Charles Parnell

A veteran of both television and the national stage, Charles Parnell's rugged frame and resonant voice were put to excellent use on series like the post-apocalyptic drama "The Last Ship" (TNT, 2014- ).

Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood, Parnell began appearing on screen in 1999, logging minor roles as men of authority - police officers, ministers and the like - on series like "Sex and the City" (HBO, 1999-2004) and "Third Watch" (NBC, 1999-2005). In 2005, he began a three-year stint as police chief Derek Frye on "All My Children" (ABC/The Online Network, 1970-2013) while continuing his work as a guest actor and also employing his stage-trained voice in animated series like "The Venture Brothers" (Adult Swim, 2003- ), which cast him as Jefferson Twilight, a vampire hunter with the verbal ire of Samuel L. Jackson. Parnell also earned excellent notices and an Image Award nomination as a police detective contending with his daughter's maturity in the indie feature "Pariah" (2011), but television remained his most consistent showcase, thanks to multiple appearances on top-rated series like "CSI: Miami" (CBS, 2002-2012) and narration for reality programs like "North Woods Law" (Discovery Channel, 2012- ). In 2014, he joined the cast of the Michael Bay-produced action/science fiction series "The Last Ship." Parnell played Chief Petty Officer Russell Jeter, the senior enlisted sailor and unofficial chaplain for a Naval vessel and its crew, which searched for a cure for a global pandemic.