Introducing Abraham Bernard Marcus (Movshovich).

_{Back to Contents Page}

Prior to WWII the Fuller Theatre Group of New Zealand and Australia engaged an American producer called A.B. Marcus who used many of the performers and back-stage workforce from the Fuller list.

Abraham Bernard Marcus (1882 – 1950)

Born 15 May 1882 in Jonava, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Died 6 Aug 1950 at age 72 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA; Queen of Angeles Hospital, 2301 Bellevue Ave

Son of Isreal Zev (Moshevitz) Marcus and Sora (Srebrennik) Silverman. 

Brother of Ida Marcus, Rose (Marcus) Baumstein [half], Louis Marcus, Fannie (Marcus) Glickman, Lena (Marcus) Smith, Minnie (Marcus) Cook, Khava-Ryvka Movshovich [half] and Eve L Marcus [half].

Husband of Laura Lillian Gouette — married 5 Jul 1910 in Manchester, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States,

Husband of Beatrice Francis Miller — married 23 Mar 1919 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts,

and possibly more wives!

There are many different versions relating to the Date of Birth (DOB) of Abe Marcus ranging from 1878 through to 1887, but it seems 1882 is probably the correct one. Likewise, his location of birth varies from St Petersburgh, Russia to Lithuania and other places but Jonava, Kaunas, Lithuania seems to be the most relevant. The spelling of his name varies as well but that’s one thing researchers know only too well.

Prior to the Fullers engagement, the traveling entertainment group from Massachusetts (MA) in the USA called “The Marcus Show” toured the world and was known world-wide. This 150 strong troupe was owned and run by Abraham Bernard Marcus (Movshovich 1882-1950). Marcus was a Russian Jew naturalised into the USA and lived just outside Boston in MA.

Abe Marcus lists his occupation as “Theatre” as early as 1905 but the need for entertainment ceased during WW I. He wouldn’t return to theatre till about 1923.

But when the troupe set up to perform in Japan just before WWII in 1934 they were detected carrying out espionage work for the USA and the whole troupe was deported immediately. The excuse given was the naked ladies on stage, however they had been vetted for public exhibition and allowed in. The Show had been given the go-ahead prior to arriving, with the host country aware of the revealing costumes (or lack there-of).

Because this troupe performed in various theatres of war through the United Services Organisation (USO), a lot of its equipment and wardrobe was transported using USAAF and USN military resources so they were not allowed to have labels attached to any item of clothing (uniform or civilian) for fear of tracking if they fell into unfriendly hands.

The issue regarding missing labels is expanded on in the post “Nothin’ leaves here with tags! OK? Nothin’! SIR, YES SIR. (#12)”

But after the Japanese expulsion, the usefulness of Marcus and his troupe for intelligence gathering became diminished, and having been exposed for ulterior motives it soon disbanded. This exit from the industry occurred around 1937 and 1938. Ironically, one of the last smaller performances was in Adelaide and about 40% of the troupe chose to abandon their show careers and take up jobs in Australia, mostly in entertainment and theatre areas. Some of the musicians formed a Country and Western group.

Abe Marcus was very accustomed to his show being paused or going through lulls and he was active during WW I filling in as a Tailor and a Butler.

Likewise, during WW II, Abe Marcus found himself without sufficient means of support so after the 1938 transition he went back towards his tailoring duties by running a Dry Cleaning Service till resuming his Theatre Productions in 1944.

He was listed in the 1940 Census (above) as a “Presser”.

But let’s take a geographical journey to Adelaide, and the reason we are all here!

Is this pocket in a pair of trousers (below) part of Abe Marcus’s handy-work?

Marcus said at times that parts of the show were actually his true story about him being a Dry Cleaner who did the laundry for traveling performers, and when one of the shows ended, he found himself with some costumes which he claimed as payment in default.

One of the earliest shows promoted by Fullers had an acrobatic/gymnastic/aerial/comedy act called “Rice and Elmer” then there was “Rice, Elmer and Tom”.

Later shows featured the same act under other names. 

Where to from here?

Coming posts will describe how and where “The Marcus Show” linked into the covert world.

One person in the employ of Marcus carried the extra weight of joining Marcus by having each other’s lives in their hands.

And likewise, the contact, his employer and the Australian contact had each of the others’ lives in their hands.

A Wish: –

There is a person alive today that is in their 97th year, turning 97 later in 2025. My wish would be for that person to volunteer a statement about their role in Australia during the Somerton Man years and in the 1960’s and their link to Jimmy.
As their career covered many “Government directed tasks”, and they would likely be covered under the “Official Secrets Act”, it would be unrealistic to expect a full lifetime itinerary.

However, given this person is nearing the sunset of their life it would be significant if they could obtain clearance to explain the Australian activities. While they have this control in their hands, they would be able to make sure it in no way compromised their position and the chain of command. They could tell their story exactly as it happened as opposed to the story being told differently after their passing. A time when facts are no longer in their control and with the chance that the story might change to their detriment.

All I can do is cross my fingers and hope as I know a lowly civilian cannot make a direct approach to you.!

_{Back to Contents Page}