Theodore Carroll “Theo” Marcuse born August 2, 1920, was an American character actor best known for formidable, often villainous turns across 1950s–60s film and television; born in Seattle and raised in San Francisco, he studied dramatic arts at Stanford University, where he was active on stage and later reported to have earned a master’s in classical literature before turning professional in theater under Guthrie McClintic alongside players such as Charlton Heston and touring in Medea in the late 1940s;
during World War II he served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant aboard the submarine USS Tirante (SS-420)1, receiving the Silver Star for gallantry on the boat’s second war patrol, and as a member of that crew he was among those entitled to the ship’s Presidential Unit Citation for its wartime exploits; after the war he built a busy screen career with guest roles on Perry Mason, Peter Gunn, The Untouchables,
The Twilight Zone (notably “The Trade-Ins” and “To Serve Man”), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Batman, Hogan’s Heroes (as General von Heiner in “The Hostage”), The Wild Wild West, and Star Trek (as Korob in “Catspaw”),
and appeared in features including Hitler (as Julius Streicher), A Tiger Walks, The Cincinnati Kid, Harum Scarum, The Last of the Secret Agents?, and the posthumously released The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz and The Picasso Summer; widely remembered for his bald, imposing look and crisp delivery.
Movies
- The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968) (Posthumous)
- The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
- The Last of the Secret Agents? (1966)
- Harum Scarum (1965)
- The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
- Mara of the Wilderness (1965)
- Sands of Beersheba (1964)
- A Tiger Walks (1964)
- For Love or Money (1963)
- Hitler (1962)
- The Two Little Bears (1961)
- Operation Eichmann (1961)
- Jeanne Eagels (1957)
- The 27th Day (1957)
- The Desperate Women (1954)
TV
- Hey, Hey We’re the Monkees (1997) (Posthumous)
- Insight (1968) (Posthumous)
- Daniel Boone (1968) (Posthumous)
- The Wild Wild West (1966-1968) 3 episodes, 1 Posthumous
- Hogan’s Heroes (1967) (3 episodes)
- The Beverly Hillbillies (1964–1967) 2 episodes
- Star Trek (1967)
- Ironside (1967) TV Movie
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1965–1967) 3 episodes
- The Invaders (1967)
- T.H.E. Cat (1966)
- Walt Disney in The Magical World of Disney (1966) 2 episodes
- The Time Tunnel (1966)
- The Monkees (1966)
- Daktari (1966)
- Batman (1966) 2 episodes
- I Spy (1965)
- Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1965)
- Laredo (1965)
- Get Smart (1965)
- Burke’s Law (1965)
- Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964)
- The Third Man (1959-1964) 2 episodes
- The Outer Limits (1964)
- The Greatest Show on Earth (1963)
- The Untouchables (1960–1963) 5 episodes
- The Loretta Young Show (1962)
- 77 Sunset Strip (1960–1962) 3 episodes
- The Beachcomber (1962) 2 episodes
- The Twilight Zone (1962) 2 episodes
- 87th Precinct (1962)
- Man in the Middle (1961) TV Movie
- Perry Mason (1959–1961) 2 episodes
- Shirley Temple’s Storybook (1961)
- Miami Undercover (1961)
- The Brothers Brannagan (1960-1961) 2 episodes
- Dante (1961)
- Thriller (1961)
- The Roaring 20’s (1960)
- The Case of the Dangerous Robin (1960)
- Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (1960)
- Dan Raven (1960)
- Bonanza (1960)
- The Islanders (1960)
- Peter Gunn (1958–1960) 2 episodes
- Tightrope (1960)
- General Electric Theater (1960)
- Hawaiian Eye (1960)
- Flight (1959)
- The Alaskans (1959)
- Five Fingers (1959)
- Wagon Train (1959)
- Yancy Derringer (1959)
- Mike Hammer (1959)
- U.S. Marshal (1959)
- Behind Closed Doors (1959)
- Have Gun – Will Travel (1957–1959) 4 episodes
- Playhouse 90 (1959)
- Dragnet (1958)
- Goodyear Theatre (1958)
- Man with a Camera (1958)
- The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (1958)
- The Thin Man (1958)
- Telephone Time (1957–1958) 2 episodes
- Official Detective (1958)
- How to Marry a Millionaire (1957)
- Zane Grey Theatre (1957)
- Gunsmoke (1957)
- The Millionaire (1957)
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1952)
- Lights Out (1950)
- The Clock (1950)
His personal life remained private—sources indicate no marriage or children—and on Wednesday, November 29, 1967, he died at age 47 in a traffic collision on a rain-dampened stretch of the Hollywood Freeway when his car struck the
rear of a truck; he was buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California, and was survived by his father, Theodore Meyer Marcuse, and at least one sibling, John Marcuse (his mother, Margaret, had predeceased him).
Footnotes
- USS Tirante (SS-420) was a Tench-class diesel-electric submarine of the United States Navy, commissioned on November 6, 1944, and named for a small fighting fish; under the command of Lieutenant Commander George L. Street III, she made her first war patrol in the East China and Yellow Seas in March–May 1945, where she boldly penetrated enemy harbors and, on April 14, 1945, sank the 4,000-ton transport Juzan Maru off Quelpart Island and the 1,200-ton frigate Nomi near Cheju, while also attacking anchored shipping and avoiding countermeasures, actions that earned Street the Medal of Honor and many crew members—including future actor Theodore Marcuse—the Silver Star and other decorations, while the boat herself was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation; Tirante completed two additional patrols before the end of the war, then operated in peacetime service out of New London and later Key West as part of Submarine Squadron 12, conducting exercises, antisubmarine warfare training, and fleet maneuvers, before being decommissioned on January 1, 1973, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register the same day, ultimately sold for scrapping in 1974. ↩︎
Further Reading
Sources
- Wikipedia “Theo Marcuse” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Marcuse
- IMDB “Theodore Marcuse(1920-1967)” https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0546209/?ref_=fn_all_nme_1
- Wikipedia “USS Tirante” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tirante
