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  • LEE MARVIN


    More
    PHOTOS


    INFORMATION FROM IMDb


    Date of birth
    19 February 1924
    New York, New York, USA


    Date of death
    29 August 1987
    Tucson, Arizona, USA. (heart attack)


    Height
    6' 3" (1.91 m)


    Spouse
    Pamela Feeley (18 October 1970 - 29 August 1987) (his death)
    Betty Ebeling (February 1951 - 5 January 1967) (divorced)


    Trivia
    Says he learned to "act" in the Marines, trying to act unafraid during ferocious combat, which brought him a Purple Heart during invasion of Saipan.


    The body of Lee Marvin was interred next to that of Joe Louis in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. USA.


    Son Christopher born 1952.


    Daughter Courtenay born 1954.


    Daughter Cynthia born 1956.


    Daughter Claudia born 1958.


    Was a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson.


    Was Spielberg's first choice for the role of Quint in _Jaws (1975)_ .


    Was as suprised as anyone when his recording of "Wandering Star", from the "Paint Your Wagon" soundtrack, became a suprise hit, earning the Gold Record (the standard in those days) for one million copies sold in 1969.


    Not a sentimental man by nature, Marvin kept only four souvenirs of his career over the years. These were his Best Actor Oscar for "Cat Ballou", the citation he received from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame for his performance in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", his Gold Record for "Wandering Star" and the high-heeled shoe that Vivien Leigh beat him with in "Ship of Fools".


    Named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who was his first cousin four times removed.


    Bonded with co-star Vivien Leigh on the set of "Ship of Fools" (1965). When he and his partner Michelle Triola visited Leigh at her exquisite home in England, he tore up a deck of antique playing cards that they were playing with. Much to Triola's surprise, Leigh was not at all disturbed by Marvin's boorish behavior but seemed enchanted by him.


    When serving in the Marine Corps became best friends with John Miara of Malden, Mass.


    Turned down the lead role of Gen. George S. Patton Jr. in Patton (1970).


    Revisted Saipan (the sight of his wounding during World War II) in 1967, where his guide was P. F. Kluge, who went on to write "Eddie and the Cruisers."


    Personal quotes
    "Tequila. Straight. There's a real polite drink. You keep drinking until you finally take one more and it just won't go down. Then you know you've reached your limit."


    Upon accepting his Best Actor Academy Award for "Cat Ballou," 1966: "I think half of this belongs to a horse somewhere out in the valley."


    "Ah, stardom! They put your name on a star in the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard and you walk down and find a pile of dog manure on it. That tells the whole story, baby."


    "If I have any appeal at all, it's to the fellow who takes out the garbage.


    Mini Biography
    Prematurely white-haired character star who began as a supporting player of generally vicious demeanor, then metamorphosed into a star of both action and drama projects, Lee Marvin was born in New York City to Lamont Marvin, an advertising executive, and his wife Courtenay, a fashion writer. The young Marvin was thrown out of dozens of schools for incorrigibility. His parents took him to Florida, where he attended St. Leo's Preparatory School near Dade City. Dismissed there as well, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at the beginning of World War II. In the battle of Saipan in June 1944, he was wounded in the buttocks by Japanese fire which severed his sciatic nerve. He received a medical discharge and got menial work as a plumber's apprentice in Woodstock, NY. While repairing a toilet at the local community theater, he was asked to replace an ailing actor in a rehearsal. He was immediately stricken with a love for the theater and went to New York City, where he studied and played small roles in stock and Off-Broadway. He landed an extra role in Henry Hathaway's You're in the Navy Now (1951), and found his role expanded when Hathaway took a liking to him. Returning to the stage, he made his Broadway debut in "Billy Budd", and after a succession of small TV roles, moved to Hollywood, where he began playing heavies and cops in roles of increasing size and frequency. Given a leading role in Eight Iron Men (1952), he followed it with enormously memorable heavies in The Big Heat (1953) and The Wild One (1953). Now established as a major screen villain, Marvin began shifting toward leading roles with a successful run as a police detective in the TV series "M Squad" (1957). A surprise Oscar for his dual role as a drunken gunfighter and his evil, noseless brother in the western comedy Cat Ballou (1965) placed him in the upper tiers of Hollywood leading men, and he filled out his career with predominantly action-oriented films. A long-term romantic relationship with Michelle Triola led, after their breakup, to a highly publicized lawsuit in which Triola asked for a substantial portion of Marvin's assets. Her case failed in its main pursuit, but did establish a legal precedent for the rights of unmarried cohabitors, the so-called "palimony" law. Marvin continued making films of varying quality, always as a star, until his sudden death from a heart attack in 1987.
    IMDb mini-biography by Jim Beaver


