Fletcher Markle
Fletcher Markle was a notable Canadian actor, writer, producer, and director, born on March 27, 1921, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, where his passion for drama was ignited by a high school teacher and influenced by actor Orson Welles. Markle formed the Phoenix Theater, a repertory company inspired by Welles's Mercury Theater, while simultaneously producing a dramatic radio series in Vancouver. His career spanned various mediums, including significant contributions to radio, film, and television. Notably, he worked with the BBC during World War II and created the Academy Award-nominated documentary film, *V-1: The Story of the Robot Bomb*. He directed and produced several television series, including *Studio One* and *Life with Father*, while also directing the popular Disney film *The Incredible Journey*. Throughout his life, Markle experienced multiple marriages, ultimately finding lasting companionship with Dorothy Conradt. He passed away on May 23, 1991, in Pasadena, California, leaving behind a legacy marked by numerous awards, including the George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award, and a reputation as a versatile and talented figure in the entertainment industry.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Fletcher Markle
- Born: March 27, 1921
- Birthplace: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Died: May 23, 1991
- Place of death: Pasadena, California
Biography
Fletcher Markle was born on March 27, 1921, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His parents were George Wilson Markle, an importer, and Meta Clarke Markle. In Vancouver, Fletcher attended Point Grey High School, where a teacher awakened his interest in drama. He became deeply interested in the work of actorOrson Welles and developed an uncanny ability to imitate Welles’s voice.
In 1939, Markle left the University of Vancouver to pursue a dramatic career, forming a repertory company called the Phoenix Theater modeled on Welles’s famous Mercury Theater. The company’s productions included Welles’s version of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (pb. 1599), with modern costumes, and Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus (pr. 1594), also a Welles’s favorite. Simultaneously, Markle produced Imagine Please, a dramatic radio series in Vancouver. In the process, he formed connections that would continue to bring him work and expand his professional scope throughout his life.
During World War II, while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Markle worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). His documentary film, V-1: The Story of the Robot Bomb, was nominated for an Academy Award. During this period, Markle met Welles, who offered him a job with the Mercury Theater. Markle accepted and moved to New York City with his wife, Blanche Willis Markle, whom he had married in 1944.
Later, while writing, producing, directing, and acting in his own Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio series, Markle also built a film career. His film credits include the screenplay for The Lady from Shanghai, writing and directing for Jigsaw, and directing for The Man with a Cloak and Night into Morning. In 1949, he and Blanche Willis Markle divorced, and the following year he married the actress Mercedes McCambridge. That marriage ended in 1962, and in 1963, Markle married Dorothy Conradt, with whom he was to remain the rest of his life.
In the early 1950’s, Markle successfully transferred his talents to the new medium of television. For CBS, he produced Studio One, a successful television adaptation of an earlier radio series. Markle also produced and directed the situation comedy Life with Father.
In 1963, just after completing the direction of The Incredible Journey, a highly popular Walt Disney film, Markle was diagnosed with diabetes. When physicians urged him to reduce his workload, he decided to stop acting and directing and to focus instead on writing and producing. However, he directed some episodes of the American television series Julia, which debuted in 1968. From 1963 until 1976, he worked intermittently in Canadian television, writing and producing the Telescope series and contributing to Festival, a performing-arts series that presented such works as Katherine Anne Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939). In 1974, he was executive producer of The Play’s the Thing, presenting commissioned dramatic work by prominent Canadian writers.
Markle died of heart failure in Pasadena, California, on May 23, 1991. The winner of many awards, including the prestigious George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award for outstanding drama, he was known as a “four-in-one” man for his distinguished acting, writing, producing, and directing. However, he regarded himself primarily as a writer, the role he considered most crucial to dramatic production.