Richard Henry Marx (April 12, 1924 – August 12, 1997) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist and arranger. He also composed for film, television, and commercials.

Personal life

Marx and wife Ruth (née Guildoo) had a son,

Richard Marx Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Marx's first number one success as a songwriter came in 1984 with " What About Me?", which was recorded by Kenny Rogers ...

, pop singer, songwriter, and record producer. Marx also had two daughters and a son, from a previous marriage. He was of German Jewish descent.

Career

Marx played piano in childhood. He got his professional start playing in nightclubs in Chicago. In the 1950s, he accompanied singer

Helen Merrill Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21, 1929) is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording ''Helen Merrill (album), Helen Merrill'' (with Clifford Brown on EmArcy), was an immediate success and associat ...

and released several albums. Beginning in the 1960s, he spent three decades in advertising, writing commercial jingles for Dial soap, Kellogg's Raisin Bran cereal, Ken-L Ration dog food, Nestle's Crunch candy bars, Arm & Hammer baking soda, Virginia Slims cigarettes, La Choy Chinese food, the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team and many more. His son Richard and wife Ruth sang on some of the commercials. Dick Marx also composed a theme for news programs on

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's CBS network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington St ...

in 1975 that would eventually expand to other local stations owned and operated by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

and used in different arrangements over nearly 50 years before the network introduced a new theme that aligned with its current branding. In the 1980s he moved to Los Angeles and composed music for the films ''

A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). It stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Ma ...

'' and ''Edwards and Hunt'' and the television program ''

Fudge ''Fudge'' is a generic role-playing game system for use in freeform role-playing games. The name "''FUDGE''" was once an acronym for ''Freeform Universal Donated'' (later, ''Do-it-yourself'') ''Gaming Engine'' and, though the acronym has since b ...

''. He died in 1997 in Highland Park, Illinois, from injuries caused by a car accident in Las Vegas.

Discography

As leader

* ''Too Much Piano'' ( Brunswick, 1955) * ''Dick Marx Piano'' (

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

, 1957) * ''Marx Makes Broadway'' with Buddy Collette (VSOP, 1957) * ''Delicate Savagery'' (Coral, 1958) *''You Haven't Seen the USA Until You've Seen Chicago! (DMA, 1968) written by Dick Marx, Paul Severson & Eric Stigler''

As sideman or guest musician

With

Johnny Frigo Johnny Frigo (December 27, 1916 – July 4, 2007) was an American jazz violinist, bassist and songwriter. He appeared in the 1940s as a violinist before working as a bassist. He returned to the violin in the 1980s and enjoyed a comeback, recordin ...

* '' I Love John Frigo...He Swings'' ( Mercury, 1957) With

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

* '' Eddie Harris Goes to the Movies'' (

Vee-Jay Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

, 1962) With

* ''

The Nearness of You "The Nearness of You" is a popular song written in 1937 by Hoagy Carmichael (1899–1981), with lyrics by Ned Washington (1901–1976). Intended for an unproduced Paramount Pictures film titled Romance In The Rough, the studio's publishing divi ...

'' (

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Bob Shad for the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Cli ...

, 1958) With

Ken Nordine Ken Nordine (April 13, 1920 – February 16, 2019) was an American voice-over and recording artist, best known for his series of Word Jazz, word jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many advertising, commercial advertis ...

* '' Word Jazz'' ( Dot, 1957) * '' Son of Word Jazz'' (Dot, 1958) * '' Love Words'' (Dot, 1958) * ''Next!'' (Dot, 1959) With others * 1957 ''The Singing Reed'', Lucy Reed * 1987 ''

'',

* 1992 ''S'Wonderful'',

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

* 1992 ''The Gershwin Songbook: 'S Wonderful'', George Gershwin * 1995 ''Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys'',

Pee Wee King Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski (February 18, 1914 – March 7, 2000), known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz". Pee Wee King is credited with ...

& His Golden West Cowboys * 1995 ''The Complete Gershwin Songbooks'', George Gershwin * 1997 ''America's Song Butchers: The Weird World of Homer & Jethro'',

Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical version ...

* 2006 ''Blue Suede Shoes: Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight'', Pee Wee King

As arranger or conductor

* 1989 ''Repeat Offender'', Richard Marx * 1994 ''Have a Little Faith'',

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...

* 1996 ''Kissing Rain'',

Roch Voisine Joseph Armand Roch Voisine, (born 26 March 1963) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, and radio and television host who lives in Montreal and Paris. He writes and performs material in both English and French. He won the Juno Award for Male V ...

* 1997 ''Across from Midnight'', Joe Cocker * 1997 ''Flesh & Bone'', Richard Marx * 1993 ''Art Of Life'',

X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Dick 1924 births 1997 deaths American film score composers American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Richard Marx 20th-century American classical musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century American pianists American male film score composers Road incident deaths in Illinois 20th-century American male musicians American people of German-Jewish descent Musicians from Chicago