Trey Parker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Trey Parker
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Parker at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con
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| Born |
Randolph Severn Parker III
October 19, 1969 Conifer, Colorado, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Colorado Boulder (BA) |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1992–present |
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Works
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Filmography and awards |
| Spouse(s) |
Emma Sugiyama
(m. 2006; div. 2008)Boogie Tillmon
(m. 2014; div. 2019) |
| Children | 1 |
Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and composer. He is famous for creating the TV show South Park (which started in 1997) and the musical The Book of Mormon (which started in 2011). He worked on both with his creative partner, Matt Stone.
Trey Parker has won many awards for his work. He has five Primetime Emmy Awards for South Park. For The Book of Mormon, he won four Tony Awards and a Grammy Award. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for the song "Blame Canada" from the South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut movie.
Contents
Early Life and Creative Beginnings
Trey Parker was born in Conifer, Colorado. His mom, Sharon, sold insurance, and his dad, Randolph "Randy" Parker, was a geologist. As a child, Trey was quiet but got good grades. He loved watching Monty Python on TV, which inspired him a lot.
When he was in sixth grade, Trey wrote a play called The Dentist. He acted in his school's talent show. The play had a lot of fake blood, which made some younger kids cry!
Trey always dreamed of working in film and music. He started making short films with friends when he was 14. His dad bought him a video camera, and they kept making movies until they graduated high school. At 17, he became interested in making funny songs. He even recorded a comedy album with his friend David Goodman.
Trey also loved musical theatre. He joined a local theater group called the Evergreen Players. In high school, he was very popular because he played piano for the choir and was its president. He often played the main roles in school plays and was even prom king!
After high school, Trey went to the University of Colorado at Boulder. There, he met Matt Stone in a film class. They started making short films together almost every week. Trey used a special paper animation style for his film American History (1992). This film was a big hit and won him a Student Academy Award.
Trey Parker's Career Journey
First Big Projects
Cannibal! The Musical (1992–1994)
In 1992, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and their friends started a film company. Their first animated short was Jesus vs. Frosty (1992). It was about a fight between a religious figure and Frosty the Snowman.
Later, they made a short preview for a fake movie called Alferd Packer: The Musical. Students at their university loved it! So, their film professor told them to make it into a full movie. Trey wrote the script and created ten original songs for it. They raised money from family and friends to make the film. Trey also starred in, directed, and produced the movie.
Alferd Packer: The Musical first showed in 1993. A company called Troma Entertainment bought it in 1996 and renamed it Cannibal! The Musical. After Trey and Matt became famous, this movie became a "cult classic." It has even been turned into a stage play!
The Spirit of Christmas (1995–1997)
After Cannibal!, Trey and Matt moved to Los Angeles. They hoped to become successful quickly, but it was tough at first.
They made a short film called The Spirit of Christmas (also known as Jesus vs. Santa). This film became one of the first "viral videos" when it was shared online. Many people in Hollywood saw it.
Because of this short film, Trey and Matt started talking about making a TV show called South Park. They first offered it to Fox, but the network said no. Then, Comedy Central saw the short film and decided to make it into a series. Trey wanted Comedy Central because he didn't want the show to become too "kid-friendly" like MTV might make it.
The Success of South Park
The first episode of South Park cost $300,000 to make. It took about three months to finish. Like their earlier short films, it was made using traditional cut paper stop-motion techniques.
South Park first aired in August 1997. It quickly became one of the most popular shows on cable TV. Trey Parker and Matt Stone became famous because of its success.
Even though early reviews were mixed, South Park has won many awards. These include five Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. It is still one of the highest-rated shows on Comedy Central. The show's twenty-third season started in September 2019.
Other TV and Film Projects
That's My Bush! (2000–2001)
In 2000, Trey and Matt planned a TV comedy show about the winner of the 2000 presidential election. They thought Al Gore would win, so they called the show Everybody Loves Al. Their main goal was to make fun of typical TV comedy shows, not politics.
The show, called That's My Bush!, aired in 2001. It got a lot of attention, but it was very expensive to make. Comedy Central canceled it because of the high cost. Trey believed the show wouldn't have worked well after the September 11 attacks anyway.
Team America: World Police (2002–2004)
In 2002, Trey and Matt started working on Team America: World Police. This movie made fun of big action films and their common clichés. It was inspired by the 1960s British puppet show, Thunderbirds.
Team America used puppets and had a crew of about 200 people. Sometimes, it took four people to control just one puppet! Even simple actions, like a character drinking, could take half a day to film. Making the movie was very hard for Trey and Matt. But when it came out in October, reviews were good, and the movie did well.
Broadway and Future Plans
The Book of Mormon
While working on Team America, Trey Parker and Matt Stone started creating a musical about Mormonism. They worked with writer-composer Robert Lopez. Lopez was a fan of South Park. They met and came up with the idea for the musical.
The musical, called The Book of Mormon, took several years to create. They often flew between New York City and Los Angeles. They started writing songs for it in 2006.
The Book of Mormon first showed on Broadway in New York on March 24, 2011. Critics loved the story, music, acting, and direction. The musical won nine Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. The show has since been performed in many cities around the world.
Important Studios and Future Projects
With money from South Park and The Book of Mormon, Trey and Matt announced plans for their own production studio in 2013. It was called Important Studios. This studio would help create new films, TV shows, and theater projects.
In 2016, Universal Pictures announced that Trey Parker would voice the bad guy, Balthazar Bratt, in the movie Despicable Me 3. This was the first time Trey voiced a character that he and Matt Stone didn't write themselves.
In 2022, it was announced that Trey Parker and Matt Stone would produce a new film. It's a live-action comedy about racial issues. This movie is expected to start filming in 2024.
Trey Parker's Personal Life
Trey Parker married Emma Sugiyama in 2006, but they divorced in 2008.
Later, he started a relationship with Boogie Tillmon. They married in 2014. Trey became a stepfather through this marriage. Their daughter, Betty Boogie Parker, was born in 2013. The couple divorced in 2019, but they still work together to raise their child.
Trey Parker lives in Los Angeles, California. He also owns homes in other places like Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Kauai, Hawaii.
Trey Parker's Music Albums
Soundtrack Albums
- Chef Aid: The South Park Album (1998)
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
- Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics (1999)
- Team America: World Police (2004)
Cast Recording Album
- The Book of Mormon: Original Broadway Cast Recording (2011)
Trey Parker's Filmography
- Cannibal! The Musical (1993)
- Orgazmo (1997)
- BASEketball (1998)
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
- Terror Firmer (1999)
- Run Ronnie Run! (2002)
- Team America: World Police (2004)
- The Aristocrats (2005)
- Despicable Me 3 (2017)
- Whitney Springs (2025)
See also
In Spanish: Trey Parker para niños
