# Riff Markowitz > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Riff_Markowitz > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Riff_Markowitz.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riff_Markowitz > Source revision: 1312471901 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American screenwriter (1938–2025)}} '''Rifael Ronald Markowitz''' (1938 – September 17, 2025) was a Canadian-American television and theatre producer,"One man's unbridled folly: In a 'little jewel box of a theatre,' Torontonian Riff Markowitz has wowed a million-and-a-half visitors with corny jokes and a cancan line-up of knock-out octogenarians." ''[The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail)'', April 18, 1998. later the managing director, MC and co-founder of [The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies](/source/The_Fabulous_Palm_Springs_Follies),"Long live our lust for lingerie". ''[The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail)'', March 25, 2006. which performed at the historic [Plaza Theatre](/source/Plaza_Theatre_(Palm_Springs)) in downtown [Palm Springs, California](/source/Palm_Springs%2C_California), for 23 seasons until closing in 2014. ==Life and career== Markowitz was born in 1938 in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), but grew up in [Toronto](/source/Toronto), Ontario, Canada. He ran away from home at the age of 15 to join the [circus](/source/circus) and work as a [clown](/source/clown) for a year. He then secured a job as a radio announcer on [CJKL](/source/CJKL-FM) in [Kirkland Lake](/source/Kirkland_Lake), [Ontario](/source/Ontario). He later moved into television with [CHCH-TV](/source/CHCH-DT) in [Hamilton](/source/Hamilton%2C_Ontario), producing several of the station's early forays into [television syndication](/source/television_syndication), including ''The Randy Dandy Show'', which he created in 1961,"How a publicity hunting TV mini-tycoon turns shy". ''[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)'', January 8, 1972. ''[The Hilarious House of Frightenstein](/source/The_Hilarious_House_of_Frightenstein)'', which he co-created with his brother Mitch in 1971, and ''[Party Game](/source/Party_Game_(game_show))''. Markowitz was also an on-air television personality, both as the titular Randy Dandy in ''The Randy Dandy Show'', and as announcer "Gardiner Westbound" on ''Party Game''. He was also a producer on ''[The Wolfman Jack Show](/source/The_Wolfman_Jack_Show)'',"Wolfman's show slick and flashy but definitely not Canadian". ''[The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail)'', October 6, 1976. and a co-founder of early Canadian [pay television](/source/pay_television) movie channel [First Choice](/source/The_Movie_Network) in 1983. Markowitz moved to [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) where he produced musical variety and comedy specials for [HBO](/source/HBO) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including specials featuring [Neil Simon](/source/Neil_Simon), [Tony Curtis](/source/Tony_Curtis), [Red Skelton](/source/Red_Skelton), and [George Burns](/source/George_Burns). In 1983, he co-created and executive produced the mystery anthology series ''[The Hitchhiker](/source/The_Hitchhiker_(TV_series))'' for HBO. He moved to Palm Springs in 1991 intending to retire, but his continuing interest in theatre led to the offer to restore a vaudeville theatre, which became home to The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies.{{cite journal|last=Biller|first=Steven|author2=Kleinschmidt, Janice|title=The Influencers|journal=Palm Springs Life|date=October 2007|url=http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/October-2007/The-Influencers/|access-date=2013-06-14|archive-date=2016-06-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602153003/http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/October-2007/The-Influencers/|url-status=dead}} Markowitz died after a short illness on September 17, 2025, at the age of 86.{{cite news |title=Riff Markowitz, co-founder of Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, dies at 86 |url=https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/people/2025/09/17/co-founder-of-fabulous-palm-springs-follies-riff-markowitz-dies-at-86/86206069007/ |access-date=September 18, 2025 |work=Desert Sun |date=September 17, 2025}} ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== * {{IMDb name|0548737}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Markowitz, Riff}} Category:1938 births Category:2025 deaths Category:American clowns Category:American male television writers Category:Television writers from California Category:American television directors Category:American theatre directors Category:Canadian male television writers Category:Canadian radio hosts Category:Canadian television writers Category:Canadian television personalities Category:Canadian television producers Category:Canadian television directors Category:Canadian theatre directors Category:Canadian clowns Category:Screenwriters from New York City Category:Screenwriters from Toronto Category:Television producers from California Category:Canadian television show creators Category:American television show creators Category:Writers from Palm Springs, California --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Riff Markowitz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riff_Markowitz) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riff_Markowitz?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.