Early Life

Frank Marcello was born on May 11^th, 1929, in Pittsburgh Pa.  into a family of poor Italian Immigrants. Frank was the eldest survivor of five children and named after his older brother and his mother’s first-born son, who died in infancy of spinal meningitis. Because of this, Frank always described himself as his mother’s replacement for her lost first-born son.

From very early on, Frank demonstrated a strong gift for drawing. Being the son of Italian immigrants, who were pretty much looked down upon, in the very much ethnically biased Pittsburgh melting pot community. Frank did not receive much attention from his teachers at school and so he did not do well at first. He always got himself into trouble for doodling and drawing on any available flat surface whether it be schoolwork, desktops, back boards, or even the very walls of the school.

High School Years

Eventually, Frank grew to attend Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic High School. But he suffered there too. In those days, the predominantly Irish Jesuit Priests and the entire student body weren’t exactly cordial to the sons on immigrants from southern or eastern Europe. This statement is not intended as a criticism or condemnation of the Catholic Church or Irish Catholics. It is merely a statement of fact, regarding the state of ethnic relations during 1930s and 40s in the USA. Despite the romantic praises of the historical pundits the great American “melting Pot” was no bed of roses and most people today would agree that not much has changed regarding newcomers, even up to the present day in which we all see the same biases at work.

Always getting into trouble or being involved in fights eventually forced Frank to change schools and so, he ended his stay at Central and finished at Pittsburgh’s Peabody High School (now Barack Obama Academy of International Studies 6-12) in the famous East Liberty section, known for residences of the wealthy corporate elites like the Melons, the Fricks, and many of Frank’s contemporaries  at Peabody, graduated and went on to fame and fortune, such as Andy Warhol, actor Frank Gorshin of the TV series Batman of the 1960’s, and actor Charles Grodin.

At Peabody, Frank’s whole life turned around because one teacher took notice of his talent and began to encourage him -- his art teacher. Sometimes a little praise and encouragement can go a very long way. The result was that by graduation, Frank had won a scholarship to practice his talent in Rome, Italy.

Higher Education

It was a wonderful and unimaginable possibility for a poor Italian American boy to return to his roots as a gifted youth. Sadly, it was not to be.

There was just no way that a poor immigrant family could afford to support their son in such a faraway and expensive place. After all, it was all the family could do just to get to America, never mind, the possibility of returning.

The good news was that Frank, thanks to that wonderful Art Teacher at Peabody, also received a scholarship offer from the famous Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), Barnes School, in Philadelphia. Here we see serendipity at work because it just so happened that Frank had an aunt and uncle who lived in Philadelphia, and his family was able to arrange for Frank to live with his relatives, while he attended school.

 Shortly after matriculating at PAFA, Frank met up with Irene Wackosski, another gifted student, who soon became the love of his life and eventually, the mother of his three children. Perhaps from an artistic point of view, she became his muse and his eternal source of inspiration.

Work Life

By 1951 Irene was pregnant with their first child and only son, two daughters would follow. So both Frank and Irene were forced to drop out of school in their 3^rd year at PAFA, Barnes, and Frank was forced to seek a job to support his new family. He and Irene married and moved back to Pittsburgh. Frank got his first job as an artist with the old Display Studios, a company that specialized in the creation and production of corporate marketing devices like convention displays.

Young Frank did not get to be the star artist in the beginning, and being inexperienced, got to do the actual grunt work producing the displays; however, his excellent craftsmanship and innovative ideas soon made his bosses take notice of his talent. It was not long before other studios began to seek him out. So began his freelance period. He worked long days to put food on the table and long nights, where he practiced and perfected his craft as a commercial illustrator.

Frank was well-placed to develop a career in commercial art because during the 1950s and -60s, Pittsburgh was an industrial powerhouse. During that time, it was the third largest Corporate Headquarters city in the USA, after New York and Chicago. Most of the Country’s major advertising agencies maintained branch offices in the city, which made for a “target rich” environment for ambitious young freelancers.

Frank was able to support himself and his young family by servicing the many small art studios that did the work for the big agency s and eventually Frank was accepting work directly from many of the corporate heavies, such as US Steel, Westinghouse, Dravo, Alcoa, Cutco, and more.

In 1957 Frank bought a big old rundown farmhouse in the eastern suburbs, complete with a barn, a chicken coop, and a magnificent fruit orchard. He would live there for the next 50 years. It was there that he raised his family and produced hundreds of illustrations and over 150 major oil paintings, which were completely unrelated to his commercial endeavors.

In 1964, Frank decided to “go downtown,” and rented a penthouse space at the top of the old Keenan Building (one of the first skyscrapers with 18 stories). Marcello Studios was born and with it his flying horse Pegasus Logo. His “Mad Man” period had begun.