Marv Welch, Detroit's "Mr. Wixie," dead at 81

Posted:
Feb 23, 2007

Marv Welch, who aired several cartoon series as the host of Detroit's Wixie's Wonderland in the 1950s, died Thursday morning after a short illness, WWJ Newsradio 950 announced. He was 81.

As Mr. Wixie, he showed Woody Woodpecker and Mickey Mouse cartoons, Silly Symphonies and Looney Tunes on his hour-long show, which was seen on WXYZ-TV.

He teamed with Soupy Sales and Johnny Ginger in a series of nightclub appearances in the 1990s.

Before becoming an entertainer, Welch was in General George Patton's Third Armored Division in Germany. While in Czechoslovakia, he emceed USO events featuring such Hollywood celebrities as Bob Hope, Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman and Carole Lombard.

Born Marvin Welch Jr. on October 14, 1925 in Detroit, he was the son of nightclub entertainers Marvin Sr. and Amelia. During the Depression the Welches sometimes performing at neighborhood piano bars; since his parents couldn't afford a sitter, his mother would hide her son behind the piano while she performed.

As a child, he eventually used his Irish soprano singing voice to perform for the customers.

Welch attended Wayne University, studying liberal arts under Leonard Leone, founder of the famed Hilberry and Bonstelle theaters. To help pay for his tuition, he sang at Earl Gremel's bar and told one-liners, which eventually outnumbered the songs.

He became a record pantomimist and was known as the "Michigan Mirthquake."

Following the Second World War, Welch returned to Detroit and worked at such big clubs as the Gay Haven, the Metropole and the Top Hat, sharing the stage with artists like the Platters, Jerry Vale, Guy Mitchell and Frank Sinatra. He was one of the first comics in the Detroit area to incorporate off-color humor.

While working in nightclubs, Welch met singer Eleanor McRobbie, whom he married.

In 1952, Welch graduated to TV, joining singer Janie Palmer for WWJ-TV's Musically Speaking, a 15-minute program of dinner music and humor. The show lasted for a year.

In the fall of 1953, he became host of the early-morning children's show Wixie's Wonderland, which aired on WXYZ opposite WWJ's Playschool with Mary Melody, hosted by Welch's wife Eleanor. The two were divorcing, so Welch "didn't mind competing with his soon to be ex-wife," according to the Detroit Kids Show Page.

A live show with no script, it had Welch introducing cartoons, singing, joking, selling Bosco and pantomiming to records.

"I wore boots, a lightning bolt on my chest and a beanie with an antenna. I don't know what the hell I was supposed to be," Welch recalled. But he was bothered when his character Wixie was called a clown: "I wasn't a damn clown. I was a pixie!"

In 1953, Welch met his second wife Dolores ("Dee"), a hostess, while headlining at nightclub Harry and Alma's.

Although Wixie's Wonderland ended in 1957, the Wixie character reappeared in the two-hour variety show Our Friend Harry, starring Harry Jarkey, another nightclub comic. WXYZ canceled the show after a year due to low ratings.

Welch stayed in nightclubs: "Comedy was my ace in the hole. The TV jobs ended, but I always had the clubs to fall back on."

He made several party records based on his standup routines in the 1960s and 1970s. Recorded live at the Metropole, Gino's Surf, the Playhouse and the Roostertail, these were released under the Polaris and Wild-Records labels.

During the 1970s, Welch was a DJ at WBRB, "The Voice of Macomb County," playing golden oldies by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney.

In 2000, he performed every weekend at his daughter's restaurant, Marvin's Bistro & Piano Bar, where his original Wixie costume and other memorabilia was on display. But after a year, the restaurant closed.

"I never tried to educate the kids," Welch recalled of his TV days, "just entertain them."

Funeral arrangements are pending.