Park Overall; Actress and Activist
Park Overall was born March 15, 1957, in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Greeneville, Tennessee. An actress on the big screen and television, Park is known for her trademark heavy Southern accent.
Her parents were Frances Bernard and Thomas Wesley “Jack” Overall, Jr. Her father was a federal magistrate judge, and her mother taught English.
Overall, Park showed an interest in acting at a very young age. She attended Greeneville High School and was a member of the school’s drama club. After high school, Park attended Tusculum University and received a bachelor’s degree in English. She also attended the University of Tennessee for a time.
She toured East Tennessee with a children’s theater group. After graduating college, Park worked several jobs, such as waitressing and teaching English at elementary schools. When Park turned 28, she moved to New York to pursue an acting career. There, she worked at Alexander’s department store out of necessity.
Overall appeared in many off-off-Broadway productions before she landed her Broadway debut as “Rowena” in Neil Simon’s “Biloxi Blues.”
Overall, she is perhaps best known for her breakthrough role as nurse Laverne Todd in the sitcom Empty Nest.
The sitcom aired from 1988 to 1995, and Park appeared in all 170 episodes. Overall said her castmate, the late Richard Mulligan, was a wonderful man, a great mentor, and a true gentleman. She said she and Richard worked great together. Other co-stars were Dinh Manoff, David Leisure, and Kristy McNichol.
Overall provided the voice of Alice Tompkins in “The Critic,” an American primetime adult animated sitcom. In addition to the sitcoms, Overall has appeared in several TV movies and made guest appearances on several TV shows, including a recurring role on the sitcom Reba during the series’ first season.
In 1999, Overall starred in two short-lived TV series, “Katie Joplin” and “Ladies Man.” She also appeared in “Talk Radio”, “In the Family”, and the Academy Award-nominated “Mississippi Burning.”
Park had other roles in Miramax Films’ “House of Cards” with Kathleen Turner and Tommy Lee Jones; MGM’s “Undercover Blues” with Kathleen Turner, Dennis Quaid, and Tom Arnold; TNT’s “Good Old Boys,” directed by Tommy Lee Jones; and “The Stars Fell on Henrietta,” produced by Clint Eastwood and starring Robert Duvall/
Park and Jean Smart co-starred in the CBS movie-of-the-week, “Overkill.” She was featured in the NBC telefilm “The Luck of the Draw: The Gambler Returns,” with Kenny Rogers and Reba McEntire.
In our interview, Overall said she did not miss Hollywood, but she did miss California. Overall, she could be in the mountains, in the desert, or on the beach within an hour of her home, so she thought that was the best of the best.
When it was time to retire, Park Overall returned to her hometown of Greeneville, Tennessee. During our conversation, Park said she loved her home in Greeneville. She could see the mountains, deer, and other wildlife from her home.
In 2012, Park Overall was a United States Senate candidate. She entered the Democratic primary to become the nominee to oppose Republican incumbent Bob Corker. Overall’s political beliefs are rooted in her support for the underprivileged. Despite her acknowledgment of the slim chances of winning, given her progressive views and the fact she was a Democrat, she remained undeterred. She fought a good battle but eventually lost the bid for the senate, but she would remain firm in her commitment to the betterment of society. When I talked with Overall, she said she was very proud of the votes she received in predominantly Republican East Tennessee.
Overall supports many environmental causes affecting East Tennessee. She and others accused a paper company, Champion International, of throwing its waste into the Pigeon River in North Carolina. Tests showed that the river had high levels of dioxins. Environmentalists believed that the high levels of dioxins were the cause of the relatively high rate of cancer deaths in and around Hartford, Tennessee.
She has been a critic of Nuclear Fuel and has filed numerous petitions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Today, Park Overall is actively supporting environmental causes concerning the Nolichucky River.
There is so much more to Park Overall. She is a wonderful, caring person and is proud of her East Tennessee roots.
