By Aleta Mayne
From “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and other Yuletide tunes — to mainstream hits sung by Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, and Sammy Davis Jr. — Johnny Marks, Class of 1931, made an enduring mark on popular songwriting.
1931
Santa and Rudolph in the 1964 stop-motion animated TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Dubbed “Mr. Christmas of the music world,” songwriter and composer Johnny Marks, Class of 1931 (1909–1985) brought the world such yuletide favorites as “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.”1 But, most notable was a little ditty called “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
At Colgate, John D. Marks was accompanist for the glee club, manager of the music club, on the Salmagundi board, member of the Willow Path literary magazine staff, and belonged to Phi Beta Kappa, Mu Pi Delta, Kappa Phi Kappa, and the Commons Club.2 He wrote four numbers for the Colgate songbook as well as “Men of the Club of Commons” for the now-defunct organization.3
After Colgate, he continued his musical studies at Columbia and then lived in Paris, where he reportedly once played for Ernest Hemingway. During World War II, he served four years in the Army, under General Patton in Normandy, and was awarded a Bronze Star and four battle stars.4 After the war, he continued composing — a passion he’d been working at since the age of 13.
In 1949, Marks founded St. Nicholas Music, Inc., which became the foremost publisher of Christmas songs. That year, he also wrote “Rudolph,” based on a holiday promotional book given away by Montgomery Ward, where his brother-in-law Robert May was a copywriter who had penned the story of the lovable character with a cherry proboscis. Although the song’s original performer, Gene Autry, didn’t think it fit his cowboy image, he reluctantly agreed to lend his voice after much cajoling from his wife, who loved the tune. The song swept the nation, becoming the second-highest selling record of all time at more than 12.5 million copies. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” has been called one of the most monetarily valuable songs in the world.5
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
In 1964, the stop-motion animated TV special by Rankin/Bass aired on NBC as part of the General Electric Fantasy Hour.
Marks wrote the words and music for the special, and for several years he also composed the music for the commercials during the special “to avoid any break in the spell of his imaginative fantasy,” according to the Mid-York Weekly.6
Mr. Christmas went on to write the words and music for other TV specials including Rudolph’s Shiny New Year with Red Skelton; Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July with Ethel Merman, Shelley Winters, Mickey Rooney, and Red Buttons; The Tiny Tree with Roberta Flack and Buddy Ebsen; and The Ballad of Smokey the Bear with James Cagney.
Of the 175 songs Marks published, he had several hits unrelated to Christmas, including “Who Calls” with Bing Crosby, “She’ll Always Remember” with Glenn Miller, and “Don’t Cross Your Fingers, Cross Your Heart” with Sammy Kaye.
In fact, according to a 1980 People article, the then–71-year-old Marks did not want his legacy to be associated with Christmas or the most famous reindeer of all. “This is not exactly what I hope to be remembered for,” he told People.7 The article went on to say that Marks never shopped for presents, put up a tree, or sent Christmas cards. Although these facts made him sound like a Grinch, “Mr. Christmas” was, in fact, Jewish.
Regardless, Johnny Marks, you’ll go down in history…
