Nate Parker

Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in Beyond the Lights, Red Tails, The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters, Arbitrage, Non-Stop, Felon, and Pride.

He made his debut as a director with his drama film, The Birth of a Nation, in which he also starred. It made history at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival when Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired the distribution rights for $17.5 million, breaking the record for the most paid for a Sundance Film Festival production. It surpassed Little Miss Sunshine, which ten years earlier had been acquired by Searchlight for $10 million. The film was ultimately unsuccessful in wide release and did not receive acclaim. Its reception was affected by news of rape allegations made against Parker.

Parker was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to Carolyn Whitfield, a 17-year-old single mother. Although she did not marry his biological father, Parker had a relationship with his father until the man died from cancer when Parker was 11. Carolyn married after the birth of her son, and her husband gave Parker his surname. The couple divorced.

Carolyn married again, to Walter Whitford, who was in the United States Air Force and was stationed in Bath, Maine. Parker has four younger sisters.

At the age of 14, after problems at home with his stepfather Walter, Parker moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia to live with his maternal uncle, Jay Combs. Combs, a former wrestler, encouraged Parker to join the wrestling team at Princess Anne High School. He then attended Churchland High School and continued on their wrestling team. Lastly, he attended Great Bridge High School before attending Penn State University on a wrestling scholarship in 1999.

Parker placed third in the Virginia High School League state wrestling championships as a junior while attending Churchland High School. Parker's mother moved to the Great Bridge High School district so Parker could participate in its wrestling program. He was a member of the 1997–98 state champion Great Bridge wrestling team and was a state champion 135-pound (61 kg) wrestler who placed third in the High School National Wrestling Championships, while becoming a high school All-American.

Parker earned a full scholarship to wrestle at Penn State University. At Penn State, Parker was nationally ranked as a freshman.

After transferring to the University of Oklahoma, Parker continued to be ranked as a redshirt junior 141-pound (64 kg) wrestler. In 2002, Parker placed fifth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association wrestling championships and became an All-American at Oklahoma. Following his fifth-place finish, he was ranked second nationally as a redshirt senior.