apart from being a sportsman, mako composed music in his early 20s. he's the author of two songs, namely "lovely as spring" and "what did you dream last night?". he also starred in the 1938 musical "happy landing" and the 1941 war comedy "caught in the draft", although he remained uncredited in both movies. mako married actress laura mae church in manhattan in 1941. a month later, world war ii broke out, and he joined the united states navy. after this, he worked in a broadcasting studio. after his retirement, he designed tennis courts. his wife worked as an interior designer. he was involved in wrestling and was hired as a coach at the california institute of technology while also coaching the basketball team. he owned gene mako galleries in los angeles, california. he also published a book about his father titled "bartholomew mako: a hungarian master, 1890-1970". in the final decade of his life, he taught art to up-and-coming artists. he died in 2013 at cedars-sinai medical center in los angeles, aged 97, of pneumonia.