Chan Parker

Chan Woods (born Beverly Delores Berg,[1] also known as Chan Richardson; 29 June 1925 – 9 September 1999),[2] was a common-law wife of jazz musician Charlie Parker. She later married musician Phil Woods.

Chan Woods
BornBeverly Delores Berg
29 June 1925
New York City, New York, U.S.
Died9 September 1999 (aged 74)
Étampes, France
SpouseCharlie Parker; Phil Woods
Children5

She was born in New York City to an inter-religious couple; her father, a producer of vaudeville shows, was Jewish, while her mother, a dancer in Florenz Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic, was not. Adopting the name "Chan Richardson," Parker became a nightclub dancer.[3] An early jazz enthusiast, she was romantically connected in the 1940s and early 1950s with jazz musicians Johnny Bothwell and later Don Lanphere.[4]

Chan met Charlie Parker in the 1940s, but their friendship was not romantic until around 1950. Chan and Charlie lived together in a common law relationship on New York's Lower East Side for the last five years of Charlie's life, from 1950 to 1955. However, Charlie had not formally terminated a prior marriage. Chan already had one child, her daughter Kim, at the time they established their household; together, Chan and Charlie had had two more children, Baird and Pree. Although they never legally wed, Chan took Charlie's surname, as did all the children. Their relationship was dealt a severe blow with the 1953 death of their 2-1/2 year old daughter, Pree, from pneumonia related to a congenital heart defect.[5]

Later years and death

Charlie Parker died just a year and a week after their daughter, in 1955, not long before he would have turned 35.[6] Two years after Parker's death, Chan married saxophonist Phil Woods and moved to France, where she spent much of the rest of her life. She had another daughter from his marriage, Aimée Francesca Woods (1961-1993). In 1981, Chan helped write and edit a book of photographs of Charlie Parker titled To Bird with Love[7][8] and later wrote the autobiographical memoir My Life in E-Flat.[9] The second book was published in 1999, the year of her death from cancer, aged 74, in Étampes, France.[10]

Just before her death, Chan was interviewed by Ken Burns, and she is seen posthumously in Episode 8 of Burns' 2001 documentary Jazz.[11]

Chan Parker was the mother of jazz vocalist Kim Parker (b 1947).[12] Chan and Charlie's son Baird lived until 2014.[13]

References
  1. "Chan Parker". Bird Lives: The Life of Charlie Parker, Jr. birdlives.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  2. "Index record for Chan Woods Social Security Death Index". fold3 by Ancestry. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  3. "My Life in E-Flat: Chan Parker". University of South Carolina Press. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  4. Siders, Harvey. "Don Lanphere" Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, JazzTimes, March 2002; accessed 4 June 2015.
  5. Burns, Ken. "Featured Video: Risk". Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. Public Broadcasting Service. Event occurs at 1:41. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  6. A PBS interview of Parker for the documentary Jazz
  7. Parker, Chan; Paudras, Francis (1981). To Bird with love. WIZLOV. ISBN 978-2903577001.
  8. Ratliff, Ben (17 December 1997). "Francis Paudras, 62, Patron of Jazz Pianist Bud Powell". New York Times. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  9. Parker, Chan (1999). My Life in E-Flat. Univ. of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-245-9.
  10. "Chan Parker, 74, Known as Jazzman's Wife". The New York Times. 19 September 1999.
  11. Burns, Ken. "Featured Video: Risk". Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. Public Broadcasting Service. Event occurs at 1:41−1:44. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  12. Yanow, Scott. "Kim Parker". AllMusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  13. Charles Baird Parker 61 Son of Jazz Great. Philly.com. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
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