John Gabriel
A Man for All Genres!
July 15, 2016
By Lynn DiMenna for Cabaret Scenes
At the outset of their careers, most all of the great Italian-American crooners, from Tony Bennett (Anthony Benedetto) to Jerry Vale (Genaro Louis Vitaliano), were encouraged to change their birth names to something more easily pronounced and remembered. Actors, too, like John Wayne (Marion Mitchell Morrison) also benefited from a simplified moniker. Enter a strikingly handsome, virile young actor/singer born Jack Monkarsh in Niagara Falls on May 25, 1931, who faced the same dilemma. Raised in Los Angeles, Monkarsh graduated from UCLA and did a career-determining stint in the Air Force. When he answered a casting call for leading man types, his agent convinced him to change his surname to Gabriel, as in the trumpeting angel referenced in Cole Porter’s song “Blow, Gabriel, Blow.” He used his new name –John Gabriel — for his first audition at the 20th Century Fox Studios. It was a fortuitous decision, indeed. He subsequently found himself starring alongside Marlon Brando in The Young Lions and Wayne in El Dorado.
Had he resisted the name change, one has to wonder if he would have experienced quite the same level of success over his many years of performing in film, on stage and, most memorably, as a beloved TV soap opera star on the widely acclaimed Ryan’s Hope.
As the amiable Dr. Seneca Beaulac, Gabriel won the hearts of millions of viewers who, like myself, were captivated by his good looks, elegant style and convincing portrayal of the affable, even-tempered—albeit controlling—Chief of Surgery at the fictional Riverside Hospital. After a 10-year run, he followed this Emmy-nominated role on Ryan’s Hope playing ace lawyer Zack Conway on Loving, another ABC soap. Throughout his soap opera career, he kept his love of pop standards alive and even recorded a CD with like-minded soap stars called John Gabriel & Friends.
As friends go, he humbly mentions a few more very impressive names of actor friends he’s worked with over the years, including classmate Carol Burnett, Jim Nabors and Mary Tyler Moore. That he was cast as the original “Professor” on Gilligan’s Island, elicits a “wink and a smile” at what might have been. (In the never-aired pilot, he and two other subsequently replaced actors were among the “original” cast before the show went into production.) He also had leading roles in two Broadway productions, Applause(as a replacement) and The Happy Time (as standby).
As his very best friend of over 50 years, Charles Grodin, likes to say when introducing him at gigs down at NYC’s Metropolitan Room, he is “every bit as good a singer as he is an actor!” He has proved, with over a lifetime of singing in cabarets, clubs and on Broadway, producing Grodin’s TV 1995 talk show on CNBC and MSNBC, hosting his own radio show on the RKO Network and appearances on such shows as Regis and Kathie Lee, that he has impeccable musical taste and a deep love and keen appreciation for the Great American Songbook.
One of his other very close friends, the late, great Ervin Drake, became a musical mentor and collaborator. In 1998, he recorded a CD of Drake’s music, entitled From John with Love. John Hoglund, writing for Backstage, described his strong baritone as having “a rich, legit sound recalling the likes of John Raitt and Gordon MacRae.” TV News also commented, “With Alfred Drake long since gone, John Gabriel may be the best actor/singer around.”
Always wearing multiple hats, he co-wrote the title song for the film El Dorado with Nelson Riddle. His voice has also been heard over the years on commercials for Oldsmobile, The Wall Street Journal and United Airlines, among many, many others.
His friendships with both Grodin and Drake have been among the most important of his life and career. His favorite roles as devoted husband to actress-wife Sandy and father to two beautiful, accomplished daughters—actress Andrea Gabriel and Melissa Gabriel, mother to his beloved grandsons, Mikey and Brendan—have all contributed to his defining description as an all-round great guy, family man and inspired performer.
At 85 years young, he and his female counterpart, Marilyn Maye, must be taking some of the same vitamins or drinking from the same fountain of youth. His energy, enthusiasm and devotion to the great American popular standards has never waned and his interpretations of these songs come from deep within a well of wisdom, maturity and an appreciation for a name change that just might have started it all.
John will be appearing at the Metropolitan Room in a show called New York on Sunday with John Gabriel, on Sunday, August 7 at 7 pm.