Max Morath was an American ragtime pianist, composer, actor, and playwright who lived from October 1, 1926, to June 19, 2023. He was dubbed “Mr. Ragtime” and was most renowned for his ragtime piano playing.
In addition to being a touring musician, he has held numerous positions as a composer, recording artist, actor, dramatist, and radio and television host. Morath was advertised as a “one-man ragtime army” by Rudi Blesh.
He developed an interest in early American popular music and theater as well as a study of its social and economic history as a result of his performances as a pianist and musical director with melodrama companies in Cripple Creek and Durango, Colorado.
He was greatly influenced by George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and his ragtime heroes Eubie Blake and Scott Joplin. Morath’s first professional recordings came from those theatrical performances.
Max Morath wife: Who is Norma Loy Tackitt?
He wed Norma Loy Tackitt in 1953. Before getting divorced in 1992, they had three kids. Morath graduated with a master’s in American Studies from Columbia University in 1996. The author of “I Love You Truly” and other well-known songs, Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1862–1966), served as the inspiration for his thesis. In 2008, Morath wrote a self-published biographical novel about Jacobs-Bond that was written in her voice as a result of his research on her and her era.