What is "parker"

Parker \Park"er\, n. The keeper of a park.
--Sir M. Hale.

n. 1 a park-keeper 2 someone who parks a motor vehicle

Parker is a fictional character created by Donald E. Westlake. He is the main protagonist of 24 of the 28 novels Westlake wrote under the pseudonym Richard Stark.

Parker may refer:

Parker is a surname of English origin, derived from Old French with the meaning "keeper of the park". "Parker" was also a nickname given to gamekeepers in medieval England. It is the 48th-most common surname in England. Within the United States, it is ranked as the 47th-most common surname.

Notable persons with the name include:

Parker (first name and dates unknown) was an English professional cricketer.

Parker is a 1985 British crime film directed by Jim Goddard and starring Bryan Brown, Cherie Lunghi and Kurt Raab.

Parker is a rather uncommon English language masculine or feminine unisex given name of Old English origin, meaning "park keeper", hence also an Old English occupational surname. Parker was more common in the 19th century as a personal name than it is now. The name has variants.

People with the given name include:

• Parker Burrell (born 1937), Canadian politician
• Parker Cleaveland (1780–1858), American geologist and mineralogist
• Parker Fennelly (1891–1988), American actor
• Parker Gispert (born 1982), American, lead singer of The Whigs
• Parker Griffith, American politician
• Parker Hall (1916–2005), American football player
• Parker Jacobs, American artist, actor and musician
• Parker Johnstone (born 1961), American racecar driver
• Parker MacDonald (born 1933), Canadian professional ice hockey player
• Parker McKenzie (1897–1999), American linguist, oldest living Kiowa Native American
• Parker McLachlin (born 1979), American professional golfer
• Parker Mitchell, Canadian co-founder of Engineers Without Borders
• Parker Posey (born 1968), American actress
• Parker Cannon, lead singer of The Story So Far
• Parker Sage, American founder of Black Legion
• Parker Stevenson (born 1952), American actor
• Parker Lewis, Television show character, portrayed by Corin Nemec

Parker is a 2013 American action crime thriller film directed by Taylor Hackford. Starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, the film is adapted from Flashfire, the 19th Parker novel, written by Donald Westlake under the pen name Richard Stark.

Primarily set in Palm Beach, Florida, the film revolves around professional thief Parker (Statham), who is double-crossed by his crew. He sets out for revenge on them, helped by a real-estate agent (Lopez) in a quest to steal what his former accomplices intend to rob at a jewelry heist.

Parker marked a departure for Hackford, who hoped to make it his first film noir. The film, produced on a "mid-30s" budget, was conceived following Westlake's 2008 death, when producer Les Alexander secured the rights to it.

It premiered in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 24, 2013, and was released in the United States on January 25. Reviews were generally mixed, leaning towards the negative, with many film critics feeling that it was a poor adaptation of the book, and typical of Statham's sub-par action films of the past few years. Others found Statham well-fitted for the role of Parker and praised Lopez for providing comedic relief. It grossed $48.5 million worldwide at the box office.