Marilyn Pittman

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.

KALW Remembering Marilyn Pittman

The Bay Area lost a pioneer in Queer comedy and radio. One of the first openly gay comics, Marilyn Pittman.

She rose to fame during the AIDS crisis, and became known for bringing hilarity through her blunt tell-it-like-it-is comedy.

Marylin was in front of a microphone even off the stage with over three decades of radio work, which include two national shows and time at KQED and KGO. She was also part of the KALW family as the Co-Executive Producer and Host of our series Out in the Bay. Many also knew Marylin as a teacher, she worked as a talent and voicing coach for public radio talk show hosts, including… me! I was lucky to be a student of her vocal coaching.

The Bay Area has lost one of its great voices and alchemists. And Marilyn knew how to spin tragedy in comedy gold. In 1997, tragedy struck, when her father murdered her mother, and then committed suicide.

From this experience she created a one-woman comedy show that she performed in San Francisco in 2012. That year I got to sit down with Marilyn to talk about the work of turning heartbreak into laughter.

Listen here: www.kalw.org/2026-04-07/remebring-marilyn-pittman

Remembering Marilyn Pittman: Lesley Gore

March 31, 2026 • Out In The Bay, Podcast

With sadness, I honor senior co-producer Marilyn Pittman, who passed away Saturday, March 28, by reposting some of her stellar features. She was especially proud of easing Lesley Gore “out” on-air. RIP, Marilyn. ~ E

Marilyn Pittman’s and Eric Jansen’s 2007 interview with the late Lesley Gore. Discovered by Quincy Jones, Gore’s iconic, “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To” and “You Don’t Own Me,” were smash hits that became classics. Hear about how she came out and who helped her do it, and how she brought new life to her 1960s hits decades later. (This rebroadcast Feb. 19, 2015)
LISTEN Lesley Gore

Series: Out In The Bay, Podcast

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July 20, 2026

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I met Marilyn in Albuquerque in the late 70s. We performed together at a local theater. She was a really good actor. Also we had a comedy team called Wynn with Pittman. I lost track of Maryland over the years as I went to law school and she continued on with comedy. She was quite a character.

Jane Wynn

July 12, 2026

3

We had a special water sign connection, you and me. Your very well hidden tender cancer to my sharp scorpio. I fell in friend love with you soon after we started swapping stories. Sometimes I even broke free from my work day early on harder days in the hope that I might find you and you’re loud jokes somewhere nearby to cheer me up. You were one of a kind. You saw each and every person who crossed your path as exactly who they were. No BS needed. You were everything BUT BS. You had my authentic love from day one and I will always miss how you loved exactly who this little all over the place human was for exactly who he really could be. You made me know that darkness always has some light to share, even when we have to dig for it.
I am grateful for you and I love and miss you so much 💜

James Ward

July 12, 2026

3

Thanks for the laughs. I still remember the joint rolling contest at your 60th birthday party. Much love. Your muse. ~Joe

Joseph Marciniak

Remembering Marilyn Pittman: a memorial 

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