Dr. Ralph Elliot Margetts passed away November 12, 1997, completing his pilgrimage on earth and returning home at last. He suffered from congestive heart failure and mulit-infarct senile dementia. He was 88.
Ralph was born to a theatrical tradition in Salt Lake City, March 7, 1909, son of Albert E. (Bert) and Maude McEvoy Margetts; grandson and great-grandson of pioneer forbears. Attended LDS University High School. Made his public stage debut in 1926, at seventeen, playing the lead in "Seven Keys to Baldpate" on the stage of the Old Salt Lake Theatre, where his grandfather Phil had trod the boards for fifty years from 1862 to 1912. Served with dedication an LDS mission to France 1928-31.Returning to the Depression, he worked as a miner in Aspen, Colorado, with his uncle Bernard; as a make-up man for Max Factor in Hollywood; and, following his first love and his heritage, as an actor at the Gateway Theatre, Pasadena, and a Paramount Studios. Member of Actors Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. In the course of his career in both California and Utah he worked with such people as Marc Connelly, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Agnes Moorehead, Tyrone Power, Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Joel McCrea, Olivia de Havilland, and Kate Jackson. Those he had the pleasure to direct included Keene Curtis (in his first play), Sue Ane Langdon, Jan Sterling, and Imogene Coca.
He served in the Navy during World War II, stationed on Treasure Island in charge of rail transport for men and supplies for the Pacific. In 1944 in San Francisco he married his theatre soulmate (and Navy WAVE) Winnifred Snell, whom he first met in Salt Lake in Interstake Drama (later Deseret Players). Following the War, the GI Bill enabled him to complete his education. At the University of Utah he earned a BA in 1950, MA 1951, and PhD 1959, all in Theatre, and was elected to the honor societies Phi Kappa Phi, and Theta Alpha Phi. He chaired the Theatre Department at Chico State College 1953-57, then returned to teach, act and direct at the University of Utah. He also stage managed such summer productions in the Stadium as "Carmen", "Kiss Me Kate", "My Fair Lady", and "Kismet". He taught theatre history, acting, and directing, and served as Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Chairman of the Theatre Department at the U.
In his life he performed in everything from Aristophanes to Sheridan to Oscar Wilde to Ionesco, and directed everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to Neil Simon to Harold Pinter, including the highly successful 1967 revival of "Promised Valley" at the outdoor Temple View Theatre. He took pleasure in directing in 1973 at Promised Valley Playhouse his own play about the Old Salt Lake Theatre, "The Second Daniel" (then titled "In the Green Room"), on one night of which there was a 5.3 earthquake - a truly earth-shaking performance. In 1964-66 the educator took precedence over the theatre man, when he took a leave of absence to work with AID and the State Department helping to set up an education system in the new African nation of Mali. In 1976 he retired as a Professor Emeritus, University of Utah, and in 1977 was inducted, along with his actor-grandfather Phil, into the Pioneer State Theatre Hall of Fame. Retirement did not come easily to him, but it enabled him to pursue several years of research and writing on the first pioneer company of 1847, a compliment to his earlier biography of his grandfather Phil; he could also indulge in his fondness for fishing, reading and travel.
Survived by wife, Winn; son, Phillip C.; daughter, Michele; granddaughters, Lisette Anders, Nicole (John) Paulson, Noelle Margetts; great-grandchildren, Zsanae, Zachary, Nicholas; and one brother, Albert E. Margetts. Preceded in death by brother, Tom and sister, Virginia.
His family would like to offer sincere and heartfelt thanks to all the staff at St. Joseph Villa who helped care for him the last six months of his life.
Funeral services will be held at noon on Monday, November 17, at the LDS 33rd Ward, 453 South 1100 East. Friends may call Sunday, November 16, between 4 and 6 p.m. at Evans and Early Mortuary, 574 East 100 South, and at the ward prior to the service from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Interment in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
We believe our much loved husband, father, and grandfather is not dead, but "as a traveler, Goes to discover countries yet unknown."
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