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Marshall
(January 10. 1919 - March 9. 1983) |
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Marriage: (1) Barbara "Petie" Dykeman (Mar 7. 1942 - Mar 9. 1983, his death) Children: Pamela (1944 - ), Peter M. (1948 - ), Jeffrey W. (1953 -), Jamie (Mar 1957 -). Siblings: George Thos (Jan 11. 1925 - Apr 1. 1981) Valrie (Aug 28. 1923 - Jul 21. 2011) Hermione (Jul 23. 1927 - Nov 3. 2010) |
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Marshall was born on January 10. 1919, in Pemberton*, New Jersey to parents Marshall Bingeman Shantz, Sr. (Feb 28. 1890 – Jun 6. 1950) and Hermione Warren (May 14. 1893 – Nov 1. 1987). Marshall was the oldest of four children. He grew up in Utica, N.Y. After 4 years he graduated at the New Hartford High School, near Utica. His career began in Boston, Massachusetts as a reporter for WORL radio station in 1937. He gained his first experience in interview work there with a "man in the street" program. When he started his name was Marshall Shantz. It was a station manager who suggested he change his name "to something easier to spell and remember." The station manager suggested "Rex Marshall," saying "Rex means king and someday you'll be the king in this business." The next two years were spent, one each, at Providence where he did all around announcing with emphasis on news and special events and Philadelphia where he was staff announcer and newscaster. In 1940 he came to WJTN as disc jockey, newscaster and special events announcer. Reportedly the day he won his wings in 1942, he also took his home-town* sweetheart, Barbara Dykeman, as his bride. They had four children; two sons: Peter and Jeffrey, and two daughters: Pamela and Jamie. |
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Drafted into the Army, Marshall was a pilot instructor for the Army Air Corps at the beginning of World War II; later in the war, he flew the amphibious PBY in the Pacific theater, attaining the rank of captain. After five years of war flying, during which he survived four crack-ups, Rex resumed his "Invasion of New York Broadcasting" and after a job at WJTN in 1946 finally landed an announcing job with the ABC network in July 1947. |
  Above left: That was a homecoming! George Warren, left, now co-director with Mrs. Warren of Community Players, is shown with Lucille Ball and Rex Marshall at a party held in Jamestown in 1946 a homecoming for Lucy. Rex Marshall, like Lucille Ball, at one time also a member of the Jamestown Player's group which was directed by George and Harriet Warren. Above right: Lucille Ball's visit to WJTN Studios, 1946 Lucile Ball & WJTN announcer, Rex Marshall. WJTN was licensed to Jamestown, N.Y. |
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During 1947 and 1948 he was staff announcer in New York
City specializing in news and special events work. The next year he became a
free lance commercial radio and television announcer there. In 1948, Marshall helped to erect WPIX-TV (Channel 11) in New York. He was also the first staff announcer for the station. That same year, Marshall hosted the Republican National Convention. In 1949, Marshall left his employment at WPIX-TV to work as a freelance advertising spokesman. Rex loved playing handball, went skeet shooting and made recordings for the blind. |
| In 1949, Marshall became the host of a new television anthology drama titled Suspense. It was based on the radio program of the same name. The series broadcast a new suspense-drama every week. The show was sponsored by the Auto-Lite Corporation. It aired on the CBS Television Network for six seasons and 260 episodes, between January 6, 1949–August 17, 1954. Of the 260 episodes, Marshall appeared in only 75,0 but Suspense is regarded as his most memorable appearance. |
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He was also remembered as an announcer on
the radio, spokesman for the Reynolds Aluminum Company for 25 years and as
the spokesman for the Maxwell House coffee brand. Throughout the 1950s, Marshall did other work in television, principally as an announcer. He announced 47 episodes of DuMont's The Adventures of Ellery Queen (1950-52) |
  Above left: Rex Marshall doing the live advertisement for Kaiser-Frazer's Henry J. car in The Adventures of Ellery Queen (1951) Above right: Rex Marshall ("Hi there, I'm Rex Marshall"), was the host with actress Sandra Deel of an early DuMont show, A Date with Rex. |
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During 1950-51, Marshall was the second announcer on the game show
Blind Date, (also known as Your Big Moment). From 1951-1952 on NBC affiliate channel 4 in NYC (then WNBT), he hosted Time For Adventure, on Sunday Mornings. The show was popular with the younger generation, as it featured western and adventure movie serials from the 1930s including the still rarely seen first sound version of "The Last of the Mohicans" (1932) starring Harry Carey Sr. Time For Adventure also aired a rare alternate version of "The Phantom Empire" (1935) where the film's lead character Gene Autry, playing himself, is mysteriously absent from the last several episodes. No explanation was, at that time, given to the viewers. Over the years, In subsequent airings and home video releases, the full Gene Autry version is all that has been seen. He was also the announcer for the sports broadcast The Herman Hickman Show during its one-season run in 1952-53. Marshall was announcer for the Easter Parade of the Stars Auto Show. In 1957 he was an announcer on The Jack Paar Show. |
  Above left: Rex Marshall prepares to give filmed TV commercial. Du Pont "Superior" 2, with delicate tonal register and wide latitude, will present the sponsor's product at its best. (American cinematographer, Jan-Dec 1956) Above right: TV Star Arlene Francis & Announcer Rex Marshall (1958 Press Photo)  Above: Rex Marshall comes to Dallas to tape a series of sports for Humble Oil's new "Enco" brand identification program. The entire setup and taping was completed in less than half a day, and finished tapes rushed to New York (Sponsor, Oct-Dec 1961)   Above left: Rex Marshall: He sells Reynolds Aluminum's contributions to industry (Broadcasting Telecasting, 1961) Above right: Rex Marshall (L), tv voice for Procter & Gamble's Gleem toothpaste, was part of Compton Adv.'s team that made a yearend report to the client in Cincinnati. Mr. Marshall also toured company facilities, including a visit to P&G's Technical Center, accompanied by an unidentified company representative. The announcer learned how new products are developed and tested. (Broadcasting Telecasting, Jan-Mar 1961) |
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The search in commercial casting is for actors who are,
able to adjust to the business of selling emotional ideas and possess a
strong and warm personality "plus the strength to get through the
restrictions" (such restrictions in TV as rigidly of the medium and of
little time to do the job). This is what made Rex Marshall so highly
respected (and paid) in the field. He was known to run through without a
fluff as many as 16 different commercial scripts for a product in a single
evening. Several of his clients have asked him to sign exclusive contracts with them. Marshall has always refused. He thinks he'll continue to refuse for three reasons: "To be valuable to a client, I must be a semi-celebrity. I can only achieve that status through many appearances; to make many appearances, I need several clients. Then I think that diversity is good for me, artistically. If I Only sold one product, I would soon get in a rut. And of course, this way I can remain independent. When you're tied to a company, you immediately lose some freedom. This way, it's like a romance; the other way, it would be like a marriage." In 1965, Marshall purchased an existing AM radio property, WVTR, licensed to operate at White River Junction, Vermont. He had the call letters changed to WNHV 910 AM Radio. Marshall actively managed WNHV until his death. The station used to play music but in 2000, the station changed its format and the station became an ESPN Radio affiliate. It remained a sports station until its operations ceased on May 5, 2010. Its license was deleted by the Federal Communications Commission on September 12, 2011. He returned to the WPIX-TV station in 1967 to anchor its 10 O'Clock Evening News. He left the next year. Rex and Barbara lived in Greenwich, Connecticut from 1950-1971 when they moved to Woodstock, Vermount. There he build an Austrian type chalet at Stratton Mountain, Vermount where the family pursued their favorite sport - skiing. In his final decades, his rich voice hosted one of the classiest of local radio shows. He owned a station covering Dartmouth's toney hometown, Hanover, New Hampshire, where Rex hosted Breakfast at the Hanover Inn, with interviews in the morning "coffee time." It was a great privilege for broadcasters to work for this always sharply dressed, superbly well spoken, tall, elegant gentleman. On Tuesday, March 8. 1983, Marshall was sitting at his desk at WNHV, the station that he had owned for 18 years, in White River Junction, Vermont when, suddenly, he suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to the Veterans Administration hospital in White River where he died on March 9. 1983. He was 64 years old. Marshall was survived by his wife Barbara, his four children, his sisters Valrie and Hermione, and his mother. |
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Notes: * Several magazines name Jamestown, N.Y. as his place of birth which the official document contradict. Barbara's parents lived in Jamestown, N.Y. Programs, facts or dates in red still need confirmation. |
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Page first published February 11. 2025 Version 1.0 - Last updated February 11. 2025 |
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