Tork grew up in Connecticut, and in the mid-1960s as part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York City, he befriended musician Stephen Stills.

He was the son of Virginia Hope (née Straus) and Halsten John Thorkelson, an economics professor at the University of Connecticut.

[7][8][9][10] Tork began studying piano at the age of nine, showing an aptitude for music by learning to play several different instruments, including the banjo, acoustic bass, and guitar.

He attended Carleton College before he moved to New York City, where he became part of the folk music scene in Greenwich Village during the first half of the 1960s.

[12] Tork was chosen along with musician Michael Nesmith, actor/musician Micky Dolenz, and Davy Jones (who was already under contract to Screen Gems).

On the show, he was relegated to acting as the "lovable dummy", a persona he had developed as a folk singer in Greenwich Village.

Tork commented that Davy Jones was a good drummer, and had the live performance lineups been based solely on playing ability, it should have been him on guitar, Nesmith on bass, and Jones on drums, with Micky Dolenz taking the fronting role (instead of Nesmith on guitar, Tork on bass, and Dolenz on drums).

In 1967, free from Don Kirshner's restrictions, Tork contributed instrumental flourishes, such as the piano introduction to "Daydream Believer" and the banjo part on "You Told Me", as well as exploring occasional songwriting with the likes of "For Pete's Sake" and "Lady's Baby".

Tork was close to his maternal grandmother, Catherine McGuire Straus, staying with her sometimes during his Greenwich Village days and after he became a Monkee.

"Grams" was one of his most ardent supporters and managed his fan club, often writing personal letters to members and visiting music stores to make sure they carried Monkees records.

The band finished a Far East tour in October 1968 (where Tork's copy of Naked Lunch was confiscated by Australian Customs[15]) and then filmed an NBC television special, 33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee.

No longer getting the group dynamic he wanted, and pleading "exhaustion" from the grueling schedule, Tork bought out the remaining four years of his contract for $160,000, leaving him with little income.

[16] In the DVD commentary for the 33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee TV special – originally broadcast April 14, 1969 – Dolenz noted that Nesmith gave Tork a gold watch as a going-away present, with the engraving "From the guys down at work."

He was a banjo player from Greenwich Village who was made into an actor and finally decided that he didn't want to be a Marx Brother forever.

"[16] During a trip to London in December 1967, Tork contributed banjo to George Harrison's soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall.

[17] Tork's brief five-string banjo piece can be heard 16 minutes into the film, as Professor Collins (Jack MacGowran) is caught by his mother while spying on his neighbor Penny Lane (Jane Birkin).

I ran out of money and told the band members, 'I can't support us as a crew anymore, you'll just have to find your own way.

'"[24] Tork's record and movie production entity, the Breakthrough Influence Company (BRINCO), also failed to launch, despite such talent as future Little Feat guitarist Lowell George.

Tork returned to southern California in the mid-1970s, where he married, had a son, and took a job teaching at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood for a year and a half.

He spent a total of three years as a teacher of music, social studies, math, French and history, and coached baseball at several schools.

[17] On July 4, 1976, Tork joined Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart onstage at Disneyland for a guest appearance during their concert tour.

With George Dispigno as an engineer, Horgan produced the six tracks, which included two Monkees covers, "Shades of Gray" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday".

He also did some club performances and live television appearances, including taking part in a "Win a Date With Peter Tork" bit on Late Night with David Letterman in July 1982.

The quartet performed live in the United Kingdom in 1997, but for several years following, only the trio of Tork, Dolenz, and Jones toured together.

The trio of Monkees parted ways in 2001 following a public feud, then reunited in 2011 for a series of 45th-anniversary concerts in England and the United States.

In 2001, Tork took time out from touring to appear in a leading role in the short film Mixed Signals, written and directed by John Graziano.

[35] In 2012, Tork joined Dolenz and Nesmith on a Monkees tour in honor of the 45th anniversary of their album Headquarters, as well as in tribute to the late Jones.

[37] He was married four times, with marriages to Jody Babb,[38] Reine Stewart, and Barbara Iannoli, all ending in divorce.

[41] On March 3, 2009, Tork reported on his website that he had been diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare, slow-growing form of head and neck cancer.

"[48] Dolenz expressed his grief via Twitter, saying "There are no words right now...heartbroken over the loss of my Monkee brother, Peter Tork.