However, he also could imitate a housefly on a slippery oil cloth, neon signs, alligators, driftwood furniture, rubber bands, frozen chickens, frogs, praying mantis, and — his favorite — an ostrich, all of which found their way into his act or in characters he played on TV.

[citation needed] Marks enlisted in the US Army on December 12, 1940, and after serving two years, signed up for a six-year stint in the Merchant Marine.

He got into show business by pure accident, when some friends pushed him up onto the stage at Palumbo's in South Philadelphia, where he did impressions of W.C. Fields, Wendell Willkie and The Ink Spots.

He found a partner and worked as a team under the name The Al Mar Brothers, but they soon fumbled and Marks was back doing more odd jobs.

While in the Big Apple he rented a room with five other guys including fellow South Philadelphians Eddie Fisher, and Al Martino.

He began working nightclubs in New York, Atlantic City and Chicago, and by the end of the 1950s Marks, Martino and Fisher were all winners on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.

The skit featured Marks' flawless imitations of Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Robert Mitchum and a Native American Indian.

In 1969 he appeared on an episode of the popular The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV Series) sitcom, playing a gangster who sounds a lot like Humphrey Bogart.

During this time he also continued to work in night clubs all over the country and in Las Vegas, performing alongside Eddie Fisher, Ann-Margret, Sammy Davis Jr. and Petula Clark.

In a 1974 episode of The Odd Couple, he portrayed a late-night horror movie host named Igor, who sounded a lot like Boris Karloff.

On an episode of Police Woman called "Blind Terror" that aired in 1978, Marks appeared along with Sandra Dee and the show's star, Angie Dickinson.

Marks attracted international attention with the surprise novelty hit song "Loving You Has Made Me Bananas", which parodied the medleys and other popular music conventions of the big band era.

It was based on an old night-club routine of Marks, featuring an affected band singer of the radio era broadcasting from a remote Pennsylvania town.