Mark Withers(1947-2024)
- Actor
Few could deny Mark has been fortunate in his career. His first agent
signed him without a SAG card and three months later Mark booked his
first national spot for McDonald's. That began a long run of national
spots for products such as Folger's Coffee, Irish Spring, Tartar
Control Crest, American Airlines, and many, many more. On the episodic
side of television he's worked with some of the best of the best in
Hollywood: James Arness, Bruce Boxleitner, Ron Leibman, Patrick O'Neal,
Dick O'Neil, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Forsythe, Ted Danson, Robyn Wright,
Diedre Hall, Kelsey Grammer, and Craig T. Nelson to name only a few.
Whether he was playing football on an NCAA scholarship at Penn State, offering up a sermon at his local church, or learning the ins-and-outs of acting, Mark always brought his own personal intensity and passion to whatever he did. The years he's been working as an actor have only served to deepen his passion and appreciation for acting in particular, and life in general. Many things have caught his attention and stayed in his life, cooking Chinese food, stock cars on quarter-mile dirt tracks, flying, and writing country songs and singing them in the shower. But acting is his true passion.
Sometimes it's neither passion nor talent that does the trick. Sometimes, it's the little things. As when Mark was cast in the 100th Anniversary spot for Disneyworld directed by Academy Award-winning director John Madden, by being able to sing the Mickey Mouse Cartoon Time theme song when no one else could.
In his private life, when not in front of the lens or onstage Mark is known to be an avid lover of the holidays. One of his crowing achievements was keeping his living Christmas tree up past Valentines Day. He is a self-proclaimed Battlestar Galactica aficionado, and has taken to using "frakk" exclusively, in lieu of its expletive counterpart much to the chagrin of his daughter. He truly believes that Arron Sorkin's dialogue is as close to Shakespeare as any modern actor will ever get this side of actually doing Shakespeare. When asked who his role models are his first response is Joseph Cotton. But since few people younger than he is knows anything about Early Hollywood, the Mercury Players, or Joseph Cotton, he usually says, "William Shatner" and leaves it at that.
Whether he was playing football on an NCAA scholarship at Penn State, offering up a sermon at his local church, or learning the ins-and-outs of acting, Mark always brought his own personal intensity and passion to whatever he did. The years he's been working as an actor have only served to deepen his passion and appreciation for acting in particular, and life in general. Many things have caught his attention and stayed in his life, cooking Chinese food, stock cars on quarter-mile dirt tracks, flying, and writing country songs and singing them in the shower. But acting is his true passion.
Sometimes it's neither passion nor talent that does the trick. Sometimes, it's the little things. As when Mark was cast in the 100th Anniversary spot for Disneyworld directed by Academy Award-winning director John Madden, by being able to sing the Mickey Mouse Cartoon Time theme song when no one else could.
In his private life, when not in front of the lens or onstage Mark is known to be an avid lover of the holidays. One of his crowing achievements was keeping his living Christmas tree up past Valentines Day. He is a self-proclaimed Battlestar Galactica aficionado, and has taken to using "frakk" exclusively, in lieu of its expletive counterpart much to the chagrin of his daughter. He truly believes that Arron Sorkin's dialogue is as close to Shakespeare as any modern actor will ever get this side of actually doing Shakespeare. When asked who his role models are his first response is Joseph Cotton. But since few people younger than he is knows anything about Early Hollywood, the Mercury Players, or Joseph Cotton, he usually says, "William Shatner" and leaves it at that.
