Monkees’ Peter Tork Dies At 77
• Peter Tork, who became part of a pop culture phenomenon as a member of the massively popular made-for-TV 1960’s pop group The Monkees, died Feb. 21 at the age of 77. According to The Washington Post, Tork’s death was confirmed by his sister Anne Thorkelson, who did not say where or how he died. Tork, who was born Peter Halsten Thorkelsonin Washington, DC on Feb. 13, 1942 was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer affecting his tongue, in 2009. A post on Tork’s Twitter feed read, in part, “It is with beyond-heavy and broken hearts that we share the devastating news that our friend, mentor, teacher, and amazing soul, Peter Tork, has passed from this world.” Tork’s Monkees bandmate Mickey Dolenz tweeted, “There are no words right now… heartbroken over the loss of my Monkee brother, Peter Tork.”
If the Monkees were a manufactured version of the Beatles, a “prefab four” who auditioned for a rock-and-roll sitcom and were selected more for their long-haired good looks than their musical abilities, Tork filled the role of the group’s Ringo, its lovably goofy supporting player. Created by producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, The Monkees was designed to replicate the freewheeling tone of the Beatles’ movies, A Hard Day’s Night and Help!, both directed by Richard Lester. A versatile multi-instrumentalist, Tork mostly played bass and keyboard for the Monkees, alongside Michael Nesmith, a Texas-born singer-songwriter who played guitar, and former child actors Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones, who played the drums and sang lead, respectively. Jones died in 2012.
Interestingly, Tork landed his role in The Monkees after his friend Stephen Stills auditioned — answering an ad in Variety calling for “4 Insane Boys, Ages 17-21.” When Stills didn’t get the part — reportedly due to his bad teeth — he suggested Tork audition. At the age of 24, Tork was the band’s oldest member when The Monkees premiered on NBC in 1966.
The Monkees ran for only two seasons but won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy and spawned a frenzy of merchandising, record sales and world tours that became known as “Monkeemania.” In 1967, according to one report in The Washington Post, the Monkees sold 35 million albums — “twice as many as the Beatles and Rolling Stones combined” — on the strength of hits like “Daydream Believer,” “I’m a Believer” and “Last Train to Clarksville,” which all hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Almost all of their early material was penned by a stable of legendary songwriters that included Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, David Gates, Neil Sedaka, Jeff Barry, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and most of their early hits were performed by studio musicians, with Jones, Dolenz, Nesmith and Tork supplying the vocals.
Tork is survived by his wife, Pamela Grapes; a daughter, Hallie, from his second marriage; a son, Ivan, from his third marriage; a daughter, Erica, from a relationship with Tammy Sustek; a brother and a sister.
