Marjoe Gortner, a former child preacher who later became a Hollywood actor, dies at age 82. Multiple outlets report that his wife, Susan Magestro, said he died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday.
Gortner is widely known as the subject of “Marjoe,” an Oscar-winning documentary that examines his evangelical childhood and the role it played in shaping his life. After the documentary brought attention to his early past, he continued his career in film and television. Sources note that he worked as a Universal Pictures contract player and later appeared in productions including “Earthquake” and “Falcon Crest,” with one outlet also citing his work with Lynda Carter in “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw.”
While the outlets differ slightly in emphasis—some foregrounding his acting credits and others focusing more directly on his childhood preaching and the documentary—they consistently describe the same arc: a childhood evangelist who becomes a mainstream screen performer after “Marjoe” brought major recognition.
