Marcus Brody

Marcus Brody was a British-born archaeologist, historian, and lecturer. As a curator for several prominent museums on the east coast of the United States, he became a frequent patron of Indiana Jones.

Biography
Brody was born into a wealthy British family and grew up in London. In college, he spent some time at Princeton before transferring to Oxford, where he became fast friends with classmate Henry Jones. After graduation, Brody followed Jones to the United States, lecturing at various universities and participating in minor archaeological digs. By 1931, his work had led him to a position as Director of Special Acquisitions at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

By 1936, Brody had become curator of the National Museum, and it was in this role that he helped arrange Indiana Jones' expedition to recover the Ark of the Covenant for the U.S. government.

In 1938, Indy acquired the Cross of Coronado for Brody's museum. Shortly thereafter, Indy learned that his father had disappeared while researching the Holy Grail for wealthy American industrialist Walter Donovan. Upon hearing the news, Brody insisted on accompanying the younger Jones to Venice to help search for his old friend. In Venice, an encounter with the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword sent Indy off to rescue his father (held captive by the Nazis in Salzburg). Brody, meanwhile, traveled to Iskenderun to commission Sallah el-Kahir's assistance in obtaining the Grail. There, Brody found himself the victim of Nazi kidnapping. The Nazis used the Grail Diary in Brody's possession to trace the Grail to the Republic of Hatay, where Brody was rescued by Indy, Sallah, and the newly freed Henry Jones, Sr. Marcus joined the team for one final confrontation with the Nazis&mdash;and their secret ally, Donovan&mdash;at the Grail Temple; the result was Donovan's death, the loss of the Grail, and the destruction of the temple.

In 1939, Brody retired as curator of the National Museum in order to become Dean of Students at Marshall College, a position he held until 1944. He died in 1952 at the age of seventy-four, and his loss deeply affected his colleague Indiana Jones. As a form of tribute, Jones pushed hard for the Marshall faculty and staff to approve the erection of a bronze statue bearing Brody's likeness. The statue was already complete and installed on the Marshall campus by 1957; however a car of KGB agents, while pursuing Jones and Mutt, crashed on the statue base and its head broke and fell on the car. In addition, a portrait of him was placed on one of the college walls.

Behind the scenes
In both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Marcus Brody was portrayed by actor Denholm Elliott. He passed away before the filming of Crystal Skull.

Appearances

 * The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
 * The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Perils of Cupid
 * Young Indiana Jones and the Tomb of Terror
 * Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi
 * Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants
 * Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils
 * Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge
 * Indiana Jones and the Unicorn's Legacy
 * Indiana Jones and the Interior World
 * Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Indiana Jones and the Curse of Horror Island
 * Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs
 * Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth
 * Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx
 * Raiders of the Lost Ark novel
 * Raiders of the Lost Ark
 * Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures
 * The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones
 * Issue 1: "The Ikons of Ikammanen"
 * Issue 7: "Africa Screams!"
 * Issue 9: "The Gold Goddess: Xomec's Raiders"
 * Issue 10: "The Gold Goddess: Amazon Death-Ride!"
 * Issue 11: "The Fourth Nail: Blood and Sand!"
 * Issue 13: "Deadly Rock!"
 * Issue 14: "Demons"
 * Issue 15: "The Sea Butchers: Island of Peril!"
 * Issue 16: "The Sea Butchers: Death on Dark Waters!"
 * Issue 17: "The Search for Abner: The Grecian Earn"
 * Issue 18: "The Search for Abner: The City of Yesterday's Forever!"
 * Issue 20: "The Cuban Connection!"
 * Issue 21: "Beyond the Lucifer Chamber!"
 * Issue 22: "End Run"
 * Issue 23: "The Secret of the Deep"
 * Issue 25: "Good as Gold"
 * Issue 28: "Tower of Tears!"
 * Issue 30: "Fireworks!"
 * Issue 32: "Double Play!"
 * Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold
 * Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
 * Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade novel
 * Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
 * Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis comic
 * Untitled 2009 Indiana Jones video game
 * Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull