Historical Figure
Chan Parker
1925–1999
Jazz enthusiast and common-law wife of saxophonist Charlie Parker (1925–1999)
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Biography
Chan Woods, was a common-law wife of jazz musician Charlie Parker. She later married musician Phil Woods.
Timeline
The story of Chan Parker, told in moments.
Born Beverly Delores Berg in New York City. Her father produced vaudeville shows. Her mother danced in Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic. She adopted the name Chan Richardson and became a nightclub dancer.
Moved in with Charlie Parker on New York's Lower East Side. They never legally married because Parker hadn't ended a prior marriage. They had two children together, Baird and Pree.
Their daughter Pree died at two and a half from pneumonia related to a congenital heart defect.
Two years after Parker's death, married saxophonist Phil Woods and moved to France. She spent most of her remaining years there.
Died of cancer at 74 in Etampes, France. Her memoir My Life in E-Flat was published the same year.
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