O.C. filmmakers mourn Rory Markas
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The voice of Rory Markas will live on, not only in his calls for the Angels but in an independent film premiering later this month.
The film is called ‘The Yankles,’ about an Orthodox Jewish academy that decides to field a baseball team. Zev and David Brooks, the Orange County brothers who made the film, didn’t have much money to spend. But they really wanted a big-name announcer for the play-by-play calls, so they e-mailed Markas, wondering whether he would bother to respond to two guys he had never heard of.
Not only did Markas respond, but he agreed to record play-by-play segments for the movie.
‘He was just a delightful guy--humble, accommodating, enthusiastic, appreciative,’ Zev Brooks said this afternoon. ‘Not only was he totally professional, he was just a lot of fun.’
The Angels announced today that Markas, 54, had died.
Brooks said Markas did get to see a finished copy of ‘The Yankles’ at a Nov. 15 screening at UCLA. The film premieres in Atlanta on Jan. 23. Although Markas’ voice does not appear in the trailer, Brooks said Markas is the first and last voice in the film.
-- Bill Shaikin