This is topic A loss of a good showman. in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-18-2001, 10:28 PM:
As some of you may or may not be aware of, Mr. Ben Marcus, founder of the Marcus Corp, passed away on 24 December 2000. I have not seen anything on Film-Tech about it, so I thought I would post it. I just found out today. I knew Mr. Marcus as a very kind, caring and thoughtful person. His passing is a tragic loss to his friends and the Theater Industry.
Posted by Charles Lubner (Member # 157) on 02-21-2001, 12:32 PM:
Yes, Mr. Marcus was a kind individual and will be deeply missed by the Milwaukee area community. I had the chance to meet him several times when he would visit the North Shore Cinemas on Saturday afternoons. I was an usher at the time and I would give him a tour of the building and answer his questions. One afternoon after asking me repetively "How's business?", he shook my hand and said "Son, you'll go far in my company". Well, a few years later, I've made assistant manager at 4 differt Marcus Theatres, interned in the corporate office, helped develop a Y2K software program, sat on various committees for customer service, and attended a shareholder meeting as I now own company stock. Not bad for a guy who started out at $4.75 at a one screen budget :-) .
Most recently I attended Ben Marcus' funeral. It was held in a beautiful Jewish temple and it was packed. If anyone ever knew Ben Marcus, they knew he was a businessman at heart. He was famous in Wisconsin for owning the Marc's Cafe, Applebee's, and Captain's Steakjoint restaurants, Baymont Inns, and of course Marcus Theatres. So of course the crowd broke out into laughter when the rabbi said "When Ben Marcus was a young boy, he thought about becoming a rabbi. But the world of business called him, and he became very successful at it. Yet we all know if Ben Marcus was a rabbi, he would have owned a chain of synagogues." :-)
He will be missed.
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-22-2001, 10:13 PM:
Charles, Mr. Marcus was every bit of what you said, and then some. A real wonderful person.