Guy Marks

Guy Marks (October 31, 1923 – November 28, 1987 ) was an American actor, comedian, singer and impressionist.

Marks enlisted in the US Army on December 12, 1940, and after serving two years, signed up for a six-year stint in the Merchant Marine.

He sailed around the world, including stops in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Hong Kong.

When he came back to the US, he did various odd jobs, including bus boy, drill press operator, and even selling flowers.

He got into show business by pure accident, when some friends pushed him up onto the stage at Palumbo's in South Philadelphia, where he did impressions of W.C. Fields, Wendell Willkie and The Ink Spots.

He found a partner and worked as a team under the name The Al Mar Brothers, but they soon fumbled and Marks was back doing more odd jobs.

However, he found pickling hams, driving a cab and construction work—his only other options—unfulfilling, so he decided to give New York a try.

While in the Big Apple he rented a room with five other guys including fellow South Philadelphians Eddie Fisher, and Al Martino.

He began working nightclubs in New York, Atlantic City and Chicago, and by the end of the 1950s Marks, Martino and Fisher were all winners on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.

A familiar face on TV sitcoms and variety shows of the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared regularly on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Joey Bishop Show.

He had a natural gift for mimicry, and his impressions of celebrities such as Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Boris Karloff, and many others were considered among the best.

However, he also could imitate a housefly on a slippery oil cloth, neon signs, alligators, driftwood furniture, rubber bands, frozen chickens, frogs, praying mantis, and — his favorite — an ostrich, all of which found their way into his act or in characters he played on TV.

Marks was born Mario Scarpa in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Marks made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 29, 1960.

From that point on he appeared dozens of times throughout the 1960s and 1970s on popular variety shows.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Marks made frequent appearances on The Dean Martin Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Joey Bishop Show; on The Merv Griffin Show alone he appeared a total of 15 times over nine years.

During this time he also continued to work in night clubs all over the country and in Las Vegas, performing alongside Eddie Fisher, Ann-Margret, Sammy Davis, Jr.

and Petula Clark.

His big break came when he was cast as a regular on the 1962–63 season of The Joey Bishop Show.

Marks appeared in the first 19 episodes of the show's second season as Freddy, manager to Bishop's character, when he was suddenly replaced.

Newspapers at the time reported conflict between the show's star Bishop and his second banana Marks.

Bishop denied it in the press, and many years later would go on to have Marks on his popular late-night talk show.

Marks made a memorable appearance in an episode of Dick Van Dyke in 1963 when he played a love interest for Sally, played by Rose Marie.

The episode, entitled "Jilting the Jilter", featured much of Marks' night-club routine at the time.

In May 1964, Marks appeared on The Hollywood Palace to perform another of his famous night-club bits, entitled "How The West Was REALLY Won?".

The skit featured Marks' flawless imitations of Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Robert Mitchum and a Native American Indian.

In 1965 he guest-starred on two science-fiction programs, My Living Doll and My Favorite Martian.

In the latter on an episode called "The Martian's Fair Hobo", Marks plays a hobo named Shorty Smith.

The character allowed Marks to show off his talents for imitating animals and inanimate objects, such as foghorns and frogs.

He was second banana again, in 1967, when he was featured as the American Indian "Pink Cloud" in the 1967 ABC comedy Western Rango, starring Tim Conway.

Despite early favorable reviews, the show lasted only 17 episodes.

In 1969 he appeared on an episode of the popular The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV Series) sitcom, playing a gangster who sounds a lot like Humphrey Bogart.

He ended the decade with an appearance as a thief trying to hold up Lucille Ball on the Here's Lucy show.

In a 1974 episode of The Odd Couple, he portrayed a late-night horror movie host named Igor, who sounded a lot like Boris Karloff.

He was the youngest of 11 children born to Ermelindo and Adelina Scarpa, who had emigrated from Italy to America at the beginning of the 20th century.

Ermelindo was a clarinetist with the RCA recording orchestra under the direction of Josef Pasternack, and went on to name all of his children after the characters in operas.

Mario was named after the hero in La Tosca, an opera his mother admired while she was carrying him.

Other siblings included Victoria, Yolanda, Gioconda, Mafalda, Alba, Melba, Thenistocles (Domisticles) and Aristides.

Two additional older brothers died at ages two and five from scarlet fever.

In school he spent most of his time imitating his teachers and frustrating the principal.