Sad news today for Fraggle fans everywhere: Gerard Parkes, who played Doc throughout the five-season run of “Fraggle Rock,” has died.
According to what Parkes’ agent Gerry Jordan told The Candian Press, Parkes died of natural causes in a Toronto retirement home, only three days after celebrating his 90th birthday.
Born in 1924, Parkes was best known for his role on “Fraggle Rock” as Doc, an optimistic inventor and tinkerer who lived with his trusty sidekick and dog, Sprocket. Doc’s workshop was one of few connecting points to the caves known as Fraggle Rock, though he very rarely interacted with the Fraggles, not learning of their existence until the very end of the series. Gobo Fraggle would frequently sneak into Doc’s workshop to collect postcards sent to him by his uncle Matt, which Doc would regularly throw away, thinking the postcards were sent to the wrong address.
Parkes reprised the role of Doc in the 1987 television special “A Muppet Family Christmas,” interacting with the likes of Fozzie Bear and Kermit the Frog — more interactions than he had with the Fraggles during the entirety of “Fraggle Rock.”
“He was a funny man,” Jordan told The Canadian Press of the late actor. “Many times we would go for lunch and always be interrupted by somebody asking for his autograph. … He loved the attention.”
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