Seattle Actor Mark Dempsey Had Show Business In His Genes

Mark Dempsey may not have been born in a trunk.

But the Seattle actor, who appeared on Broadway as well as in movies and on television, got about as close as he could get when he started life in Hollywood as the son of movie dancer Bessie Hall, who appeared in films such as "The Great Ziegfeld," and baseball player Lee Dempsey.

The Charlton Heston look-alike had show biz in his genes. His mother, aunt and grandmother not only were in vaudeville but also used a song-and-dance act costumed by his grandmother.

Mr. Dempsey, 58, died April 5 after a long illness.

"He always had a helping hand for you if you were in a show or putting on a show," said Carol Swanberg, who knew Mr. Dempsey since his Queen Anne High School days, when he was Herbert Lee Dempsey. (Mark was his stage name.)

She remembers him coming backstage to compliment her for her ballet skit in a school production.

"Even at that age, his creativity and enthusiasm showed," said Swanberg. "He was getting girls together for shows and chorus lines."

While majoring in drama at the University of Washington, the young actor presented young women in cabaret shows in nightclubs and at the old Aqua Theater.

Kay Harris, an early "Dempsey Girl," said, "I think he had been in the Navy, so he was a few years older than most of us in drama school. The first lead Dempsey Girl was (movie star) Dorothy Provine; he did discover her in a way.

"When he went back to Hollywood, he also worked with Jo Anne Worley in a comedy act before she was on `Laugh-In.' "

Mr. Dempsey also worked with Swanberg on Hollywood's Sunset Strip in a Wild West palace they called the Opera House. He loved cowboy mementos and music, decorating his home that way, playing ragtime piano and donning a Buffalo Bill costume to wander around meeting people at fairs.

While under contract to Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Mr. Dempsey appeared in TV shows such as "77 Sunset Strip" and "Hawaiian Eye."

In the late 1960s he went to New York, where he appeared in the original cast of the nude musical "Oh! Calcutta!" and in "Mata Hari."

He returned to Seattle in the late 1970s and worked in movies and TV. He starred in Bathhouse Theatre's production of "Paint Your Wagon." A few months ago he appeared in "Northern Exposure."

Mr. Dempsey helped Don Paulson write a book, "The Garden of Allah," about Seattle's earliest gay nightclub; the book is due next spring.

"Mark was extremely perceptive in his analysis of theater. He could have been a critic," said Paulson. "He was kind of lost in Seattle. He was more a New York personality."

Mr. Dempsey had another side: A favorite pastime was to visit a friend's ranch in Ellensburg and just sit and watch the sunset.

A public memorial service is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. today in Butterworth-Manning-Ashmore Funeral Home, 300 E. Pine St. A separate private gathering will be held on a date to be announced. Details: 781-7745.

Remembrances may be sent in his name to the Museum of History and Industry, 2700 24th Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98105.