    Mini Biography-2
    from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
    Rugged actor who, like many tough-looking leading men, started his movie career as a heavy, then graduated to heroic roles when he became a star. Marvin, a WW2 veteran, took up acting in the late 1940s following an unfulfilling stint as a plumber. Initially appearing in summer stock and off-Broadway productions, he graduated to the Great White Way in 1951. That same year, he broke into movies with a bit part in You're in the Navy Now and two years later achieved recognition as the psychopathic gang leader who hurled scalding coffee in his girlfriend's face in The Big Heat (1953). Marvin also played a rival gangleader in The Wild One (1954), a nasty townsman in Bad Day at Black Rock a burned-out jazzman in Pete Kelly's Blues (both 1955), and Western baddies in Gun Fury, The Stranger Wore a Gun (both in 1953), Seven Men From Now (1956), and The Comancheros (1961). After starring for three seasons on the TV cop show "M Squad" (1957-60), he reached his apex as a big-screen bad guy playing the whipcracking terror of John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), which starred John Wayne and James Stewart.


    Following the lighthearted Donovan's Reef (1963, again for Ford), Marvin returned to form as the contract killer who guns down crime boss Ronald Reagan (in his last film) in The Killers (1964). He followed that with a memorable turn as a washed-up ball player in Ship of Fools (1965). Next came the Western spoof Cat Ballou (also 1965); Marvin's dual role as a drunken gunslinger and a tin-nosed desperado won him an Oscar and elevated him to leading-man status. He maintained it by heading up two all-star action blockbusters, The Professionals (1966) and The Dirty Dozen (1967), and for the next 20 years gave solid performances in such varied films as the quirky thriller Point Blank (1967), the two-man war movie Hell in the Pacific (1968), the big-budget musical Paint Your Wagon (1969), the elegiac Western Monte Walsh (1970), the satiric gangster opus Prime Cut (1972), the allegorical train adventure Emperor of The North (1973), the comic Western Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday (1976), and Sam Fuller's autobiographical war film, The Big Red One (1980), which gave him one of his all-time best parts as an indomitable sergeant in the infantry. Later films include Death Hunt (1980), Gorky Park (1983), The Delta Force (1986), and a TV movie sequel The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission (1985). Perhaps his most underrated work was his performance as Hickey in the 1973 film adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh Marvin also left a legacy of quite a different sort: his longtime companion, Michelle Triola, successfully sued him for support after their breakup, bringing the word "palimony" into the American lexicon.
    Copyright © 1994 Leonard Maltin, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.


