Marjoe Gortner, child preacher turned actor, dies at 82

Marjoe Gortner, the former child preacher whose farewell tour became an Oscar-winning documentary before he built a second career as an actor, died on Friday in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was 82.

His wife, Susan Magestro, told Variety about the death. A memorial notice said he had suffered from years of congestive heart failure Variety.

Gortner was born in Long Beach, California, into an evangelical family. His first name combined Mary and Joseph. His parents pushed him into preaching as a small child and organised a press photo opportunity when he performed a marriage ceremony at age 4.

When he was 16, his father absconded with what was reported to be $3 million in donations. Gortner later stepped away from the pulpit.

In 1971, documentarians Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan followed him on his final revival tour. The result was Marjoe, a behind-the-scenes portrait of the evangelical circuit. It won the Oscar for best documentary Variety.

Gortner then turned to music and acting. He made the record Bad, but Not Evil before winning a role in the pilot for Kojak, the first test episode made to sell a series.

In the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, he played Sgt. Jody Joad, an unhinged grocery store manager turned National Guardsman. He later played a troubled Vietnam veteran in When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? He was briefly married to his co-star in that film, Candy Clark, the year it came out.

His other film credits included Viva Knievel, Bobbie Joe and the Outlaw, The Survivalist, Starcrash and Walter Hill's Wild Bill. On television, he appeared on Falcon Crest as a corrupt psychic.

During the 1970s and 1980s he also appeared on Police Story, Airwolf, T.J. Hooker, Street Hawk, Otherworld, The A Team and Fantasy Island.

He is survived by Magestro, his fifth wife.