E. G. Marshall

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E. G. Marshall as the President of the United States in Superman II

E. G. Marshall (June 18, 1914 - August 24, 1998) was a two-time Emmy Award winning American actor who co-starred in the 1957 movie 12 Angry Men. Two of his better known TV roles are those of lawyer, Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s.

Marshall was born Everett Eugene Grunz^[1] in Owatonna, Minnesota to Charles G. Grunz and Hazel Irene Cobb. He never divulged fully what 'E.G' stood for, telling most people it stood for "Everybody's Guess". It was thought to mean ' Everett Eugene Grunz ' or ' Edda Gunnar Marshall '. Later reports after his death mentioned that it stood for ' Everett Gunnar '. (His social security card apparently read, "E.G. Marshall.") He is listed as "Everett E. Grunz" in the 1920 census.^{[citation needed]}

Marshall was the original host of the popular nightly radio drama The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (or CBSRMT), which ran on CBS radio affiliate stations across the United States between 1974 and 1982. CBSRMT was an ambitious and sustained attempt to revive the great drama of old-time radio. Each episode began with the ominous sound of a creaking door, slowly opening to invite listeners in for the evening's adventure. At the end of each show, the door would swing shut, with Marshall signing off, "Until next time, pleasant... dre-e-eams?" Marshall hosted the program for the first seven years. Failing health forced his departure in 1981, and he was replaced by actress Tammy Grimes for the final season.

Marshall also found fame playing in other television and film roles, usually as an authoritative figure. One of his best known television roles was as defense lawyer Lawrence Preston in the series The Defenders, which lasted from 1961 to 1965. He and future Brady Bunch star Robert Reed portrayed a father and son who worked in a law firm. This role garnered him two Emmy wins-one in 1962 and one in 1963. He also earned more prominence as dedicated neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Craig, in The Bold Ones series, from 1969 to 1973, featuring unfamiliar actors David Hartman and John Saxon. Marshall reprised the role of Lawrence Preston for a 1997 Showtime television movie based on The Defenders called The Defenders: Payback. It featured the elder Preston and his descendants taking on legal cases in the 1990s. (Reed did not appear in the revival since he died in 1992. The movie acknowledged this absence by mentioning that Reed's character had died.) There was a second movie and plans for a series. The series was aborted after his death.

Marshall was married three times. He had seven children in total, whose names include Sam, Jed, Sarah, Jill, and Degen.

He died of lung cancer in Bedford, New York, on August 24, 1998, at age 84. His grave is in the Middle Patent Rural Cemetery, located in the hamlet of Banksville, a part of the Town of North Castle, New York.