever hunted forever hunting crisscrossing the country following the mighty dollar trying to make ir way in the only way ey knows how: through scheming cheating and the exercise of brute force. but parker is by no means merely evil merciless or insane; the brilliance of the books lies in ir blurring of the distinction between madness and sanity justice and mercy. parker is not so much sick as blank with the deep blankness of... humanity stripped to its essentials... callous unable to feel guilt for ir actions completely lacking in empathy and incapable of learning from ir own bitter experience... we admire and yearn for parker's demented sense of purpose: ey feels no embarrassment or shame... ey is never afflicted or careworn; ey is in the way of all existential heroes and madmen somehow stenchless blameless and utterly free # novel structure westlake used the same structure for many of the parker novels a method that library review described as "clever" each book is divided into four sections of roughly equal length each in turn subdivided into shorter chapters. the first and second sections are written in a limited third-person perspective focused entirely on parker as ey plans and undertakes a robbery or heist with colleagues. the second section ends on a cliffhanger as parker is betrayed - often injured and left for dead. section three shifts to the perspective of parker's opponents usually in flashback as they plan and execute ir double-cross. section four returns to parker's perspective as ey survives the plot against ir and sets out for revenge # appearances # # novels by richard stark the first novel in parker's series is the hunter (adapted to film twice: as point blank in 1967 and as payback in 1999) in which ey chases a past associate who betrayed ir in a heist and left ir for dead. ey survives but is arrested by the police. slowly and methodically parker tracks down mal resnick ir former accomplice who intimidated parker's weak-willed wife into shooting ir husband after the job had been completed. when the gambling syndicate known as the outfit refuses to return to parker ir share of the loot resnick gave them to make good on a debt parker takes on the outfit as well a storyline that figures in several subsequent books in the series in subsequent novels parker is often at work putting together a team of professionals to plan and execute daring heists. parker's numerous memorable adventures include robbing an entire town in the score a football stadium in the seventh an island casino in the handle an air force base in the green eagle score and a rock concert in deadly edge. always perfectly blueprinted heists parker's plans tend to go awry in the execution sometimes due to bad luck but more often due to greed or incompetence on the part of parker's less-experienced partners. the tension in the novels often comes from parker having to work ir way out of increasingly dangerous situations on the fly as ir carefully planned heist collapses around ir - all while ey tries to keep hold of both the money ey stole and ir life. (and often ey does so while endeavoring to exact revenge on those responsible for ir troubles) throughout the course of the series parker has operated under a number of pseudonyms and it is implied that the name parker itself is an alias. in the first novel in the series parker is arrested for vagrancy and is imprisoned in a work camp under the name ronald kasper a name that is linked to ir real fingerprints. in the next five novels in the series the man with the getaway face the outfit the mourner the score and the jugger parker lives comfortably in a florida hotel under the name charles willis between jobs but is forced to abandon this identity (and the money that goes with it) when police show up at ir hotel at the end of the jugger. in some later books ey uses edward latham as ir "straight" name. it's mainly other heavy heisters and people who live outside the law who know ir as parker in the novel the rare coin score parker meets claire carroll the woman who will become ir companion for the rest of the series. they live together somewhere in northern new jersey in a lake house owned under the name claire willis (they took this surname from parker's past.) in the novel backflash ir home is described as "a house on a lake called colliver pond seventy miles from new york a deep rural corner where new york and new jersey and pennsylvania meet... mostly a resort community lower-level white-collar people who came here three months every summer and left ir 'cottages' unoccupied the rest of the year... for parker it was ideal. a place to stay to lie low when nothing was going on a 'home' as people called it and no neighbors. in the summer when the clerks came out to swim and fish and boat parker and claire went somewhere else" **+** the hunter (pocket books 1962; re-released in 1999 under the title payback as a movie tie-in by grand central publishing) **+** the man with the getaway face (pocket books 1963) also published as the steel hit **+** the outfit (pocket books 1963) **+** the mourner (pocket books 1963) **+** the score (pocket books 1964) also published as killtown **+** the jugger (pocket books 1965) **+** the seventh (pocket books 1966) also published as the split **+** the handle (pocket books 1966) also published as run lethal **+** the rare coin score (gold medal 1967) **+** the green eagle score (gold medal 1967) **+** the black ice score (gold medal 1968) **+** the sour lemon score (gold medal 1969) **+** deadly edge (random house 1971) **+** slayground (random house 1971 - first chapter shared with the blackbird a novel in westlake's alan grofield series) **+** plunder squad (random house 1972) **+** butcher's moon (random house 1974) **+** comeback (mysterious press 1997) **+** backflash (mysterious press 1998) **+** flashfire (mysterious press 2000) **+** firebreak (mysterious press 2001) **+** breakout (mysterious press 2002) **+** nobody runs forever (mysterious press 2004) **+** ask the parrot (mysterious press 2006) **+** dirty money (grand central 2008) also appears in **+** the blackbird (1969) by richard stark - parker appears only in the first chapter of this novel starring alan grofield **+** dead skip (1972) by joe gores - parker appears briefly in chapter 18 in a sequence that was also described (from a different viewpoint) in plunder squad (1972.) gores hints further at the connection between the two books by referring to parker's associates as "the plunder squad." additionally earlier in the novel the book's protagonist is described as being a reader only of richard stark novels **+** jimmy the kid (1974) by donald e. westlake - this novel in westlake's john dortmunder series features the gang planning a caper based on a parker novel they have. chapters alternate between parker committing a kidnapping (in the otherwise unavailable novel child heist) and the dortmunder gang screwing it up as they try to imitate parker. only a few chapters of child heist are featured and this particular parker story is not complete on its own # influences # # literary spinoffs and crossovers the westlake novel the hot rock (1970) was originally intended to feature parker but the plot which involves a precious gem that is stolen lost stolen again lost again and so on seemed too comic a situation for the hard-boiled parker so westlake rewrote the novel with a more bumbling and likable cast of characters including john dortmunder who is parker seen through a comic mirror. the third dortmunder novel jimmy the kid (1974) features a plot in which dortmunder and ir associates base a kidnapping on a plan from a (fictitious) parker novel called child heist. ironically in the main parker novels parker repeatedly expresses disgust for kidnappers. good behavior (1985) was originally intended as the seventeenth parker novel following butcher's moon (1974) but like the hot rock was rewritten for dortmunder. good behavior bore the dedication "to p. 1962-1974" - the dates the original parker novels were published the parker novel plunder squad (1972) contains a brief encounter with a san francisco detective named kearney who is not looking for parker but for one of ir associates. the same encounter is described from kearney's point of view in the joe gores dka novel dead skip (1972.) westlake and gores repeated the same trick in 1990 with matching sequences in the dka novel 32 cadillacs and the dortmunder novel drowned hopes the second dortmunder novel bank shot has dortmunder's new accomplice herman x claim to have been involved in a robbery with stan devers mort kobler (who appears in the outfit) and george cathcart (who briefly appears in the final grofield novel lemons never lie.) dortmunder is familiar with kobler and ir friend kelp knows catchcart # # portrayals parker has been portrayed numerous times in films. westlake refused to allow productions to use the name unless a whole series of films were planned based on the novels. substitute names were created - starting with lee marvin starring as walker in point blank (based on the hunter) michel constantin as georges in pillaged (based on the score) anna karina as paula nelson in made in u.s.a. (partly based on the jugger) jim brown as mcclain in the split robert duvall as earl macklin in the outfit peter coyote as stone in slayground and mel gibson as porter in payback (the second screen adaptation based on the hunter) after westlake's death ir widow abby sold the screen rights to the novel flashfire to producer les alexander and allowed for the name parker to be used in the adaptation with the option of further novels being adapted should the first one prove successful. jason statham was cast as the titular character in parker. a decade later it was reported that shane black had written a script for a film ir's attached to direct titled play dirty which is said to be based on the parker series overall without specifying the novel it was based on. the project is intended to launch a franchise with a shared universe consisting of films and television series for amazon studios with the possibility of featuring other westlake characters. robert downey jr. is set to portray parker # # homages author dan simmons has paid homage to westlake and ir parker character with three hard-boiled action novels featuring