Gortner spent the remainder of his teenage years as an itinerant
beatnik.
[12] Hard pressed for money in his early twenties, he decided to put his old skills to work and re-emerged on the preaching circuit with a charismatic stage show modeled after those of contemporary rock stars, most notably
Mick Jagger of the
Rolling Stones. He made enough money to take six months off every year, during which he returned to California and lived off his earnings before returning to the circuit.[
citation needed]
In the late 1960s, Gortner experienced a crisis of conscience about his
double life. He decided his performing talents might be put to use as an actor or singer. When approached by
documentarians Howard Smith and
Sarah Kernochan, he agreed to let their film crew follow him throughout 1971 on a final tour of revival meetings in California,
Texas, and
Michigan.
Unknown to everyone involved – including, at one point, his father – he gave "backstage" interviews to the filmmakers between sermons and revivals, some including other preachers, explaining intimate details of how he and other ministers operated. The filmmakers also shot footage of him while counting the money he had collected during the day, later in his hotel room. The resulting film,
Marjoe, won the
1972 Academy Award for
Best Documentary.
[13]
Gortner capitalized on the success of the documentary.
[4] Oui magazine hired him to cover
Millennium '73, a November 1973 festival headlined by the "boy guru"
Guru Maharaj Ji.
[14] He cut an
LP with
Chelsea Records entitled
Bad, but Not Evil,
[15] named after his description of himself in the documentary.
[5]
He began his acting career with a featured role in
The Marcus-Nelson Murders, the 1973
pilot for the
Kojak TV series.
[16] In 1974, he made several appearances in film and television. In the disaster film,
Earthquake, he was Sgt. Jody Joad,
[17] a psychotic grocery manager-turned-
National Guardsman, the main
antagonist. He starred in the television movies
The Gun and the Pulpit and
Pray for the Wildcats, and appeared in an episode of
Nakia, a 1974
police drama on
ABC.
Gortner portrayed the psychopathic, hostage-taking drug dealer in
Milton Katselas's 1979 screen adaptation of
Mark Medoff's play
When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?. He starred in a number of
B-movies including
Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976),
[16] The Food of the Gods (1976),
[4] and
Starcrash (1978).
In the early 1980s, Gortner hosted the short-lived
reality TV series,
Speak Up, America.
[18] He also appeared frequently in the 1980s
Circus of the Stars specials.
[19] He also played a terrorist preacher in a second-season episode of
Airwolf, and appeared on
Falcon Crest as corrupt psychic-cum-medium "Vince Karlotti" (1986–87).
[18] His last role was as a preacher in the
western Wild Bill (1995).
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