- Born
- Died
- Birth nameYanni Alexis Mardas
- Nicknames
- Magic Alex
- John
- Alex Mardas
- Magic Alex Mardas
- Alexis
- Greek-born Alexis Mardas was a charismatic self-proclaimed inventor and electronics wizard. During 1967 and 1968, The Beatles fell under his spell and plouged valuable Apple cash into financing his wild and often mythical inventions - which more often than not turned out to be hopeless failures or just boxes of flashing coloured lights. At the height of his influence, he offered to take them out of the drab over-familiar surroundings of Abbey Road and build them a custom-made recording studio in the Apple offices. The studio did appear but was of such poor quality that The Beatles were forced to return to Abbey Road. Their association with Alex was terminated shortly afterwards.
- IMDb mini biography by: Adaml-3
- SpouseEuphrosyne Doxiadis(July 11, 1968 - ?) (divorced, 2 children)
- The "Nothing Box"; a sealed cube with randomly-blinking lights
- Applied for roughly 100 British patents for the items he produced or developed while working for The Beatles; was turned down for every one when it was shown that he had invented nothing, but had only made modified versions of already-patented products. It also turned out that, while passing himself off as an "electronics engineer", in truth he was little more than a TV repairman with a gift of gab.
- Had a brief affair with Cynthia Lennon, after she learned of husband John's relationship with Yoko Ono; last visited her to break the news that John planned to sue *her* for divorce (and custody of son Julian Lennon), on grounds of adultery.
- Made a poor impression on The Beatles producer George Martin, who knew full well the limitations of Abbey Road's recording equipment without having to hear "These people are so out of date," when Mardas visited the studio. Despite his boasts to be designing a revolutionary new recording studio, to feature both a 72-track recording deck (when four- and eight-track were still the norm) and sonic screens (to eliminate the need for soundproofing), Martin couldn't help but notice Mardas studied Abbey Road's methods as closely as possible during his visits, while still mocking their "obsoleteness". Martin had the last laugh when the Alex-designed Apple Studio (located in the basement at Savile Row) proved to be an unworkable joke, with no innovations and many obvious technical shortcomings, and "Magic Alex" was told to disappear.
- Accompanied The Beatles to India for their stay with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; was the one who suggested the Maharishi had been trying to seduce Mia Farrow and other women at the camp, leading to The Beatles' breaking ties with him.
- Was nicknamed "Magic Alex" by John Lennon, who was amazed by the electronic gimmicks and toys he seemed to endlessly produce. Similarly impressed the other The Beatles, who leased him a laboratory, named him head of Apple Electronics, and counted on his ideas to help make Apple a financial success, through commercial products based on his creations.
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