Gene Merlino obit

Gene Merlino

April 5, 1928  -  January 8, 2024

 He was not on the list.

We are sad to announce the passing of Gene Merlino, of natural causes, on January 8, 2024, at the age of 95. Gene was a loving husband and father, Grammy award-winning singer, Senior Softball World Series champion, a traveler of the world for business and pleasure, and a lover of the great outdoors. At his request, there will be no public service.

Gene Merlino was born Mario Gino Merlino on April 5, 1928, in San Francisco, California, to Cesare and Teresa (née Incaviglia) Merlino. His first exposure to music came from his two older brothers; John was an accomplished accordionist, and Victor took up the clarinet but did not stick with it for long. Gene originally wanted to play trumpet, as he admired Harry James, but instead picked up the available clarinet in his early teens. After graduating from Mission High School he enrolled in San Francisco State as a Music major, playing clarinet and achieving first chair concertmaster in the college's symphonic band by his sophomore year. He also spent one semester at Eastman School of Music.

He was most recognized for providing the singing voice of Lancelot in the musical film Camelot, for being part of the Grammy Award winning quartet, The Anita Kerr Singers, and for being a prolific singer of song poems.

In 1950, Gene left college before graduating when he got his first steady musical job with the Bill Weaver show on KCBS radio, which at that time broadcast out of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Although he initially only played saxophone, he soon became the regular male vocalist, performing five nights a week. At this time he "realized that singing was going to be [his] main career in music". He stayed with KCBS for three years before moving to Los Angeles, California.

Gene married Lois Elizabeth Draper on November 18, 1953. Merlino met Draper in the symphonic band at San Francisco State, where she played flute. Almost immediately after marrying they moved to the North Hollywood region of Los Angeles, so Gene could foster his singing career, as there was much more studio recording work available in Hollywood and Los Angeles than in San Francisco.

After arriving in Los Angeles, he joined the jazz bands of Frankie Carle, then Ray Anthony. Anthony then started his short-lived television variety show, The Ray Anthony Show, in 1956, allowing Merlino to be seen by a nationwide audience. When the Anthony show was canceled in May 1957 after only one season, he joined the Freddy Martin band, who played regularly at the famous Cocoanut Grove club in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He remained with this band until 1963. Beginning in 1963 and continuing through 1979, he was a regular performer for many television variety shows, starting with The Red Skelton Show. He would eventually become a regular for The Pearl Bailey Show, The Judy Garland Show, the Carol Burnett Show, The Julie Andrews Hour, the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, Donny & Marie, and the Ken Berry Wow Show. In later years, his vocals could be heard on The Simpsons. He performed the song "Born Free" on the episode "Whacking Day", "South of the Border" on "Kamp Krusty", and "Jellyfish" in "A Star Is Born Again".

In 1965 he was part of the four-man singing group that recorded the theme song for Gilligan's Island. In 1966, Gene joined the male singing quartet, The Mellomen, with Thurl Ravenscroft, Bill Lee and Bill Cole. The Mellomen appeared in the Elvis Presley movie, The Trouble With Girls. Thanks to this exposure, Gene began to get regular work as a session singer in the various recording studios in Hollywood and Los Angeles, eventually singing for thousands of movies, television programs, radio and television commercials, audio recordings, and song poems, during a career that lasted more than 50 years.

His most famous recordings were as part of the Anita Kerr Singers, who won a 1967 Grammy Award (Best Performance by a Vocal Group) for their performance of "A Man and a Woman" (along with a 1969 Edison Award), and for providing the singing voice for the character of Lancelot, played by Franco Nero, in the 1967 movie "Camelot". In 1973 he was part of the chorus who went on a worldwide tour with Burt Bacharach to promote the movie Lost Horizon, for which Bacharach wrote the music.

Additionally, Gene was part of the "L.A. Voices", who were nominated for a Grammy Award (Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Duo or Group) in 1983 for the Supersax album "Supersax & L.A. Voices". He also recorded more than 10,000 song poems, primarily under the pseudonyms Gene Marshall or John Muir, and was featured in the 2003 PBS documentary "Off the Charts".

Gene's family and friends will miss him, and his stories, very very much.

In 1964 he was part of the four-man singing group that recorded the theme song for Gilligan's Island. In 1966, Merlino joined the male singing quartet, The Mellomen, with Thurl Ravenscroft, Bill Lee and Bill Cole, after Max Smith retired. In 1969 Merlino and the Mellomen appeared in the Elvis Presley movie, The Trouble With Girls. Thanks to this, Merlino began to get regular work as a session singer in the various recording studios in Hollywood and Los Angeles, eventually singing for thousands of movies, television programs, radio and television commercials, audio recordings, and song poems, during a career that lasted more than 50 years.