    Filmography
    Actor
    1. The Delta Force (1986) .... Col. Nick Alexander
    ... aka Mahatz Ha-Delta (Israel: Hebrew title)
    2. The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission (1985) (TV) .... Maj. John Reisman
    3. Canicule (1984) .... Jimmy Cobb
    ... aka Dog Day (USA)
    4. Gorky Park (1983) .... Jack Osborne
    5. Death Hunt (1981) .... Sgt. Edgar Millen, RCMP
    6. The Big Red One (1980) .... The Sergeant
    ... aka Samuel Fuller and the Big Red One
    7. Avalanche Express (1979) .... Col. Harry Wargrave
    8. Shout at the Devil (1976) .... Colonel Flynn O'Flynn
    9. Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday (1976) .... Sam Longwood
    ... aka Wildcat
    10. The Klansman (1974) .... Sheriff Track Bascomb
    ... aka KKK
    ... aka The Burning Cross
    11. The Spikes Gang (1974) .... Harry Spikes
    12. The Iceman Cometh (1973) .... Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman
    13. Emperor of the North Pole (1973) .... A no. 1
    ... aka Emperor of the North (USA: reissue title)
    14. Prime Cut (1972) .... Nick Devlin
    15. Pocket Money (1972) .... Leonard
    16. Monte Walsh (1970) .... Monte Walsh
    17. Paint Your Wagon (1969) .... Ben Rumson
    18. Hell in the Pacific (1968) .... American Pilot
    19. Sergeant Ryker (1968) .... Sgt. Paul Ryker
    ... aka The Case Against Paul Ryker
    ... aka The Case Against Sergeant Ryker
    ... aka Torn Between Two Values
    20. Point Blank (1967) .... Walker
    21. The Dirty Dozen (1967) .... Maj. John Reisman
    22. The Meanest Men in the West (1967) (TV) .... Kalig Talbot
    23. The Professionals (1966) .... Henry 'Rico' Fardan (leader)
    24. Ship of Fools (1965) .... Bill Tenny
    25. Cat Ballou (1965) .... Kid Shelleen/Tim Strawn
    26. "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre"
    ... aka The Chrysler Theater
    ... aka Universal Star Time (syndication title)
    - The Loving Cup (1965) TV Episode .... Nick Karajanian
    27. "Dr. Kildare"
    - The Sound of a Faraway Hill (1964) TV Episode .... Charles Bishop
    - One for the Road (1962) TV Episode .... Dr. Paul Probeck
    28. The Killers (1964) .... Charlie Strom
    ... aka Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (USA: promotional title)
    29. "The Great Adventure"
    - Six Wagons to the Sea (1963) TV Episode .... Misok Bedrozian
    30. "Kraft Suspense Theatre"
    - The Case Against Paul Ryker: Part 2 (1963) TV Episode .... Sgt. Paul Ryker
    - The Case Against Paul Ryker: Part 1 (1963) TV Episode .... Sgt. Paul Ryker
    31. "The Twilight Zone"
    - Steel (1963) TV Episode .... Steel Kelly
    - The Grave (1961) TV Episode .... Connie Miller
    32. "Combat!"
    - The Bridge at Chalons (1963) TV Episode .... Sgt. Turk
    33. Donovan's Reef (1963) .... Thomas Aloysius 'Boats' Gilhooley
    34. "The Dick Powell Show"
    ... aka The Dick Powell Theatre (new title)
    - Epilogue (1963) TV Episode .... Finn
    - The Losers (1963) TV Episode .... Dave Blassingame
    35. "The Lawbreakers" (1963) TV Series (voice) .... Narrator
    ... aka Lawbreaker (USA: copyright title)
    36. "The Untouchables"
    - A Fist of Five (1962) TV Episode .... Mike Brannon
    - Element of Danger (1962) TV Episode .... Victor Rate aka Howard Carson
    - The Nick Acropolis Story (1961) TV Episode .... Nick Acropolis
    37. "The Virginian"
    ... aka The Men from Shiloh (new title)
    - It Tolls for Thee (1962) TV Episode .... Martin Kalig
    38. "The DuPont Show of the Week"
    - The Richest Man in Bogota (1962) TV Episode .... Juan de Nuñez
    39. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) .... Liberty Valance
    40. "Bonanza"
    ... aka Ponderosa (USA: rerun title)
    - The Crucible (1962) TV Episode .... Peter Kane
    41. "Ben Casey"
    - A Story to Be Softly Told (1962) TV Episode .... Gerry Bramson
    42. "Route 66"
    - Mon Petit Chou (1961) TV Episode .... Glenn Ryan
    - Sheba (1961) TV Episode .... Woody Biggs
    43. The Comancheros (1961) .... Tully Crow
    44. "The Investigators"
    - The Oracle (1961) TV Episode .... Nostradamus
    45. "Alcoa Premiere"
    - People Need People (1961) TV Episode .... Hughes
    46. "General Electric Theater"
    ... aka G.E. Theatre (USA)
    - The Joke's on Me (1961) TV Episode .... Sid Benton
    - Don't You Remember? (1960) TV Episode .... Clerk
    - The Last Reunion (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Kittridge
    - All I Survey (1958) TV Episode .... Dick Giles
    - The Doctors of Pawnee Kill (1957) TV Episode .... Art Temple
    (2 more)
    47. "Checkmate"
    - Jungle Castle (1961) TV Episode .... Lee Tabor
    48. "Wagon Train"
    ... aka Major Adams, Trail Master
    - The Christopher Hale Story (1961) TV Episode .... Jud Benedict
    - The Jose Morales Story (1960) TV Episode .... Jose Morales
    49. "The Americans"
    - Reconnaissance (1961) TV Episode .... Captain Judd
    50. "The Barbara Stanwyck Show"
    - Confession (1961) TV Episode .... Jud Hollister


