Riff Markowitz obit

Riff Markowitz, Co-Founder of Palm Springs Follies, Dies at 86

 He was not on the list.

Riff Markowitz, the co-founder and managing director of the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, has died at the age of 86.

Markowitz co-founded the Follies in 1992 with Mary Jardin. The one-of-a-kind variety show featured performers ranging in age from 55 to over 80, and ran for 23 seasons at the Palm Springs Plaza Theatre before closing in 2014.

Before coming to the valley, Markowitz also worked in television, producing musical variety and comedy specials for HBO, and co-creating the HBO mystery anthology series “The Hitchhiker.”

He is survived by his partner, Leila Burgess, as well as his siblings, nieces, and nephews.

The Palm Springs community remembers Markowitz as a visionary who brought vibrancy, humor and celebration of life’s later years to the stage.

Markowitz was born in New York City but grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

He ran away from home at the age of 15 to join the circus and work as a clown for a year. He then secured a job as a radio announcer on CJKL in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. He later moved into television with CHCH-TV in Hamilton, producing several of the station's early forays into television syndication, including The Randy Dandy Show, which he created in 1961, The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, which he co-created with his brother Mitch in 1971, and Party Game.

He was also a television personality, both as the titular Randy Dandy in The Randy Dandy Show, and as announcer "Gardiner Westbound" on Party Game.

He was also a producer on The Wolfman Jack Show, and a cofounder of the early Canadian pay television movie channel First Choice.

Markowitz moved to Los Angeles where he produced musical variety and comedy specials for HBO including specials featuring Neil Simon, Tony Curtis, Red Skelton, and George Burns.

 

Director

Bare Touch of Magic

TV Special

Director

1983

 

Christmas in New York tavern on the green hbo 1978

TV Special

Director

1978

 

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (1971)

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein

8.1

TV Series

Director (as Rafael Markowitz)

1971

1 episode

 

Writer

Page Fletcher in The Hitchhiker (1983)

The Hitchhiker

6.7

TV Series

creatorcreated by

1984–1997

82 episodes

 

Sherlock Holmes (1981)

Standing Room Only

7.5

TV Series

Writer

1981

1 episode

 

Boo! (1980)

Boo!

5.0

TV Special

created by (creator)

1980

 

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (1971)

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein

8.1

TV Series

written by (as Rafael Markowitz)

1971

1 episode

 

Producer

Page Fletcher in The Hitchhiker (1983)

The Hitchhiker

6.7

TV Series

executive producerproducer

1983–1990

38 episodes

 

Red Skelton: A Royal Command Performance (1984)

Red Skelton: A Royal Command Performance

8.6

TV Special

co-producer

1984

 

Bare Touch of Magic

TV Special

producer

1983

 

Red Skelton's More Funny Faces (1983)

Red Skelton's More Funny Faces

8.8

TV Special

producer

1983

 

Sherlock Holmes (1981)

Standing Room Only

7.5

TV Series

producer

1981

2 episodes

 

Boo! (1980)

Boo!

5.0

TV Special

producer

1980

 

Red Skelton's Funny Faces (1980)

Red Skelton's Funny Faces

8.8

TV Movie

producer

1980

 

Christmas in New York tavern on the green hbo 1978

TV Special

executive producer

1978

 

A Tribute to Neil Simon

TV Movie

producer

1978

 

The Wolfman Jack Show (1976)

The Wolfman Jack Show

7.8

TV Series

Created byproducer

1976–1977

30 episodes

 

Bluff

TV Series

producer

1976–1977

2 episodes

 

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (1971)

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein

8.1

TV Series

producer (as Rafael Markowitz)

1971

1 episode

 

The Party Game (1970)

The Party Game

7.9

TV Series

producer (1970)

1970

 

Self

Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies (1997)

Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies

7.4

Short

Self

1997