Shaun Parkes — Movies, TV Shows & Roles

Actor

1973-02-09 · Croydon, London, England · Male

25 series in the catalog

Shaun Parkes (born 9 February 1973) is an English television, theatre and film actor, who is best known for his film roles as Koop in Human Traffic, Izzy Buttons in The Mummy Returns (2001), and Frank Crichlow in Small Axe. For his role in Small Axe, he was nominated for a lead actor award at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards. He also played Doctor Charles Burleigh Purvis in the miniseries Death by Lightning.
Biography
At the age of 16, Parkes enrolled at Seltec College to study drama. Two years later, he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
Having acted in both theatre and television support roles, Parkes made his breakthrough in the 1999 film Human Traffic. His work since then includes films such as Clubbed, The Mummy Returns, Things to Do Before You're 30 and the acclaimed Notes on a Scandal.
He is also well-known for his turn as Frank Crichlow, the owner of the Mangrove restaurant at the centre of Steve McQueen's film series Small Axe. For his role in the series, he was nominated for a lead actor award at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards.
Parkes's television work includes Lock, Stock..., Servants and Russell T Davies' Casanova and Doctor Who. Parkes also starred as the lead in BBC Two's detective series Moses Jones, with a supporting cast that included Matt Smith. His most recent turns were as Detective Inspector Vince Ruiz in ITV's The Suspect, and Doctor Charles Burleigh Purvis in the Netflix historical drama miniseries, Death by Lightning.
Parkes also continues to forge a career as a theatre actor. He has starred alongside David Threlfall and Neil Stuke in Joe Penhall's award-winning play Blue/Orange in the West End and in Kwame Kwei-Armah's Elmina's Kitchen and at Shakespeare's Globe as Aaron in Titus Andronicus.
Music
Since 2001, Shaun has been collaborating with the DJ production team AudioFly (Anthony Middleton and Luca Saporito). Together they have been working regularly on dance tracks featuring Parkes' vocals, and are planning to produce a new album.