'Kill Bill' and 'Twin Peaks' actor Michael Parks dies at 77

Michael Parks arrives at the LA Premiere Of "Tusk" in Los Angeles on Sept 16, 2014. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK - Michael Parks, a prolific character actor and a favourite of directors Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, has died. He was 77.

Parks' agent, Jane Schulman, says the actor died Tuesday in Los Angeles. No cause of death was announced.

In a career that spanned five decades, Parks acted in more than 100 films and TV shows, including "Twin Peaks." Many of his early starring roles were countercultural 1960s films, including "Wild Seed" and "Bus Riley's Back in Town," alongside Ann-Margret. He starred as a disillusioned, motorcycle-riding newsman in the 1969 series "Then Came Bronson."

Parks' career enjoyed a rebirth thanks to the interest of Tarantino, Smith and Robert Rodriguez. He had memorable parts in Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films, Rodriguez's "From Dusk till Dawn" and Smith's "Tusk."