Marjoe Gortner, Preacher and Actor Who Was Subject of Oscar-Winning Doc and Appeared in ‘Earthquake,’ ‘Falcon Crest,’ Dies at 82

Marjoe Gortner, whose childhood as an evangelical preacher was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary “Marjoe” and who went on to have a career as an actor, died Friday. He was 82.

His wife Susan Magestro told Variety he died in Santa Fe, N.M. Her memorial notice said he had been suffering from years of congestive heart failure. “Marjoe lived an extraordinary life, shaped by his imagination and rare gift for bringing people together,” the statement said.

Actor Ian Ziering remembered him for his charity work, writing, “Marjoe Gortner was a force of nature. He became an evangelist in his teens, an actor in his young adulthood. His life story won an Oscar. I knew him because he produced the Marjoe Gortner celebrity sports invitationals that aired on CBS Saturdays for years. He brought celebrities all over the world to raise money for different charities …This man raised millions and millions of dollars for different charities while providing some of the most incredible celebrity experiences of my lifetime. I will never forget this man, and I will always be appreciative of not just what he did for me, but what he did for everyone who knew him.”

Born in Long Beach, California, in an evangelical family, the name Marjoe is a combination of “Mary” and “Joseph.” His parents pushed him to become a child preacher, staging a photo op for the press when he performed a marriage ceremony at 4 years old. The family traveled around the country preaching and soliciting donations, and when Gortner was 16, his father absconded with what was reported to be $3 million in donations.

In his 20s, Gortner became disillusioned with the evangelical movement and became an aspiring actor in New York.

When he was approached by documentarians Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan, he agreed to let them follow him around on his final revival tour in 1971, partially to help publicize his acting career. The resulting documentary, “Marjoe,” won the Oscar for best documentary. Roger Ebert saw it at the Cannes Film Festival and wrote “The real sleeper this year is ‘Marjoe. It generated the most electric response of anything at the festival.” It attracted considerable attention at the time, though it was later “lost” for many years until Kernochan was able to obtain rights to the film after tracking down the owner.

After making a record “Bad, but Not Evil,” he scored an acting role in the pilot for “Kojak.” Gortner went on to have roles as crazed drug dealers, outlaws, fake psychics and preachers in B movies and on television. In 1974’s “Earthquake,” he was the unhinged grocery store manager turned National Guardsman Sgt. Jody Joad.

He went on to appear in movies including Milton Katselas’ 1969 “When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?,” in which he played a troubled Vietnam veteran. The drama co-starred Candy Clark, to whom he was briefly married the year the film came out.

His other film appearances included “Viva Knieval,!” “Bobbie Joe and the Outlaw,” “The Survivalist,” “Starcrash” and Walter Hill’s “Wild Bill.” During the ’70s and 1980s he appeared on TV series including “Police Story,” “Airwolf,” “T.J. Hooker,” “Street Hawk,” “Otherworld,” “The A Team,” “Fantasy Island” and “Falcon Crest,” as a corrupt psychic.