Marcus, Marie (1914–2003)

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Marcus, Marie (1914–2003)

American jazz pianist. Name variations: Marie Brown, Marie Doherty. Born Marie Eleanor Doherty, Mar 25, 1914, in Roxbury, Massachusetts; died Oct 10, 2003, in Hyannis, Massachusetts; attended New England Conservatory of Music; m. Jack Brown (singer), 1937 (div.); m. Bill Marcus (trumpet player, lawyer), 1945 (died 1964); children: Jack Brown, William Marcus (jazz pianist), Mary Liles, Barbara Marcus.

Protégée of Fats Waller, worked in New York clubs under name Marie Doherty (1930s), eventually working for mobster Dutch Schultz in Kean's Steakhouse; played for such jazz greats as Nat King Cole, Willy the Lion and Duke Ellington; began playing at midtown jazz haunts like the Swing Club on 52nd Street; formed 13-piece, all-male band, Marie Doherty and her Gentlemen of Swing; took job at Coonamessett Club in Falmouth on Cape Cod (1942); became fixture of Cape Cod jazz scene and never returned to New York; formed Cape Cod Jazz Society; also fell in love with dixieland; joined Preacher Rollo and the Five Saints (1950s) and made numerous albums with the Saints.