John David Marks (November 10, 1909 – September 3, 1985) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. He specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many holiday standards, including " Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (a hit for

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

and others), " Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (a hit for

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' hit aged 12 i ...

), " A Holly Jolly Christmas" (recorded by the Quinto Sisters and later by

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

), " Silver and Gold" (for Burl Ives), and " I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" (introduced by

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

Personal life

Marks was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Mount Vernon, New York Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Moun ...

. He began writing songs when he was 13. A graduate of McBurney School in New York, N.Y.,

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

, and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, Marks later studied in Paris. He earned a Bronze Star and four Battle Stars as an Army Captain in the 26th Special Service Company during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Marks had three children: Michael, Laura, and David. Marks was the great-uncle of economist Steven Levitt. Marks' father, Louis B. Marks (1869-1939), was a leading illumination (lighting) engineer. His wife, Margaret May Marks, was the sister of Robert L. May, who wrote the original story of Rudolph. Marks was the nephew of Marcus M. Marks, a business figure who served as Borough President of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Marks lived on West 11th Street in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City. He died on September 3, 1985, of complications from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

Career

Among Marks's many works is " Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer", which was based on a poem of the same name by Marks's brother-in-law, Robert L. May, Rudolph's creator. A

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

based on the story and song first aired in 1964, with Marks composing the score. He felt pigeonholed by the success of the song; he felt that his best song was " I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day“, which set the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1864 poem "Christmas Bells" to music. In addition to his songwriting, Marks founded St. Nicholas Music in 1949, and served as director of ASCAP from 1957 to 1961. In 1981, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Marks appeared as an imposter on the December 11, 1961, episode of the game show ''

To Tell The Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

''. Impersonating the owner of a herd of reindeer, he received two of the four votes. After the true contestant was revealed, Marks identified himself as the composer of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

Works (incomplete list)

Christmas songs

* Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer – 1949 (inspired by a poem by Robert L. May, Marks's brother-in-law) *I Don't Want a Lot for Christmas - 1950 *When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter – 1952 *The Night Before Christmas Song – 1952 *An Old-Fashioned Christmas – 1952 *Everyone's a Child at Christmas – 1956 * I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day – 1956 (words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, adapted by Marks) * Run Rudolph Run - 1958 (words and music were written solely by

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

, Marks received the writing credit due to his trademark of the Rudolph character) * Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree – 1958 *A Merry, Merry Christmas to You – 1959 *The Santa Claus Parade – 1959 *A Caroling We Go - 1966 *Joyous Christmas - 1969 * A Holly Jolly Christmas – 1965 (separate single release), 1964-65** *Jingle, Jingle, Jingle – 1964 *The Most Wonderful Day of the Year – 1964 * Silver and Gold – 1964-65** *We Are Santa's Elves – 1964 *There's Always Tomorrow - 1964 *The Island of Misfit Toys - 1964 *We're a Couple of Misfits - 1964 ** Burl Ives released "A Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Silver and Gold," two songs he sang as his character Sam the Snowman, as singles for the 1965 holiday season, the year after the TV production. ;From the 1975 DePatie-Freling TV Production ''The Tiny Tree''"The Tiny Tree - DePatie-Freling - 1975," YouTube
/ref> *To Love And Be Loved - 1975 *When Autumn Comes - 1975 *Tell It to a Turtle - 1975 *A Caroling We Go - 1966 *A Merry Merry Christmas To You - 1959 *Joyous Christmas - 1969 ;From the 1976 ABC/Rankin-Bass TV Production ''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' *The Moving Finger Writes – 1976 *Turn Back The Years – 1976 *It's Raining Sunshine – 1976 *What A Wonderful World We Live In - 1976 *Fourth Of July Parade - 1976 *Have A Little Faith In Me - 1976 *Have a Happy New Year - 1976

Other

*Happy New Year Darling – 1946 (with J. Carmen Lombardo) *Address Unknown *Chicken Today and Feathers Tomorrow *Don't Cross Your Fingers, Cross Your Heart *Free *How Long Is Forever? *I Guess There's an End to Everything *Neglected *She'll Always Remember *Summer Holiday *We Speak of You Often *What've You Got to Lose But Your Heart *Who Calls?

References

External links

*[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/23/arts/music/johnny-marks-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer.html How ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ (and Its Writer) Went Down in History, by Danny Freedman, The New York Times, December 24, 2024] {{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Johnny 1909 births 1985 deaths American lyricists Animation composers Jewish American songwriters Songwriters from New York (state) Colgate University alumni Columbia University alumni McBurney School alumni Deaths from diabetes in New York (state) 20th-century American Jews United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers 20th-century American songwriters