Corey Parker is being honored in tributes from his fans and acting students after dying at 60 following an aggressive cancer.
Corey was the son of performer and acting coach Rocky Parker, to whom “Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey was married from 1987 to 1994, making him Dempsey’s former stepson. Rocky died at 74 of lung and throat cancer in 2014, per Tyla.com.
Corey was known best known for his roles on “Will & Grace,” where he had a 5-episode arc as Grace’s boyfriend Josh, and in the 1985 film “Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning” as Pete.
Dempsey guest-starred on “Will & Grace” in season 3.
Fans & Friends Fondly Remember Corey Parker
Fans are leaving comments on Parker’s final Instagram post, an August 2025 announcement about upcoming acting class. One showed appreciation for his performance in the 1989 film “How I Got Into College,” calling it “one of my childhood comfort movies” before writing, “I’m so sorry. R.I.P.”
Another fan shouted out the same film on a video of Parker speaking about his classed, “Rest in power, buddy. I will always recommend ‘How I Got Into College’ as it is a undervalued film that is really a treasure.”
A friend, casting director Risa Bramon Garcia, wrote a lengthy message looking back on their times together. It reads in part, “I have known and loved you for the past 45 years, since our E.S.T days in NY as hungry wild artists. You were a massive part of my creative work, my creative family, for decades.”
Garcia also praised several of Parker’s shining qualities, writing, “And so we celebrate your incredible talent, your unparalleled passion and joy in the work and in your family, your huge gift for and devotion to teaching (which kept you going throughout), your generosity, your love.”
Corey Parker Gave Several Updates Throughout His Brave Cancer Journey
As he battled the aggressive cancer, Corey kept fans and friends updates via messages on a GoFundMe page that was set up to help his family, whom organizers said was “now navigating the financial strain of self-pay medical bills, while continuing to work full-time, all while supporting Corey as he fights this battle.”
In February 2025, her shared he had lost 30 pounds after hypercalcemia put him in the hospital. That April, he revealed he had stage 4 prostate cancer with metastases in his bones. In June, he shared a a hopeful message, writing that “the oncologist and the orthopedic surgeon are really happy with where I am at. I am walking without a walker; I am walking without a cane.”
However, in October, he announced his health had sharply decline after the hormone blockers that appeared to be helping had stopped working. “He cancer has been growing and spreading all this time and now covers an area of my bones from my skull down to my femurs,” he wrote.
Despite the painful struggle he was going through, Corey made sure to show thanks and gratitude to his GoFundMe contributors with each post. In his last update, shared in February 2026, he wrote, “The generosity and care that everyone has shown me and my family has meant everything.”
You’re so awesome! I don’t believe I have read a single thing like that before. So great to find someone with some original thoughts on this topic. Really.. thank you for starting this up. This website is something that is needed on the internet, someone with a little originality!
If Dempsey was married to Corey’s mom then he would be his stepson not son-in-law!! What? Really?! 🙄