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Marcia Leigh danced peacefully off the stage of her last routine September 8, 2020, at the Edgewood Vista theater in Missoula, Montana. She was under the capable direction of Hospice of Missoula and the staff of Edgewood Vista theater. Thank you.
Born October 16, 1932, Marcia L. Gore was raised and gained early education in Rock Port, Missouri. While there, she excelled in academics, music, drama and was a cheer leader. An independent and very intelligent soul, Marcia had issues with her mother and others who sought to boss her. Women entering the professional work force in the 50s and 60s had their difficulties. Few women in those days went to college. She had her way, and likely Mensa would have welcomed her. She persisted.
After spending one year at the University of Kansas in 1950, she transferred to Denver University. In 1954, she received her BA degree in Drama. She had brief acting work at the Cleveland Playhouse in Ohio.
In 1956, she moved to New York City to enter the acting scene. Living in Greenwich Village, she was at the vanguard of the bohemian lifestyle, becoming one of the early beatniks. In the Village, she met the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, and Pete Seeger. She was there when the 1960s folk music scene was developing. In coffeehouses, she mingled with Joan Baez, Eric Andersen, Jackson Browne, Janis Ian, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, and James Taylor. Other neighbors of note were Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Jack Kerouac, and Maya Angelou. She was exposed to off-off Broadway theater, and numerous writers and artists.
Most of her acting in the 50s and 60s happened off-Broadway, and/or in summer stock.
Notables she performed with were James Caan, Peggy Cass, and Joan Rivers. She had small parts in the movie “Hustler” with Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, and Jackie Gleason, and was in other movies.
In New York, she continued her education toward a Masters Degree in English. She taught in the city’s public schools, several private schools and did private tutoring. She had editing positions with Scholastic Magazine, Hill and Hill book publishers and Time-Life Books. If you are familiar with the leather bound Americana series of Life books published in the 1970s, you have no doubt read the edited literature work of Marcia Leigh Gore. Her creativity was further expressed by her illustrated works. She studied black and white photography, doing dark room development herself. Water color was her chosen medium for her painting expressions.
During the latter part of her 55 years of living in New York with her dogs, she located on the upper west side adjoining Central Park. Her last dog was Billie Buddy. She and Billie moved to Missoula in 2009, and was heard to say many times that she loved her adopted “Big Sky Country.”
She was preceded in death by her father, James F. Gore, Jr., and mother, Faye R. Gore of Rock Port. Marcia Leigh is survived by her brother, Jay of Missoula; nephew, Brook (Suzanne) of Boise and their children, Logan of Portland, Oregon, and Jordan (Linsey) of Boise.
A private memorial service will be held by family at a later date. The family suggests that memorial donations be made to the Western Montana Humane Society, Missoula. Brothers Mortuary and Crematory considers it an honor to serve the family. Condolences and memories may be shared with her family at www.brothersmortuary.com.
