Davey Marlin-Jones

Davey Marlin-Jones
Born	David Marlin Jones May 8, 1932 Winchester, Indiana
Died	March 2, 2004 (age 71) Las Vegas, Nevada
Categories	Books by Davey Marlin-Jones

Davey Marlin-Jones (b.1932-d.2004) was an American stage director,magician, professor as well as a local television personality.

Biography

Born in Winchester, Indiana, he was known as a tireless advocate for the local stage and theatrical scene in the many places he lived during his long career.

He became interested in magic at age eight when his parents took him to a magic show. By thirteen, he was performing as "Davey Jones, The World's Wackiest Wizard & His Circus of Magic," and at one time was sharing the bill with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

To support his writing and acting careers he started an afternoon kid's program with magic and puppets on WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio called the Davey Jones Show. Next he was in Columbus producing and performing in the TV show "Captain Davey Jones, Skipper of the Good Ship Columbus".

Moving to Washington in 1965, Marlin-Jones worked as a director at the Kennedy Center, as well as the Folger Shakespeare Theater.

From 1970 to 1987, he was a film and arts critic for WUSA-TV (formerly WTOP and WDVM), the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC. During much of that time, he also performed the same duties for WDIV-TV in Detroit. He was known for his eccentric on-air style in reviewing films and theatre and cultural events. One example of his style was the use of index cards when he reviewed films, and he would keep or throw away the card depending on whether he liked or hated the film. He enunciated with theatrical bravura and often wore large black-rimmed glasses and sometimes sported an Alpine hat.

Marlin-Jones created and contributed to the product line of effects marketed by Collectors' Workshop.

With John and Hazel Wentworth, he founded the Washington Theatre Club and directed many of its performances. He was awarded the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (Robert Edwin Lee) Theatre Research Margo Jones Award in 1968.

He was editor of the Sorcerer's Attic from 1987 to 1990, a monthly Magic Periodical devoted to the selling and purchasing of previously-owned magic.

Prior to his death, Marlin-Jones was a Professor of Theater and Playwriting for fifteen years at UNLV. In 1997 he won the "Excellence in Theatre Education Award" from the Board of Governors of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The American College Theater Festival Respondent's Choice Award has been renamed the "Davey Marlin Jones Respondent's Choice Award."

For the last 15 years of his life, he taught theater and playwriting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' College of Fine and Performing Arts.

Books

• Comedy Tricks and Gags (1950)