Marshall Efron (February 3, 1938 – September 30, 2019) was an American actor and humorist originally known for his work on the listener-sponsored Pacifica radio stations

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...

New York and

KPFK KPFK (90.7 FM) is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves Southern California, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet. It was the second of five stations in the non-commerc ...

Los Angeles, and later for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

television show '' The Great American Dream Machine'' (the original showcase of

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

Career

At WBAI, Efron was a frequent guest on

Steve Post Steve Post (20 March 1944 – 3 August 2014) was an American freeform radio artist and the author of ''Playing in the FM Band''. Early life Post, born in the Bronx, became fascinated by radio at about the age of 8 or 10, recording 'broadcasts' o ...

's &

Bob Fass Robert Morton Fass (June 29, 1933 – April 24, 2021) was an American radio personality and pioneer of free-form radio, who broadcast in the New York region for over 50 years. Fass's program, ''Radio Unnameable'', aired in some form from 1963 unt ...

's shows, along with left-wing/counter-culture figures such as

Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American author, journalist, and comedian. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine '' The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a ke ...

. One memorable broadcast had Efron and Krassner filling in for the vacationing Steve Post, and identifying themselves as

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

students who had taken the station over as part of the

Columbia University protests of 1968 In 1968, a series of protests at Columbia University in New York City were one among the various student demonstrations that occurred around the globe in that year. The Columbia protests erupted over the spring of that year after students disco ...

. Although regular listeners were very familiar with the voices of Krassner and Efron, many listeners were not.

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

officers responded three different times during the broadcast in response to reports from listeners who thought the "takeover" was a legitimate event. Efron also produced features such as ''A Satirical View''. Marshal Efron was the author of a number of children's works such as ''Bible Stories You Can't Forget: No Matter How Hard You Try''.''Bible Stories You Can't Forget: No Matter How Hard You Try'' (1979) by Marshall Efron, Alfa-Betty Olsen ''Dutton Juvenile'' , He also starred in the irregularly-scheduled Sunday-morning television program ''Marshall Efron's Illustrated, Simplified, and Painless Sunday School'' on CBS from 1973 to 1977. In this show, Efron played all of the parts, including Adam, Eve, God and the Snake in the Garden of Eden, and the

Three Wise Men 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

in the story of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

Death

Efron died at the age of 81 on September 30, 2019, at the

Lillian Booth Actors Home The Lillian Booth Actors Home of The Actors Fund is an American assisted-living facility, in Englewood, New Jersey. It is operated by the Actors Fund, a nonprofit umbrella charitable organization that assists American entertainment and performi ...

in Englewood, New Jersey.

Filmography

Animated roles

* '' The Kwicky Koala Show'' (1981) - Ratso (voice) * ''

Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

'' (1981-1982) - Sloppy Smurf (voice) * ''

Shirt Tales ''Shirt Tales'' are characters that were created in 1980 by greeting card designer Janet Elizabeth Manco and were featured on Hallmark Cards greeting cards. The characters were adapted into a 1982-1985 animated series for television, by Hanna-Bar ...

'' (1982) - (voice) * ''

The Biskitts ''The Biskitts'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1983 to 1984 and aired on CBS. The series lasted for only one season; only 13 episodes were produced. '' Shirt Tales'' replaced the show in i ...

'' (1983) - Mooch (voice) * '' Kidd Video'' (1984-1985) - Fat Cat (voice) * ''

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo ''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and the seventh incarnation of the studio's ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. It premiered on , and ran for one season on ABC as a half-hou ...

'' (1985) - Lousy Lizard (voice) * '' Fluppy Dogs'' (1986) - Stanley (voice) * '' The Transformers'' (1986-1987) - Hun-Gurrr (2nd Head) (voice) * ''

Snorks ''Snorks'' is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and ran for a total of four seasons (consisting of 65 episodes) on NBC from September 15, 1984, to May 13, 1989. The program continued to be available in syndication from 19 ...

'' (1987-1988) - (voice) * '' Time Squad'' (2002) -

Earl of Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. ...

(voice)

Film roles

* ''Funnyman'' (1967) - Sid, Photographer * ''

Pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), a unit of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile Symbols * Po ...

'' (1970) - German Shepherd * ''

THX 1138 ''THX 1138'' is a 1971 American social science fiction, social science fiction film co-written and directed by George Lucas in his List of directorial debuts, directorial debut. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Walter Murch, th ...

'' (1971) - TWA * ''

Doc DOC, Doc, doc or DoC may refer to: In film and television * ''Doc'' (2001 TV series), a 2001–2004 PAX series * ''Doc'' (1975 TV series), a 1975–1976 CBS sitcom * "D.O.C." (''Lost''), a television episode * ''Doc'' (film), a 1971 Wester ...

'' (1971) - Mexican Bartender * '' Is There Sex After Death?'' (1971) - Vince Domino * ''

Dynamite Chicken ''Dynamite Chicken'' is a 1971 American comedy film. Described in its opening credits as "an electronic magazine of American pop culture," it presents a series of interviews, stand-up comedy, countercultural sketches, documentary segments, and agi ...

'' (1971) - Himself * '' Bang the Drum Slowly'' (1973) - Bradley * ''

Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historica ...

'' (1973) - Fat man * ''

Baby Blue Marine ''Baby Blue Marine'' is a 1976 American drama film set during World War II that was directed by John D. Hancock and starring Jan-Michael Vincent. The feature film was produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. Plot Marion “Hedge” He ...

'' (1976) - Cook * ''The Faking of the President'' (1976) - Donald Segretti * '' Why Me?'' (1978, Short) - Nesbit Spoon (voice) * ''

California Dreaming "California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 196 ...

'' (1979) - Ruben * '' Shogun Assassin'' (1980) - (voice) * ''The First Time'' (1983) - Nick Rand * '' Twice Upon a Time'' - Botch (voice) * '' Bad Manners'' (1984) - Cab Driver * '' The Big Bang'' (1987) - Comrade in Chief (English version, voice) * ''Talking Walls'' (1987) - Erwin * '' The Road to Wellville'' (1994) - Bartholomew Bookbinder * '' Cafe Society'' (1995) - Moe Persky * '' Two Family House'' (2000) - Tiny * '' A Piece of Eden'' (2000) - Andres * '' Marie and Bruce'' (2004) - Ed * ''

Home on the Range "Home on the Range" is a classic cowboy song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Home" in 1872 or 1873, ...

'' (2004) - Larry the Duck (voice) * ''

Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...

'' (2005) - Lamp Post / Toilet Bot / Bass Drum / Microphone (voice) * '' The Thing About My Folks'' (2005) - Tow Truck Driver * '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'' (2006) - Start Dad (voice) * ''

Horton Hears a Who! ''Horton Hears a Who!'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published in 1954 by Random House. This book tells the story of Horton the Elephant and his adventures saving Who ...

'' (2008) - Wickersham Guard #1 / The Wickersham Brothers (voice) * '' City Island'' (2009) - Actor-Dog * '' Rob the Mob'' (2014) - Little Anthony (final film role)

Video game roles

* '' The Space Bar'' (1997) - (voice)

Theatrical roles

* ''

Much Ado about Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

1972 - Singer

Discography

*''The Nutrino News Network'', with Barton Heyman, Dennis Longwell and Marilyn Sokol. Polydor PD-5029 (1972)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Efron, Marshall 1938 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Los Angeles American children's writers American humorists American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors American radio personalities American television writers Jewish American male actors American male television writers University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni 21st-century American Jews