Johnny Marks

Best remembered for seasonal favorites like "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer," composer Johnny Marks was born in Mt. Vernon, NY, on November 10, 1909. After attending Columbia University, he studied music in Paris, returning stateside to work as a radio producer; during World War II, Marks additionally produced entertainment for American troops stationed overseas. In 1947, he was asked to write a song based on "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," a poem written by his brother-in-law Robert L. May, a copywriter with the Montgomery Ward department store chain. Ward's had already g...