    51. "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse"
    ... aka Desilu Playhouse
    - Man in Orbit (1959) TV Episode .... Captain David Roberts
    52. "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars"
    ... aka Herald Playhouse (USA: syndication title)
    ... aka Schlitz Playhouse (USA: new title)
    ... aka The Playhouse (USA: syndication title)
    - A Fistful of Love (1959) TV Episode
    - Easy Going Man (1957) TV Episode
    53. "Climax!"
    ... aka Climax Mystery Theater (USA)
    - Time of the Hanging (1958) TV Episode .... Mannon Tate
    - Stain of Honor (1957) TV Episode .... 'Little Man' Brush
    - Bailout at 43,000 Feet (1955) TV Episode .... Captain Cavallero
    54. The Missouri Traveler (1958) .... Tobias Brown
    55. "M Squad" (1957) TV Series .... Lt. Frank Ballinger (1957-1960)
    56. Raintree County (1957) .... Orville 'Flash' Perkins
    57. "The United States Steel Hour"
    ... aka The U.S. Steel Hour (USA: alternative title)
    - Shadow of Evil (1957) TV Episode
    58. "Studio 57"
    ... aka Heinz Studio 57 (USA: alternative title)
    - You Take Ballistics (1957) TV Episode
    59. The Rack (1956) .... Capt. John R. Miller
    60. Pillars of the Sky (1956) .... Sgt. Lloyd Carracart
    ... aka The Tomahawk and the Cross (UK)
    61. Attack (1956) .... Lt. Col. Clyde Bartlett, CO, White Battalion
    62. Seven Men from Now (1956) .... Bill Masters
    63. "Front Row Center"
    - Dinner Date (1956) TV Episode .... David Hawken
    64. "Kraft Television Theatre"
    ... aka Kraft Mystery Theatre (new title)
    ... aka Kraft Theatre (new title)
    - The Fool Killer (1956) TV Episode
    65. Shack Out on 101 (1955) .... Slob/Mr. Gregory
    66. I Died a Thousand Times (1955) .... Babe Kossuck
    67. "Studio One"
    ... aka Studio One Summer Theatre (summer title)
    ... aka Studio One in Hollywood (new title)
    ... aka Summer Theatre (summer title)
    ... aka Westinghouse Studio One
    ... aka Westinghouse Summer Theatre (summer title)
    - Shakedown Cruise (1955) TV Episode .... Teale
    68. "Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre"
    ... aka Jane Wyman Presents (USA: rerun title)
    ... aka Jane Wyman Theater (USA)
    - Little Guy (1955) TV Episode .... Jigger
    69. Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) .... Al Gannaway
    70. A Life in the Balance (1955) .... The Killer
    71. Not as a Stranger (1955) .... Brundage
    ... aka Morton Thompson's Not as a Stranger (USA: complete title)
    72. Violent Saturday (1955) .... Dill, Bank Robber
    73. "TV Reader's Digest"
    - How Charlie Faust Won a Pennant for the Giants (1955) TV Episode .... Charlie Faust
    74. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) .... Hector David
    75. "Medic"
    - White Is the Color (1954) TV Episode
    76. "Center Stage"
    - The Day Before Atlanta (1954) TV Episode .... Zach Toombs
    77. The Raid (1954) .... Lt. Keating
    78. The Caine Mutiny (1954) .... Meatball
    79. Gorilla at Large (1954) .... Shaughnessy, Policeman
    80. "The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse"
    ... aka Action Tonight (USA: syndication title)
    - Open Season (1954) TV Episode
    - The Psychophonic Nurse (1954) TV Episode
    81. The Wild One (1953) .... Chino
    ... aka Hot Blood (USA: first screenings title)
    82. "Suspense"
    - Needle in a Haystack (1953) TV Episode
    83. "The Motorola Television Hour"
    ... aka Motorola TV Hour (USA: alternative title)
    ... aka Motorola TV Theatre (USA)
    - Outlaw's Reckoning (1953) TV Episode
    84. Gun Fury (1953) .... Blinky
    85. The Big Heat (1953) .... Vince Stone
    86. The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953) .... Dan Kurth
    87. The Glory Brigade (1953) .... Cpl. Bowman
    88. Seminole (1953) .... Sgt. Magruder
    89. Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1953) .... Pvt. Snively
    ... aka Friendly Island (USA)
    90. "Dragnet"
    ... aka Badge 714 (USA: syndication title)
    - The Big Whiff (1953) TV Episode .... James Mitchell
    - The Big Cast (1952) TV Episode .... Henry Ross
    91. Eight Iron Men (1952) .... Sgt. Joe Mooney, Squadleader
    92. "Biff Baker, U.S.A."
    - Alpine Assignment (1952) TV Episode
    93. Hangman's Knot (1952) .... Ralph
    94. The Duel at Silver Creek (1952) .... Tinhorn Burgess
    ... aka Claim Jumpers (USA)
    95. We're Not Married! (1952) (uncredited) .... Pinky
    96. Diplomatic Courier (1952) .... MP at Trieste
    97. Hong Kong (1952) (uncredited) .... Extra
    ... aka Bombs Over China (USA: reissue title)
    98. "Rebound"
    - The Mine (1952) TV Episode
    99. "Fireside Theatre"
    - Sound in the Night (1952) TV Episode
    100. Teresa (1951) (uncredited) .... Extra
    101. You're in the Navy Now (1951) (uncredited) .... Crew member
    ... aka U.S.S. Teakettle (USA)
    102. "Treasury Men in Action"
    ... aka Your Treasury Men in Action
    - The Case of the Deadly Fish (1950) TV Episode


