Zebedy Colt

Acting • 1929-12-20 • Santa Barbara, California, USA

California native Edward Earle Marsh (b. 1929) began his wild and fascinating showbiz career in childhood, acting occasionally for projects in Hollywood. His slant toward a less mainstream brand of performing began to manifest during the 1960s when he was involved in a number of outrageous, high-camp stage projects at supper clubs, bars and cafés catering to a primarily gay audience. Subsequently, he sang on an LP with the London Philharmonic Orchestra entitled "I'll Sing For You" and used the name Zebedy Colt. This pioneer album (now a rare collector's item) is historically significant to the gay community, as the songs were torchy standards about men, intended to be sung by women. Now established as "Zebedy Colt", Marsh found entrance into the burgeoning world of hard-X cinema. The years that followed saw him as a performer and director, credited with many titles now both notorious and revered by the cult cinema fringe for their edgy and extreme subject matter. During these years he also managed to find the time to perform on the stage in several on- and off-Broadway productions, and eventually retired to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he died in 2004.