Noel Marshall

Noel Bangert (April 18, 1931 – June 30, 2010), mainly known as Noel Marshall, was an American agent, co-producer, and briefly a director and actor for one film. He moved to Hollywood, California, in his 20s and began investing in the production of a handful of films, including William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist.

In the 1970s, Marshall and his family, including his wife, Tippi Hedren, and step-daughter, Melanie Griffith, began production on Roar, which is notorious for its 11-year accident-ridden production due to the many production mishaps and damages caused on-set. The cast and crew worked with real big cats, leading to 70 people being injured during the making of the film. It later received the tagline "The most dangerous movie ever made".

Early life and career Originally known as Noel Bangert in Chicago, Marshall spent his early childhood in South Chicago with his eleven younger siblings. He had developed an interest in animals when he was working a summer job at the St. Louis Zoo. He moved to Hollywood in his 20s to work in television.

Marshall also produced fiberglass automobile bodies during the 1950s under his company Bangert Enterprises. As an agent in Hollywood, one of his clients was William Peter Blatty, who wrote the novel The Exorcist. Blatty made a deal with producer Paul Monash to team up for the film adaptation, but they had arguments over plot changes, so Monash left and Marshall was made executive producer. He was also executive producer for Mr. Kingstreet's War, and The Harrad Experiment (both 1973). Marshall wrote the script, and gave the film a working title, which was Lions, Lions and More Lions. He also convinced Japanese and British investors to provide the funds for the movie. During that time, Marshall and his family began housing lions first at his Sherman Oaks home, a property he bought in Santa Clarita, and later in Acton, California. The animal cast eventually reached to 132 lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, and jaguars. Marshall's attacks from the lions during scenes were life-threatening; his wounds from the scratches and lion bites became infected and later gave him gangrene. Other accidents included a flood from a broken dam, a fire, destroyed equipment, financial issues, and a feline virus which plagued most of the big cats. After two years of production, most of the financiers had already pulled their money out. It was screened for only a week in theaters.

After the filming of Roar, the big cats used were moved to the Shambala Preserve, established by Hedren.

A later film where Marshall was also credited as producer was A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988), starring River Phoenix, though he never directed or acted in another film again.

Personal life Marshall and his first wife, Jaye Joseph Marshall, started a talent agency together. They divorced, and Marshall married Tippi Hedren in 1964, previously having been her agent and manager.

I would try to be in the scenes with Tippi and Melanie, because they felt better when I was nearby. We grouped together as a family. Not that we thought dad was really trying to kill us, but it really seemed like he was out for us for some reason. Marshall's son John would confirm that the divorce was due to the events that happened during production. He reflected on numerous incidents, including Marshall's treatment of Griffith. He recalled that the cast had safewords when the scene became too risky, but when Griffith used hers, Marshall did not listen and kept filming. In a 2015 interview with Xfinity, he made a link between the treatment of the family during filming as the reason behind the divorce. John also said that behind the scenes, Marshall once struck John for standing up to him, and would tell Griffith to forget about her anxiety around the lions instead of taking action to protect her. Marshall was labeled "intense" by John, as he would often get angry on-set of the film and would shout at the cast, crew, and animal handlers when a take was ruined. John explained that Marshall's temper was aggravated by the hours it took to film scenes of the big cats that relied on waiting for the animals to do something that could be included in the film.

Marshall died of cancer on June 30, 2010, in Santa Monica, California.

Filmography