Marcel Toussaint, 78, formerly known as Emil Saint Pellicer, was a radio personality, professional dancer, fencing master and "duke of deportment" for St. Louis society matrons and their children in the 1960s and '70s. He is a poet, author and lyricist.
FAMILY • Divorced with two children: Suzanne Saint Pellicer, 40, of Baltimore, and Aimee Saint Pellicer, 38, of St. Louis. Toussaint lives in Wildwood with a golden Lab puppy named Madison. He was the youngest of three surviving children born in Morocco to the late Raymond and Maia Gracia Saint Pellicer. His father was French and his mother was Spanish. His father worked for the French government, which transferred him to Rabat, Morocco, to be the superintendent of a manufacturing plant. His elder sisters, Josephine, 86, and the late Odette, settled in St. Louis, as did his parents. Toussaint has six nieces and nephews.
EDUCATION • Toussaint attended college in Morocco, where he studied French, English, Spanish and radio theater. He was a theatrical performer on the radio in Morocco for six years.
When and why did you come to St. Louis?
I came to St. Louis on Independence Day in 1954. My sister Odette had married William Comer, a sailor from the U.S. Navy who was stationed in Morocco. He was from St. Louis and they eventually moved here. I left Morocco because the political situation there was unstable.
Did you settle here at that time?
I thought I was here to settle, but eight months after I arrived, I was drafted into the U.S. Army and assigned to the military police in Atlanta.
That must have been a surprise to you. Did you spend your entire time in the military in Atlanta?
No, I was shipped to Stuttgart, Germany, where I was assigned to the supply division. While I was there I was at a USO dance and an American serviceman saw me dancing and asked if I wanted to perform with him and a partner in a group they had called "The Primitives." They had just lost the third person in the troupe and were planning to be in a competition that required three people.
Did you do it?
I did, but here I was, so proper, and I had to be a primitive! We won our first competition and then a second and then came the third round where the winner got to be on the Ed Sullivan Show. We came in second place and one of the judges was Olivia de Havilland. I spoke with her in French, of course.
Did you go on to be a professional dancer?
I did, but not on the stage. I had a mishap in my life that has affected me forever. When I was 19 I was riding in a bus to my sister's wedding in Morocco and the bus was hit by a truck. I wound up in a clinic in Casablanca where the doctor told me I had gangrene and they were going to amputate my leg. I screamed and said they could not take my leg. For two months the doctor scraped the infection out of my leg and from the bone two times a day. It was so painful but it saved my leg. However, as a result, the leg is shorter than the other. That made it very painful for me to dance.
When did you return to St. Louis?
I came back in 1957 and got a job at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. It wasn't long before I got a telephone call from my sister who said a mutual friend had recommended me to Mrs. Lemoine Skinner, who was looking for a dance master to replace Jacob Mahler, who was beloved and had been the last in a long line of Old World dancing masters. She lived in a mansion on Portland Place and I gave dancing and deportment lessons in her home to the children of her friends - the Bateses, the Pulitzers, the Benoists, the Desloges, the Schlaflys, the Werners and others of that social set.
Did you do that for long?
I did, but not in her home. I leased the ballroom in the Embassy building on Union Boulevard and that became my studio, and then in 1964 I opened my Conservatoire on Clayton Road. I was also directing the Fleur de Lis Debutante Balls, teaching dance to adults at country clubs around the area, and later I resumed my fencing studies. I became a fencing master and a coach at a number of schools in the area, including John Burroughs, St. Louis University and Forest Park Community College. I was on the Regis Philbin Show - which was produced in St. Louis - more than 30 times and was frequently on TV and radio.
When did you begin using the name Marcel Toussaint?
In the early 1990s, I wanted to see if I could be successful in publishing poetry without the recognition of what I had done before. I do not feel like it is a pseudonym because I was born on All Saints day, Nov. 1, and Toussaint means "all saints." My father called me that when I was born. And my closest friend growing up was named Marcel.
How many books have you published?
I have published one book of poetry and one novel. I have written about 2,000 poems and five novels and I have several novels in the works.
How prolific! What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Photography. I love taking pictures. I love to travel and I love to visit castles wherever they are. I still enjoy dancing.
Do you drive a French vehicle?
No, I drive a nondescript car. I used to drive Nashes but now I drive a Toyota Camry.
