Riff Markowitz, co-founder of ‘Fabulous Palm Springs Follies,’ dies at 86
Jesus Reyes
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Riff Markowitz, co-founder and managing director of the long-running “Fabulous Palm Springs Follies”, died at the age of 86 Wednesday in Carlsbad after a brief illness.
Born in New York but raised in Toronto, Markowitz ran away from home at age 15 to join the circus as a tramp clown. Clowning proved to be a tough life, though, so at age 16, he landed a job as a radio disc jockey in Ontario, Canada. He quickly moved from radio to TV and began to produce and direct. In 1961, he created “The Randy Dandy Show,” a Canadian children’s television show in which he played the title role.
By 1971, Markowitz already had six TV series on the air when he and his brother, Mitch, created the cult favorite, “The Hilarious House of Frightenstein,” starring Vincent Price.
Following a move to Hollywood, Markowitz began producing musical variety and comedy specials for HBO. With a partner, he built a state-of-the-art TV post-production facility and co-founded the First Choice Canadian pay television network.
In 1984, he co-created the HBO mystery anthology series, “The Hitchhiker”, along with numerous other TV specials starring Red Skelton, Neil Simon, George Burns, Tony Curtis and others.
Then at age 50, seeking a change, Markowitz divested his business interests and retired to Palm Springs, California, where he would soon embark on what was to be his greatest career achievement.
In 1992, along with partner Mary Jardin, he co-founded “The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies”, featuring a cast ranging in age from 55 to 80+, which played for 23 seasons at The Historic Plaza Theatre in downtown Palm Springs.
The unlikely success of the endeavor was best illustrated by a local reporter who, upon hearing of the show’s casting, wrote, “Who wants to pay to see old ladies’ legs?” The answer was nearly four million people, earning the show its global renown.
In 1996, Markowitz told the Los Angeles Times, “We are an icon of a movement. There are millions of people of ‘an age.’ It’s in every town; it’s just not on the stage. We [older people] behave as we are expected to behave. But love still exists, and lust still exists—and desire and warmth and caring and the quest for knowledge. If that is not permitted, like a muscle that is not worked, it atrophies. Folks that are not using that part of themselves slowly become ‘Auntie Ida,’ instead of ‘Ida’.”
When the curtain finally came down on the Follies’ final performance on May 18, 2014, Markowitz had shown the world a new way of looking at “Old” and what was truly possible in one’s 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. And, as show emcee, he presided over nearly 5,000 consecutive performances without ever missing a show.
Markowitz is survived by life partner, Leila Burgess; son, David Markowitz; siblings, Mitch (Robin) Markowitz, Merrilee Markowitz and Cary (Marla) Markowitz; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Services are private, but a memorial will be announced.