    Producer
    1. "M Squad" (1957) TV Series (co-producer)


    Himself
    1. Marine Corps Combat Leadership Skills (1986) .... Himself (narrator)
    2. The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn (1986) (TV) .... Himself
    ... aka The Spencer Tracy Legacy (USA)
    3. "Late Night with David Letterman"
    - Episode dated 12 February 1986 (1986) TV Episode .... Himself
    - Episode dated 16 May 1985 (1985) TV Episode .... Himself
    4. The Making of 'Gorky Park' (1983) (TV) .... Himself
    5. Bob Hope Laughs with the Movie Awards (1982) (TV)
    6. Mating and Dating in the '80s (1980) (TV) .... Archival footage
    7. Sam Fuller and the Big Red One (1979) .... Himself
    8. Superstunt (1978) (TV) .... Host
    9. An All-Star Tribute to John Wayne (1976) (TV) .... Himself
    10. "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson"
    ... aka The Best of Carson (USA: rerun title)
    - Episode dated 24 April 1973 (1973) TV Episode .... Himself
    - Episode dated 20 June 1972 (1972) TV Episode .... Himself
    - Episode dated 3 February 1972 (1972) TV Episode .... Himself
    - Episode dated 5 October 1970 (1970) TV Episode .... Himself
    11. "The Flip Wilson Show"
    - Episode dated 9 March 1972 (1972) TV Episode .... Himself
    12. It Couldn't Be Done (1970) (TV)
    13. Tonite Let's All Make Love in London (1967) .... Guest
    ... aka The London Scene
    14. The 39th Annual Academy Awards (1967) (TV) .... Himself - Presenter: Best Actress
    15. The Rock (1967) (uncredited) .... Himself
    16. Operation Dirty Dozen (1967) (uncredited) .... Himself
    17. The 38th Annual Academy Awards (1966) (TV) .... Himself - Best Actor Winner
    18. What About Linda? (1961) (TV) .... Himself
    19. Operation Raintree (1957) (uncredited) .... Himself