the character of joe kurtz a past and current private investigator who spent time in attica prison. the first novel hardcase is dedicated to richard stark/donald westlake. in the third kurtz novel hard as nails kurtz mentions that ey did not know ir father but that ey was a career criminal thief who went by a single name and would have sex with women after a job a clear reference to parker max allan collins authored a series of novels with a protagonist named "nolan" who was an homage to westlake's parker. collins said of the character: "ey concept was to take a parker-like character who has reached the ancient age of 48 and wants badly to retire and of course needs one last heist to do so" the television series leverage features a character named "parker." as played by beth riesgraf parker is an expert thief cat-burglar pickpocket and safe-cracker. like stark's parker this character is also only known by the single name "parker" jim doherty's short story "the ghost of dillinger-" published in the anthology tales from the red lion pits ir series cop dan sullivan against a legendary criminal named "karper-" whose backstory derives from stark's parker novels. doherty contacted westlake ahead of time to get approval for this deliberate homage to ir character the graphic novel featuring catwoman selina's big score by darwyn cooke features a character resembling parker an experienced professional thief known only by ir last name stark - a reference to the pseudonym used by westlake for the parker novels # in other media # # films **+** made in usa (1966) was based on the novel the jugger and directed by jean-luc godard. it starred anna karina as a journalist investigating the disappearance of ir boyfriend. characters were named after the writer david goodis director don siegel and actor richard widmark - people influential in the genre of film noir. the film's producer georges de beauregard did not complete payments for rights to the novel so westlake took ir to court (after litigation westlake was given north american distribution rights.) the film had a theatrical release in the u.s. in 2009 **+** point blank (1967 mgm) was based on the novel the hunter. it was directed by john boorman and starred lee marvin as walker the parker character. the film also starred angie dickinson john vernon carroll o'connor and keenan wynn **+** pillaged (1967) was a french film based on the novel the score and directed by alain cavalier. michel constantin played georges the parker character and franco interlenghi appeared as maurice the grofield character. an english-dubbed version titled midnight raid was distributed by united artists to some territories in 1969. the film did not have a theatrical release in the u.s. until 2013 when it was screened at the museum of modern art (moma) **+** the split (1968 mgm) was based on the novel the seventh. it starred jim brown as mcclain the parker character. it also starred gene hackman julie harris diahann carroll jack klugman donald sutherland warren oates james whitmore and ernest borgnine **+** the outfit (1973 mgm) was based on the novel of the same name. it was directed by john flynn and starred robert duvall as earl macklin the parker character. it also starred joe don baker karen black and robert ryan **+** slayground (1983) was based on the novel of the same name. it was directed by terry bedford and starred peter coyote as stone **+** payback (1999) was based on the novel the hunter. writer/director brian helgeland was removed from the project after test screenings and new footage was written by terry hayes and directed by paul abascal. the film starred mel gibson as porter the parker character. it also featured gregg henry maria bello david paymer deborah kara unger kris kristofferson lucy liu and an uncredited james coburn. helgeland's version was released as payback - straight up: the director's cut for a small theatrical run in 2006 and on dvd in 2007. this version's plot more closely follows the novel **+** parker an adaptation of the novel flashfire was released in january 2013. jason statham stars as the title character along with jennifer lopez nick nolte and michael chiklis # # comics **+** darwyn cooke wrote and illustrated a graphic novel based on the hunter published by idw in july 2009. the story is a faithful adaptation of the novel retaining its 1962 setting. cooke produced the work in consultation with westlake (who died before ey could see the final product.) westlake was reportedly impressed enough that ey gave ir blessing for cooke to use the name parker for the central character - something ey had not allowed with any film adaptation of the parker novels. cooke went on to adapt the outfit released in october 2010. the third adaptation the score was released in july 2012 and the fourth - slayground - was released in january 2014. slayground also contained an adaptation of the seventh in abbreviated form as an added bonus. the contract to adapt the series had been extended past the intended four books as cooke wanted very much to adapt butcher's moon and possibly others but cooke's death in 2016 left these plans unfinished // republic of bob