 

Actor

Debby Boone and John Rubinstein in The Gift of the Magi (1978)

The Gift of the Magi

8.7

TV Movie

1978

 

The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't (1972)

The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't

6.2

TV Short

Singer (voice)

1972

 

Ken Berry in The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show (1972)

The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show

6.2

TV Series

Regular

1972

 

Elvis Presley in The Trouble with Girls (1969)

The Trouble with Girls

5.2

Bible Singer (uncredited)

1969

 

The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant (1968)

The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant

7.5

TV Movie

Singer (voice)

1968

 

Walt Disney in The Magical World of Disney (1954)

The Magical World of Disney

8.4

TV Series

The Mellomen (uncredited)

1968

1 episode

 

The Ray Anthony Show

TV Series

1956–1957

20 episodes

 

Tea and Sympathy (1956)

Tea and Sympathy

7.3

Tom Robinson Lee (singing voice, uncredited)

1956

 

Music Department

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

6.9

choir (uncredited)

2009

 

Jason Isaacs, Don Battee, Brian Carbee, Septimus Caton, Alan Cinis, Frank Gallacher, Phil Meacham, Darren Andrew Mitchell, Ludivine Sagnier, Bruce Spence, Jeremy Sumpter, Jacob Tomuri, Frank Whitten, Dan Wyllie, Harry Eden, Mick Roughan, George MacKay, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Harry Newell, Freddie Popplewell, Rupert Simonian, Theodore Chester, Lachlan Gooch, Patrick Gooch, and Venant Wong in Peter Pan (2003)

Peter Pan

6.8

singer (uncredited)

2003

 

Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

The Matrix Revolutions

6.7

score vocalist (uncredited)

2003

 

Independent Lens (1999)

Independent Lens

8.2

TV Series

musician

2003

1 episode

 

Jurassic Park III (2001)

Jurassic Park III

6.0

choir (uncredited)

2001

 

Drew Barrymore and Matt Damon in Titan A.E. (2000)

Titan A.E.

6.6

singer

2000

 

Andrew McCarthy in Year of the Gun (1991)

Year of the Gun

5.6

vocalist

1991

 

Heidi's Song (1982)

Heidi's Song

6.2

chorus (as Gene J. Merlino)

1982

 

The 52nd Annual Academy Awards (1980)

The 52nd Annual Academy Awards

5.7

TV Special

music coordinator

1980

 

Paul Lynde, Agnes Moorehead, Debbie Reynolds, Henry Gibson, Danny Bonaduce, Pamelyn Ferdin, Joan Gerber, Dave Madden, Don Messick, Martha Scott, John Stephenson, Herb Vigran, and William B. White in Charlotte's Web (1973)

Charlotte's Web

6.9

singer

1973

 

Camelot (1967)

Camelot

6.6

singing voice: Lancelot Du Lac (uncredited)

1967

 

Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in Charade (1963)

Charade

7.8

chorus (uncredited)

1963

 

Hatari! (1962)

Hatari!

7.1

chorus (uncredited)

1962

 

Stunts

Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short in Three Amigos! (1986)

Three Amigos!

6.5

stunts

1986

 

Soundtrack

Steve Martin and Queen Latifah in Bringing Down the House (2003)

Bringing Down the House

5.6

performer: "A Man and a Woman" (Un Homme et une Femme)

2003

 

Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, and Yeardley Smith in The Simpsons (1989)

The Simpsons

8.6

TV Series

performer: "Jellyfish"performer: "Born Free"performer: "South of the Border" (uncredited, uncredited)

1992–2003

3 episodes

 

Pennies from Heaven (1981)

Pennies from Heaven

6.5

performer: "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (1931)

1981

 

Paul Lynde, Agnes Moorehead, Debbie Reynolds, Henry Gibson, Danny Bonaduce, Pamelyn Ferdin, Joan Gerber, Dave Madden, Don Messick, Martha Scott, John Stephenson, Herb Vigran, and William B. White in Charlotte's Web (1973)

Charlotte's Web

6.9

performer: "We've Got Lots In Common", "Charlotte's Web", "Zuckerman's Famous Pig"

1973

 

Trap on Cougar Mountain (1972)

Trap on Cougar Mountain

3.9

performer: "When the World Was Green", "High Country"

1972

 

Ernest Borgnine in Rain for a Dusty Summer (1971)

Rain for a Dusty Summer

4.7

performer: "Rain for a Dusty Summer"

1971

 

High, Wild and Free (1968)

High, Wild and Free

7.6

performer: "High, Wild and Free" music by nm0579387

1968

 

Camelot (1967)

Camelot

6.6

performer: "C'est Moi", "If Ever I Would Leave You", "I Loved You Once in Silence" (uncredited)

1967

 

Tea and Sympathy (1956)

Tea and Sympathy

7.3

performer: "The Joys of Love" (Plaisir d'Amour)

1956

 

Additional Crew

Jodi Benson in The Little Mermaid (1989)

The Little Mermaid

7.6

additional voices (as Gene J. Merlino)

1989

 

Self

Secret Voices of Hollywood (2013)

Secret Voices of Hollywood

7.4

TV Movie

Self - Singer

2013

 

Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story (2003)

Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story

7.4

TV Movie

Self

2003

 

The Jonathan Winters Show (1967)

The Jonathan Winters Show

8.1

TV Series

Self

1968

2 episodes

 

The Ray Anthony Show

TV Series

Self

1956–1957

10 episodes