His wife Susan Magestro told Variety he died in Santa Fe, N.M. Her memorial notice said he had been suffering from years of congestive heart failure. “Marjoe lived an extraordinary life, shaped by his imagination and rare gift for bringing people together,” the statement said.

Born in Long Beach, California, in an evangelical family, the name Marjoe is a combination of “Mary” and “Joseph.” His parents pushed him to become a child preacher, staging a photo op for the press when he performed a marriage ceremony at 4 years old. The family traveled around the country preaching and soliciting donations, and when Gortner was 16, his father absconded with what was reported to be $3 million in donations.

When he was approached by documentarians Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan, he agreed to let them follow him around on his final revival tour in 1971, partially to help publicize his acting career. The resulting documentary, “Marjoe,” won the Oscar for best documentary.

My Oscar Book:

It attracted considerable attention at the time, though it was later “lost” for many years until Kernochan was able to obtain rights to the film after tracking down the owner.

Gortner played roles as crazed drug dealers, outlaws, fake psychics and preachers in B movies and on television. In 1974’s “Earthquake,” he was the unhinged grocery store manager turned National Guardsman Sgt. Jody Joad.

He appeared in movies, such as Milton Katselas’ 1969 “When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?” in which he played a troubled Vietnam veteran. The drama co-starred Candy Clark, to whom he was briefly married when the film came out.

His other film appearances included “Viva Knieval,!” “Bobbie Joe and the Outlaw,” “The Survivalist,” “Starcrash” and Walter Hill’s “Wild Bill.” During the ’70s and 1980s he appeared on TV series including “Police Story,” “Airwolf,” “T.J. Hooker,” “Street Hawk,” “Otherworld,” “The A Team,” “Fantasy Island” and “Falcon Crest,” as a corrupt psychic.

His fifth wife, Susan Magestro, survives him.