Fess Parker died this week. He was 85 years old. The growing number of U.S. expats in Costa Rica may recall a little of the Fess Parker phenomenon of their childhood. His legacy will forever be based on his T.V. portrayal of a real life American hero, Daniel Boone.

Could Fess Parker have ever known how many millions of little boys, including me and my brother, all across the U.S. in the magic years that were the 1950s, would forever carry his 6 foot 6 inch tall image in their dreams and childhood memories along with coonskin hats, flintlock rifles and rubber bowie knives?

It’s a mixed blessing for an actor, to be cast in such a perfect role because who would want to hire Daniel Boone for anything else? We knew that he wasn’t real but what we saw every week inside that Glade polished furniture-sized box sitting in our living rooms became synthesized into our essence---helped make us internally, what we grew up to be.

The timing of the 1950s television heroes, like Davy Crockett was perfect---no home computers, video games or cable T.V.---nothing to distract from the world of good guys and bad, right and wrong, good and evil. We had many to choose from; The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Bat Masterson, The Rifleman, Maverick, Paladin, Cheyenne, The Swamp Fox, Zorro, Mighty Mouse, Superman, Hopalong Cassidy, James T. West and Wyatt Earp and others.

The Daniel Boone series was a Walt Disney produced show so it was Fess Parker, dressed in buckskin and coonskin cap, riding a tall horse, who led the Disneyland opening day parade July 17th, 1955 in temperatures over a “Global Warming” 100 degrees.

Along with his T.V. sidekick Buddy Ebsen, the pair performed a production of “Old Betsy” in front of ABC cameras that were covering the event live at “the happiest place on earth”. Here’s a link to see the actual singing and dancing live number (bonus points if you know who the man in the white suit is-FYI, he'll be 98 years old on July 17th) ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvKV37VbJYk 

For me, the Fess Parker/Daniel Boone primary experience led to hours of wonderful adventure stories of Hawkeye, the skilled “Native American” who could move through a forest without a sound, never leaving a trace, in the Leatherstocking series of books by James Fenimore Cooper.

Many years later, we even tasted some of Parker's own estate bottled wine at his beautiful vineyards in Central California one unforgettable afternoon. We didn’t see Daniel Boone that day but we spotted his coonskin cap embossed in gold on every bottle.
Rest in Peace Fess Parker.