One of the memorable purveyors of screen villainy in the '60s,
Theo graduated with a B.A. and M.A. in classical literature from
Stanford University and was at one time artist-in-residence. The son of
fur designer Theodore Meyer Marcuse (1893-1983), he served with distinction as a lieutenant aboard the USS Tirante during
World War II, earning himself a Silver Star and other citations for
bravery. After the war, he trained as an actor with the company of
Guthrie McClintic. Specializing in
Shakespearean roles, he made his Broadway debut in 1947 with
"Antony and Cleopatra" (as Demetrius) opposite
Katharine Cornell.
He then appeared in
"Medea"' (1949) with
Judith Anderson,
again staged and produced by McClintock; and
"King Richard II" (1951) with
Betsy Blair
and
Maurice Evans. At the 1959
Oregon Shakespearean Festival Theo acted in both "Twelfth Night"
and in "The Life and Death of King John"'.
His classical training stood him in good stead for the menacing roles
he was tasked to play on screen, added to which was his somewhat sinister,
bald-pated and shifty-eyed appearance. He also looked quite a bit older than his years may have suggested. Theo spent a long time serving his apprenticeship in smallish parts until he established a reputation as
a skilled dialectician, ideally cast as assorted eastern Europeans,
arrogant Nazi officers or crime figures of Arabic, Italian or Jewish
extraction. He frequently veered towards comedic interpretations of
villainy, notably for
Get Smart (1965) and
Hogan's Heroes (1965). His
Zoltan Schubach in the spy spoof
The Last of the Secret Agents? (1966)
(almost certainly a parody of Bond super villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld) may well have inspired the Austin Powers character Dr. Evil.
On occasion, Theo escaped his typecasting. He was particularly
effective as the sympathetic scientist Dr. Noel Markham in "The
Leeches", one of the best early episodes of
The Invaders (1967). He is particularly well-remembered as Korob, an extra-galactic life-form in
humanoid shape who captured several crew members of the Enterprise in
the
Star Trek (1966) episode
"Catspaw"'.
Theo's life was tragically cut short at the age of 47 as a result of a
car crash while driving under the influence.
The Picasso Summer(1969)as The Host
Insight(1960)as Ivan
Daniel Boone(1964)as Hugo Dopfer
The Wild Wild West(1965)as Abdul Hassan, Dr. Vincent Kirby, Gustave Mauvais, Hubert
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz(1968)as Owl
Hey, Hey We're the Monkees(1997)as Archduke Otto (episode "Royal Flush")
The Magical World of Disney(1954)as Josef Pietz
