It’s sad every time we have to report that news that someone from a classic horror film has passed away, and it hits me especially hard when we lose someone who was associated with the Friday the 13th franchise. That’s my favorite franchise, those films are very important to me. Whether someone had a large or a small role in a Friday the 13th movie, I’m quite familiar with them because I’ve seen the movies so many times. So I’m really bummed to hear that Jack Marks passed away on February 17th. Marks was credited as The Cop in Friday the 13th Part 2 (watch it HERE), but some fans also know him as Deputy Winslow.
In Friday the 13th Part 2, Marks’ character catches a couple counselors-in-training snooping around near the old Camp Crystal Lake site and returns them to where they belong on the other side of the lake. As he drives away, he sees Jason Voorhees run across the road in front of his car. He stops the vehicle, gets out and pursues Jason through the woods, ending up at a makeshift shack. Where his role in the film comes to an end. In documentaries, Marks said the most difficult part about playing the character was when he had to drive the car, since he didn’t have a drivers license.
In addition to Friday the 13th Part 2, Marks appeared on episodes of Ryan’s Hope and the short-lived series Tattinger’s, and in the 1988 movie Anna.
Marks’ passing was confirmed by his wife Linda, who he was with for 39 years. She said he had a substantial acting career and
mostly did off-Broadway and regional theater. His biggest venues were touring nationally as the father in Brighton Beach Memoirs and dying heroically in the movie Friday the 13th Part 2. He was proudest of his starring dual performance in Athol Fugard’s play Valley Song, which he performed on Martha’s Vineyard. He also relished performing the old man, Lazar Wolf, in three different out-of-town productions of Fiddler on the Roof. When acting work became more difficult to get, he took up writing, producing hundreds of vibrant short stories and a few poems.
Linda said her husband died “after a long, slow decline from congestive heart failure”. He was “just short of 87 years old”.
Linda Marks’ confirmation of her husband’s passing was shared by Jack Marks’ Friday the 13th Part 2 co-star Bill Randolph.
Our sincere condolences go out to Linda Marks and the rest of Jack Marks’ family and friends, as well as his fans. We Friday the 13th fans will always appreciate his work as The Cop / Deputy Winslow.
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