Marjoe Gortner, the former child evangelist whose life was chronicled in an Oscar-winning documentary and who later pursued a career in Hollywood acting, died October 2 at age 82 from congestive heart failure in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
From Revival Circuits to a $3 Million Fortune
Born Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner on January 14, 1944, in Long Beach, California, his first name combined Mary and Joseph, setting the stage for a dramatic religious upbringing. Because he spoke with remarkable eloquence as a child, his evangelical parents—father Vernon, a minister, and mother Marge—had him ordained as a preacher at the age of four, when he even performed a marriage ceremony for a Paramount newsreel.
Gortner spent his youth touring the United States on the revival circuit, delivering dramatic, gyrating sermons that made him famous across the U.S. The family operation amassed an estimated $3 million fortune from donations collected from devoted followers. However, shortly before Gortner turned 16, his father left with the accumulated money.
The Documentary That Exposed Revival Fraud and Launched a Film Career
Disillusioned with the evangelical movement as he entered his twenties, Gortner moved to New York with aspirations of acting. In 1971, he granted filmmakers Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan access to document his final revival tour. The resulting film, titled Marjoe, pulled back the curtain on how tent preachers manipulated everyday audiences for financial gain. In the documentary, Gortner explained that he studied Mick Jagger as a model for his stage routine, and viewers watched him count collected cash in his hotel room.
premiered at Cannes and won the Oscar for best feature documentary. In the film, Gortner described how evangelists manipulated audiences. The attention led to a contract at Universal Pictures.
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The documentary generated immense buzz. It produced the most electric response of any project at the festival. Vincent Canby described the feature in The New York Times as less of a traditional documentary on revival tent circuits and more of a feature-length screen test for show business.
Roles in Earthquake, Falcon Crest, and Beyond
Gortner’s screen career began under a contract at Universal Pictures when he played a role in The Marcus-Nelson Murders, the 1973 telefilm that served as the pilot for the crime series Kojak. Soon after, he secured a film role: Sgt. Jody Joad in the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, playing an unhinged grocery store manager turned National Guardsman.
His diverse resume over the next two decades included genre pictures, television guest spots, and recurring roles. He starred alongside Lynda Carter in Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976), appeared in the daredevil biopic Viva Knievel! (1977), and toplined the low-budget space adventure Starcrash (1978). He also portrayed a psychopathic, hostage-taking Vietnam veteran in When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder? (1979)—directed by Milton Katselas—and appeared in other projects including Mausoleum (1983), The Survivalist, and Walter Hill’s Wild Bill (1995) as a preacher. During the 1970s and 1980s, his credits extended to Barnaby Jones, Medical Center, Police Story, Laugh-In, Street Hawk, Otherworld, Hotel, T.J. Hooker, and Matt Houston. He was briefly married to American Graffiti actress Candy Clark, with whom he co-starred in When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder? alongside a cast that included Lee Grant, Anne Ramsey, Audra Lindley, Peter Firth, and Hal Linden.
Gortner Supported Charities Before Dying of Heart Failure
Away from soundstages, Gortner dedicated substantial time to philanthropy, producing celebrity sports invitationals and Circus of the Stars specials that raised money for various charities. Fellow actor Ian Ziering remembered him as a force of nature who used his platform to support charitable endeavors.
Gortner is survived by his fifth wife, Susan Magestro, whom he married in 2019 and who confirmed that he spent his final years living with congestive heart failure in New Mexico.
