The Muncie Man Who Helped Launch the Village People
By: Susan Smith
Archivist, Minnetrista Museum and Gardens & DCHS Vice President
Mark Mussler
The name Mussler may be familiar to many people in Muncie. Gloria Griffith Mussler was an active member of the Paul Revere Chapter of D.A.R. and Psi Iota Xi, and her husband, Ernest Mussler, worked as a tool grinder at Warner Gear, a machinist at both Schneider Manufacturing and Bell Machine & Engineering, and then served as president of Chandler Tool until his retirement in 1992/1993. Both volunteered for Meals on Wheels and were founding members of the Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Ernest Mussler
Gloria Griffith was the daughter of Muncie furniture maker George Lytle Griffith and Mildred Marie (Jones) Griffith Shinkle Gay. Gloria attended Burris School through junior high and then went high school at Tudor Hall in Indianapolis. She completed a two-year degree Briarcliff College in New York in 1943 and then joined the US Marine Corps, working as a draftsman at Quantico, Virginia, until the war ended.
While at Quantico, she met Ernest A. Mussler who was from Vermont. The two were married in the base chapel shortly after the war's end on Nov 30, 1945. They moved to Muncie and eventually had five children: Eric, Kurt, Mark, Lance, and Nancy.
Ernest, who also served during the Korean War, died in 2001and Gloria died in 2002.
Gloria Mussler
The Mussler's have donated many family items and archival materials to Minnetrista over the years and during a meeting with one of their sons a couple of years ago, he related a very interesting story about his brother Mark.
Mark David Mussler was born in Muncie on September 10, 1954. He attended Heritage Hall School where he was involved in numerous activities. He graduated as part of their first 9th grade class – consisting of four students - in 1970.
Mark Mussler
Mark attended Northside High School and excelled in science, music, art, and swimming. While there, he participated in a specialized class that explored teaching as a possible profession, similar to college-level student teaching. He was also involved in the Civic Theater and BSU community theater productions as a cast member, costume designer, and makeup artist.
After graduating in 1973 he attended Ball State for two years. In the fall of 1976, Mark moved to New York to attend Pratt Institute but dropped out to become a full-time makeup artist.
Then, in 1977, he was "discovered" at the famous Studio 54 in Manhattanby the producers of the Village People! Victor Willis, the lead singer, had recorded the debut album with professional studio singers but when the album became a hit, there was suddenly demand for live shows and TV appearances with an actual music group.
The Village People, public domain, WikiMedia Commons.
The lineup that appeared with Victor in the original video for the song “San Francisco” and on American Bandstand on December 10, 1977, included Mark Mussler (Construction Worker), David Forrest (Cowboy), Lee Mouton (Leatherman), Peter Whitehead (nondescript), and Felipe Rose (Native American). After that appearance, an advertisement went out for “permanent” members, most of which are the recognizable performers seen in the videos.
Mark went on to work primarily as a freelance makeup artist for fashion photographers and spent five years working with the Metropolitan Opera. Sadly, in 1987, at the age of 33, he died in New York City. He is buried in Muncie’s Beech Grove Cemetery.