Thomas Markle
Thomas Markle
Thomas W. Markle Sr. is an American retired Cinematographer known for being the father of Meghan Markle, a woman who is engaged to Prince Harry.
Biography
Thomas Markle Sr. with baby, Meghan Markle, on his tummy.
Markle
Sr. is said to be a native of a small town in Pennsylvania who came from a working class family. When he was young, he also lived in Ohio and in other parts of the East Coast for most of his upbringing and early life. Thomas Markle has two other brothers, Michael (U.S. Diplomat) and Frederick (A Bishop in Florida).
Career
Thomas Markle Sr. with his daughter Meghan Markle, when she was younger.
In the late 1960s, Markle Sr. worked towards becoming a filmmaker, making his profession a serious endeavor.
Around this time, he moved to Los Angeles where he became a full time filmmaker working on sets working a variety of jobs, from set designer to lighting design.
His first mainstream job was being a part of the camera and electrical department for the iconic television Soap opera, General Hospital. For years he was also a part of the shows The Facts of Life and Married With Children.
Over the years, Markle would be recognized for his work in the industry being nominated several times for awards and Emmys.
In 2011, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Drama Series for his work on the long-running daytime soap opera General Hospital.
** Marriage
Photo of the Markle family that has been shared on the internet.
During the 1960s, Markle Sr. married a woman named Roslyn, with whom he had two children: Samantha Grant and Thomas Markle Jr. The two would later divorce.
In the late 1970s, Thomas Markle met his future second wife, Doria Ragland, when they both worked together for a television studio in Los Angeles. Thomas was a lighting Director for a soap opera. She worked as a temp at the studio.
In the early 1980s, the two married.
They had their daughter, Meghan Markle, 1981. The family traveled around to remote, impoverished areas in the world. The couple came from very little, but they always ensured to provide everything they could for Meghan. The couple divorced in 1988.
Bankruptcy
In 2016, it was reported that he filed for bankruptcy with credit card debts up to $30,000, and has been the subject of four legal claims in the past 20 years for unpaid tax bills.
His son, Markle Jr. has stated that his father has a good sized pension.
Personal Life
In the early 2010s, Markle Sr. decided to start living an anonymous life.
As he considered retirement around this time, he moved from Hollywood to Mexico.
He drives both a silver Volvo S70 and a red Ford Escape and instead he is a regular at a local branch of Walmart, five miles away, where he shops for groceries.
After retiring from Hollywood, he decided to move to Rosarito Beach, Mexico where he has his own beach front property. When asked about the man, the locals have said amicable things about Markle Sr. According to a storage owner named Moreno, Markle Sr. is "a very quiet guy. Very unassuming. I get the impression he does not mix with other expats, other Americans."
Thomas Markle sr. with Meghan Markle when she was a toddler.
Her youngest daughter, Markle, has publicly written positive things about her father.
She has stated the two have always had a great Father/Daughter relationship.
Although he divorced from Doria Ragland, Markle Sr. appears to have always been a part in Meghan's life.
She has written the following about her father:
"The blood, sweat and tears this man (who came from so little in a small town in Pennsylvania, where Christmas stockings were filled with oranges, and dinners were potatoes and spam) invested in my future so that I could grow up and have so much.
He helped me turn my bathroom into a darkroom when I was 12 because I wanted to be a photographer … he put gas in my car when I went from audition to audition trying to make it as an actress.
He is the person who believed in this grand dream of mine well before I could even see it as a possibility.
He taught me to write thank you notes, to always arrive early, to drink Arnold Palmers (a non-alcoholic cocktail of lemonade and iced tea popular in the U.S.), to find my light when I’m on camera... and beyond.
And that, right there, is my point: my dad taught me to find my light..."