Marjorie “Margie” Korshak Goodman dies at 86

Officially, she was Marjorie Korshak Goodman, but most in Chicago knew her as “Margie.”

She launched her own public relations firm, Margie Korshak Inc., in 1969, when it was uncommon for women to start their own businesses. Over the decades, she became one of the most widely known and respected publicists in Chicago, serving the entertainment, retail, and restaurant industries. 

Korshak died on March 2. She was 86.  

In an interview with WBBM Radio in 2014, Goodman recalled that in the 1960s Chicago Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz told her that she was blessed with the “gift of gab,” and would make a wonderful publicist.

He was right. Through the years, she promoted musicals through her client Broadway in Chicago from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Les Misérables to Wicked and Hamilton, as well as the grand re-openings of the Cadillac Palace, Oriental, and Chicago theatres, among others. She also advised Bloomingdale’s, Sears, and Crate & Barrel.

Goodman was the daughter of Edith Korshak and former Illinois state Sen Marshall Korshak. Her roster of friends included Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Henry Fonda, and Barbra Streisand. “I’ve met `em all. I’m a very happy lady,” she told the Chicago Sun-Times in 1999.

Goodman’s family had deep ties to JUF. Her late husband, Charles “Corky” Goodman received the Julius Rosenwald Memorial Award, JUF’s highest honor, for his decades of service, including chairing the JUF Annual Campaign, the JUF Board of Directors, and JUF’s Centennial Campaign. She was the stepmother of former JUF Board member Richard Goodman–and the step-grandmother of current JUF Board member Jordan Goodman, JUF staff member Lily Goodman, and Wexner fellow Dan Goodman. Further, she was the cousin of current JUF Board member Sara Crown Star and longtime JUF lay leader Lester Crown. The Goodman-Crown families are Golden Givers to the JUF Annual Campaign. 

Goodman was a multigenerational trustee of JUF’s Jewish Woman’s Foundation, serving on its board from 2011-18, and again from 2023-24. Additionally, she was involved with the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation, and supported Gilda’s Club, as well as philanthropies that serve children. She had been an active member of Temple Sholom since 1948. 

At the funeral, Goodman’s son, Steven Chernoff, remarked that this event, too, was “a Margie production.” In his eulogy, he recalled his own star-studded childhood, including riding in a limousine with Broadway legend Yul Brynner, and having playdates with a young Michael Jackson and his brothers.  

But to Chernoff, the biggest celebrity was Margie herself: “My mom was a star, an inspiration to so many. Her beauty, charisma, and charm were unparalleled,” he said. “She taught us courage, passion, and style, and she embraced life. We go over the top because we’re just trying to do it the way she did it.”

Chernoff fondly remembers his mother’s ability to maintain friendships that she made at every stage of life, from her childhood through her professional years. “The bond was Margie,” he said. “For many decades and generations, people knew exactly who that was. Energy, excitement, creativity and style: that was Margie.”

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles “Corky” Goodman. She is survived by her children, Steven Chernoff and Susan Korshak Chernoff, and by her stepchildren, Leonard and Richard Goodman and Barbara Manilow. She was also survived by her step-grandchildren, Lily, Jordan, and Daniel Goodman, and her step-great-grandchildren, Bennett, Oliver, Zev, and Adina Goodman, as well as her step-daughter-in-law, Ruth Goodman Blum. Interment was at Rosehill Cemetery.