Biography
While Beloit College may have been a mere punch line to a joke for the editors of the old
National Lampoon, it was Dear Old Alma Mater to actor Jameson Parker. The son of a U.S. diplomat, Parker had wanted to get into Harvard like most of the rest of the men in his family, but his track record of getting kicked out of exclusive schools all over the world hardly worked in his favor. Inaugurating his theatrical career in a touring Passion Play, Parker began showing up on TV in the mid-1970s in miniseries like
79 Park Avenue and
Once an Eagle, and in films like
The Bell Jar (1979). On the soap-opera circuit, he enjoyed substantial runs as Brad Vernon in
One Life to Live and Dale Robinson in
Somerset. Jameson Parker's chief claim to fame was the role of clean-cut private eye Andrew Jackson (A.J.) Simon on the long running (1981-88) TV series
Simon and Simon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide