A Longtime Soap Veteran Frank Parker Dead at 79

You may have known him as Shawn Brady on Days of Our Lives or as Paddy Kelly on General Hospital, but Soap Hub has learned that soap vet Frank Parker has passed away.

The veteran actor passed away on Sunday, September 16, at the age of 79, from complications of Parkinson’s and dementia according to Legacy.com.

Born July 1, 1939 in Darby, Pennsylvania, Parker earned his BA in Acting from Carnegie Tech in 1962 and moved to Culver City in California.

One of his earliest roles was on Gomer Pyle: USMC. From there, he also appeared on The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Hogan’s Heroes, and Mission: Impossible.

But it wasn’t until 1980 when he debuted as Paddy Kelly, Joe Kelly’s father (and the original owner of Kelly’s) that soap audiences took notice of him. Paddy was married to the much younger Rose (Loanne Bishop) but eventually passed away.

In 1983, he was cast as the head of the Brady family on Days of Our Lives. Shawn had a huge impact on his family, with one of his biggest stories involving when he learned that Bo (Peter Reckell) wasn’t his biological son — that in fact, his wife Caroline (Peggy McCay) had cheated on him with Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston).

He remained on the show until 2009, when Shawn passed away and he retired from acting.

On the personal front, Parker, in 1981, married Nola Donelle Rajcok and had three daughters, Candace Donelle (who passed away in 1999) and fraternal twins Danielle Dallas and Lindsay Kyle.

In 2005, he married Mary Jean Dunning Garofalo and resided in Vacaville, California until his death.

Soap Hub sends condolences to his family, friends, and former co-stars during this very sad time.