Dennis Marks

Dennis Marks (August 2, 1932 – January 10, 2006) was an American screenwriter, producer and voice actor, mainly for children's animations. Marks wrote for several big production companies during the 1960s through to the 1990s, including Hanna-Barbera, DC and Marvel. He wrote screenplays and stories for many popular animation shows including Batfink, The Beatles, Dungeons & Dragons and Spider-Man, providing the voice for the Green Goblin in the latter. He also worked as a producer for Children's TV show Wonderama, chat show A.M. New York and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

Career history

Early career Marks was born in New York City in 1932. His parents were vaudevillians, though Marks did not follow them to the stage despite showing a strong interest in performing magic tricks. He was awarded a bachelor's degree from Duke University in North Carolina, before serving in the United States Navy aboard the Lexington as a public information officer. The pair were also signed by the BMI Musical Comedy program, but when Marks' agent offered him work in cartoons he took the offer alone. In a 2002 interview, Marks stated that he had been an avid comic book reader as a child and happily took the job. and was hired as a junior screenwriter on the American Scene Magazine for The Jackie Gleason Show. Though after returning to New York from his honeymoon, Brodax offered Marks the screenwriting duties for a cartoon based on The Beatles, which decided Marks' career choice as a cartoon writer. Although uncredited, Marks, along with Jack Mendelsohn, Heywood Kling and Bruce Howard, wrote all 39 episodes of the Beatles' cartoon. In all three he also provided voices, he voiced the Green Goblin in both Spider-Man series, Doctor Faustus in one episode of Amazing Friends, and additional voices in The Incredible Hulk.

Marks later acquired the rights to the Dungeon & Dragons role-playing game brand for a television show. Marks made a verbal and written pitch to Dungeon & Dragons creator Gary Gygax, which was accepted. This led to the creation of Marvel's Dungeons & Dragons TV series. Although heavily involved in its creation, and by his own account creating the concept of the series protagonists being lost in a fantasy world through a fairground ride; he would not see the production through. Marvel fired Marks in 1983 after disagreements with the TV networks.

Later work Marks continued writing and producing stories for cartoon shows and, in the second half of the 1980s, worked on Galtar and the Golden Lance (1985), The Transformers (1985) and several short animated retellings of Christian stories. He also wrote the story for 1987 animated television film Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose to which he also provided the soundtrack and lyrics, and he was a writer for a few episodes of Foofur.

His work in the 1990s saw the release of Jetsons: The Movie (1990), his only original story that was released to cinemas. He wrote for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990–1991), and his work on Tom & Jerry Kids (1990) led to his screenplay for Tom and Jerry: The Movie. He died at his home in Los Angeles in 2006 of pancreatic cancer.

Screenwriting credits Television The Beatles (1965–1967) Batfink (1966–1967) The Batman/Superman Hour (1968) Josie and the Pussycats (1970) The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (1972) The Barkleys (1972) The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour (1980) Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–1983) Pandamonium (1982) Dungeons & Dragons (1983–1985): co-creator The Incredible Hulk (1983) The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1988) Dragon’s Lair (1984) Paw Paws (1984) Turbo Teen (1984) Galtar and the Golden Lance (1985) The Transformers (1985) The Flintstone Kids (1986) Foofur (1987) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) Tom & Jerry Kids (1990–1991) Batman: The Animated Series (1992) Transformers: Generation 2 (1993)

Films Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose (1987) Jetsons: The Movie (1990) Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992)