"MY BROTHER THE BIG SHOT!"

IMPRESARIO'S LITTLE SISTER TELLS ALL IN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Palm Springs Follies co-founder, writer, director and impresario Riff Markowitz, 69, has presided over and performed in more than 3,500 shows without ever missing a performance. But the Follies is only the latest act of Markowitz’s six decades in “the show business.” The Footlighter sat down with the “Follies Man’s” younger sister, Merrilee, to get the inside dope on a glittering career.

So your brother ran away from home to join the circus: fact or fable?
Merrilee Markowitz: Actually, our mother says he ran off to join the circus twice! The first time Riff was only 12, so she went and brought him back to Toronto where we lived. The second time he was 15, so Mom bowed to the inevitable and Riff began his career as a circus clown. But I should tell you I was just a baby when that happened; I only know what Mom tells me.

What was Riff Markowitz like before he was a celebrity?
MM: I don’t remember a time when Riff wasn’t famous. In my earliest memories, I was about 5 years old; Riff was just 18 and already a well-known radio personality (he’d moved on from the circus). But he didn’t act like he thought he was important. He always acted as if what really mattered was what I was doing! At 5!

Riff is the big zedie in our family and he always has been, for as long as I can remember. [Ed. Note: “Zedie” is Yiddish for “grandfather,” literally, or the big man of the family, in general terms.] I don’t know if he wanted that then, or now. But that’s the way it was and is.

By the time I was 9, Riff made the transition from radio to TV with a children’s program called “The Randy Dandy Show.” (Children named the show in a contest; their second choice was “The Banana Nose Show.”) It was on every afternoon and we would all run home from school to watch it. Riff played the title role and there were a lot of wacky characters like Magic Lady and Silly Willy the Clown. It was a huge hit in Canada and ran for years. I got to be on the show myself sometimes as one of the Kidderoonies, a gang of kids played by local children. That was very exciting because I got to stay in my own suite at a nearby hotel. Pretty heady stuff for a 9-year-old, even for “Princess” (as Riff called me then and now)!

What is your fondest childhood memory of your brother?
MM: I was appearing in a play at school and Riff came to opening night with a dozen roses for me. He had a full-time chauffeur in those days named Mr. Goldblatt. After the play, Riff and I and some of my friends piled into a limousine and Mr. Goldblatt drove us to a fancy dinner and dancing at Chez Paree. (At least Chez Paree seemed fancy to us then.) Oh, and Riff had a French poodle named Sherman. I think Sherman came to Chez Paree as well; after all, he was French. Later Mr. Goldblatt took us all home in the limo. Naturally, my friends were very impressed!

Were there other advantages of having a well-known brother?
MM: When Riff was home, I used to charge the local kids up to a nickel just to look at him. I’d wait until Riff was napping and then I’d line up the kids and let them go in one at a time and watch the famous “Randy Dandy” sleep. I think Riff caught on to what I was doing after awhile, but he was too good a big brother to spoil my business! A girl needs her spending money and Riff was always one to encourage a woman to be independent.

Did the success of “Randy Dandy” lead to new opportunities for him?
MM: When I was about 13, Riff began producing a new TV show, “The Hilarious House of Frightenstein.” It was brilliant, nominally a children’s show, but too fabulous and camp to be just for children. With reruns and syndication, it ran on Canadian and U.S. TV stations for 25 years and developed a very loyal cult following. Just last year, a Canadian cable network started broadcasting it all over again. And now a DVD has been released. “Frightenstein” will live forever!

Riff produced hundreds of episodes of many other TV shows in Canada and the United States after that. He also helped to build Magnetic North, one of the most advanced TV post-production facilities in the world, and was instrumental in bringing pay-television to Canada.

After I finished high school, Riff hired me as his production assistant. I had my own suite at the Lord Simco Hotel, where I threw parties after hours for 30 or more people, charging the whole thing to room service. And I let our other brother, Cary, rehearse his rock band in my room, much to the chagrin of the other hotel guests. Riff ended up having to fire me several times. But he always hired me back. Hey, I’m family!

Eventually, his success in Canada brought him to the United States.
MM: Yes, Riff moved to Los Angeles to pursue other TV opportunities. He had a beautiful house in the Hollywood Hills where his next-door neighbor was Burt Reynolds (at that time one of the biggest movie stars in the world)! I used to come out and stay with Riff during vacations and enjoy the royal treatment a “Princess” deserves.

My brother produced many classic TV variety shows, including a Royal Command Performance at London’s Albert Hall, starring Red Skelton, and HBO’s first major variety special, a star-studded tribute to Neil Simon. As interest in variety shows declined, Riff made a transition to dramatic programming and produced “The Hitchhiker” for HBO. That was another amazing show, adding new levels of quirkiness and irony to TV, and making full use of the freedom offered by a cable network.

And then Markowitz retired to Palm Springs.
MM: Well, somebody made him a very generous offer and he sold all his business interests. But anybody who knew him could have told you he wouldn’t stay retired for long. When the historic Plaza Theatre was renovated 17 years ago only to sit idle, Riff and his partner, Mary Jardin, invented the Follies and the rest is history!

Since you’ve known him so long, maybe you can tell us the secret of his success.
MM: Pure genius, of course! But even more important, Riff empowers everyone around him with his positive attitude. I was at the Follies auditions in June and there was an older dancer who was afraid to try a difficult step. “Just do it,” Riff said in that calm way he has, and she did! That’s what he always says: “Just do it.” He allows you to flourish and blossom in his presence. You are fearless around Riff, you think you can do anything. And somehow you can.

He is the best big brother a girl could want! If I call him from anywhere in the world, he always calls me back within 5 minutes, no matter how busy he is! Although we live in different countries now, I know I will always have a home with Riff if I need one. And it will always be a safe place where I don’t want for anything. Except maybe a job. Did I mention I used to work at the Follies? Riff fired me from that, too. (Laughing.) Seems to be a pattern there. But now I’m old enough to audition for the Follies company and I’m ready to try again!

(Editor’s Note: despite her checkered employment history with her brother’s productions, today Merrilee Markowitz is a highly successful real estate agent in her hometown of Toronto. She travels to Palm Springs several times each season and can be found at the Follies on opening night and New Year’s Eve, greeting patrons and enjoying the show.)