Sparky Marcus

Years ago, Tallulah Bankhead's credited with having created the dictum, 'never work/appeared with small children or animals', as they have a built-in 'advantage'; the 'awww, look at how cute..' Though it is true, there's been many young actors who actually had skills to back up that advantage. One off them - who was part of the mid/late-70's group was a child actor, who worked under the stage name of 'Sparky Marcus'. Sparky, - who's real name is Marcus Issoglio, was born in Hollywood, CA. After being a being a familiar face of the late-70's, appearing in everything from Freaky Friday (1976), and Benji (1974), to TV shows like The Bob Newhart Show (1972), and the adult soap/comedy, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976) seemed to disappear. One thing many child actors can't control is growing up, and aside from a very few, most former child actors will try to push against preconceived ideas, such as they're 'too old', or 'have no acting skills', but even when they do, it can be like trying to swim upstream. No matter how much, nor how hard they try, the entertainment business - which is already a very difficult business for any adult to try and enter, can seem to be much harder for someone who was once the 'go-to' face. Marcus did continue to work through the mid 80s, segueing into doing voice-overs for animated shows and films. One of his last on-camera appearances was in The Man with Two Brains (1983), Marcus has since retired from the business.