Theodore Marcuse: Character Actor Destined for Greatness, Cut Down in His Prime

Theodore Marcuse
Theodore Marcuse

Theodore Marcuse brought gravitas to the decidedly airy, unsubstantial world of 1960s television.

Theodore Marcuse cross-sectioned the world network TV at that time. Name a show, he was there:  Star Trek, Hogan’s Heroes, The Untouchables, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Wild Wild West, and far more.

Marcuse was a bald, ballsy, confident, and quite mysterious actor who was destined for greatness but was cut down in his prime by a car accident in 1967.

In one scene from The Twilight Zone, watch how Marcuse, as a briefly sympathetic gangster, milks the scene with the silence, eye movements, a twitch of the mouth:

Theo Marcuse Had Serious Classical Theater Chops

Theo Marcuse Oedipus Rex

Two phrases thrown around about actors are “classically trained” and “does his own stunts.” Both are usually PR. But Marcuse was definitely classically trained.

Only three weeks before his death, he directed Oedipus Rex at CalTech’s Beckman Stage.

Every theater season, Marcuse acted at the Ashland (Oregon) Shakespeare Festival.

In 1949, he directed a production of Medea in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Directly after the war, his New York debut was in the role of Dimitrios in Antony and Cleopatra.

Marcuse Was Born in Seattle Washington

Marcuse Birth Record
Marcuse Birth Record

Theodore Marcuse was born August 5, 1920 at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, according to the “T. Marcuse” birth notice in the Seattle Star.

His father owned a fur shop in Seattle with Jean Klementis called Klementis-Marcuse Company.  According to Fur Age, they specialized in “making furs to order and in remodeling and repairing.”

Marcuse Served with Distinction During WW II

Theodore Marcuse U.S. Navy Photo
Theodore Marcuse U.S. Navy Photo

Marcuse is in the upper row, right side. He served from 1944-1946 aboard the submarine USS Tirante (SS-420).  He was awarded the Silver Star for bravery.

Correspondence With Poet Robinson Jeffers

Robinson Jeffers to Marcuse

Where Marcuse Lived

It is unclear whether 6659 Bonair Place, Hollywood even exists anymore.  Los Angeles County Property Assessor records list a 6666 and a 6671 Bonair Place.  The 6659 designation appears on records, but it appears to have been subsumed by 6659 Whitley Terrace.

Theodore Marcuse home, 6659 Bonair Place, Hollywood, California
Theodore Marcuse home, 6659 Bonair Place, Hollywood, California

Marcuse Died in 1967

Theodore Marcuse Death Notice L.A. Times December 2, 1967
Theodore Marcuse Death Notice L.A. Times December 2, 1967

Not much is known about Marcuse’s death. I have searched for information about Marcuse’s supposed November 29, 1967 traffic accident in Los Angeles and came up empty.  The Los Angeles Times lists no corresponding traffic accident for that day or days following.

Aside from a Pierce Brothers Mortuary death notice, there is a Eureka (California) Times-Standard article, reading:

Theodore Marcuse Death
Theodore Marcuse Death

By Lee Wallender

Deception, influence, fakes, illusions, themed environments, simulations, secret places, secret infrastructure, imagined places, dreamscapes, movie sets and props, evasions, camouflage, studio backlots, miniatures.

Leave a comment