    Archive Footage
    1. Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) (TV) (archive footage: from Seminole [1953], Seven Men from Now [1956]) .... Sgt. Magruder/Bill Masters
    2. Go West, Young Man! (2003) (uncredited) .... Himself
    3. AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001) (TV) .... Himself
    4. Lee Marvin: A Personal Portrait by John Boorman (1998) (TV) .... Himself
    5. Fall from Grace: O.J.'s Last Run (1994) (V) .... Sheriff Track Bascomb, (scenes from "The Klansman")
    6. Kleiner Mann ganz groß (1994) (TV) (uncredited)
    7. A Bob Hope Christmas (1993) (TV) .... Himself
    8. "American Justice"
    - Divorce Wars (????) TV Episode .... Himself
    9. Lionpower from MGM (1967) (uncredited)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 7 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Lee 'M' Squad, Marvin, made just 3 memorable films with Duke,
    and they were,


    Donovan's Reef (1963) .... Thomas Aloysius 'Boats' Gilhooley
    The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) .... Liberty Valance
    The Comancheros (1961) .... Tully Crow



    During the making of Donovan's Reef, it is said that Lee was very funny,
    but he drank heavily, and it was evident to colleagues,
    that he was a confused person.He was at his boozy worst, but still
    years away from Alcoholics Anonymous.
    He was so hung-over in the mornings, that shooting had to be re-scheduled..
    Elizabeth Allen, the female lead, remembered, one night
    Lee, removed every stich of clothing, climbed up on the bar,
    Kawaii Hotel, and performed a hula.

    Quote

    Tequila. Straight. There's a real polite drink. You keep drinking until you finally take one more and it just won't go down. Then you know you've reached your limit."


    In 1969, Howard Hawk's had the choice of making Rio Lobo , with Duke,
    or Monte Walsh , with Marvin.
    Hawk's remembered, Marvin turning up at the meeting drunk,
    after a few minutes, Marvin, turned to Hawks and said,

    Quote

    I just want to make sure, it's a Lee Marvin western,
    not a John Wayne western.


    Quote

    That ought to be pretty easy


    Hawks said,

    Quote

    Why?


    Marvin queried.

    Quote

    Because,


    Hawks responded,

    Quote

    You're about quarter as good as John Wayne,
    and I don't think you could do a John Wayne western.


    Hawks quickly decided, he wanted no more to do with a Marvin western,
    and went on to make Rio Lobo instead.


    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited once, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Lee Marvin - from creepy/mean in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance :angry: to kind of fun in Donovan's Reef :) - a man of contrasts.


    There were many interesting and varied sites about him as well -


    http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lmarvin.htm (Arlington National Cemetery Website)
    http://www.snopes.com/military/marvin.asp
    http://www.thegoldenyears.org/marvin.html
    http://www.who2.com/leemarvin.html
    http://www.americanwesternmagazine.com/cow...ee-Marvin.shtml
    http://www.nndb.com/people/314/000026236/
    http://www.magixl.com/caric./globe/marvin.html
    http://www.the-numbers.com/people/0LMAR.html (scroll down a little on the page for a chart of interesting statistics)
    http://www.nndb.com/org/213/000111877/


    Mrs. C :angel1:

  • Thanks Keith and Mrs. C for the great information on him. This is really great in knowing who they are.


    Cheers B)



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

  • Lee Marvin was another who was a "household name" in our house as I was growing up. I can't say for sure what movie I saw with him in first but, was most likely: The Dirty Dozen.

    Thank you Keith, Jim and SUe for this info on him.

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • Lee Marvin - a legend
    Great actor, great adaptability, well cast as the evil Liberty Valance


    Other films of his I have enjoyed was Point Blank and the Dirty Dozen, he had a very strong screen presence

  • First time I saw Marvin was in his tv show, M Squad. Then I saw him in The Wild One with Brando and it seemed all during the 50's, he played villains in movies. It wasn't till he got the Oscar for Cat Ballou that his star really began to shine and he became big box office, and rightfully so. He not only did a few movies with Duke but, also Randolph Scott. He was one of a kind.

  • my fav Marvin was Paint your wagon where he called eastwood pilgrim. He even sings a tune--no name city that was a classic moment and another song Wandering Star. Liked him in Donovans reef and felt he was a believable villain in many films.

    Greetings from North of the 49th

  • I read that the final scene being filmed was an insert with the survivors of the raid driving the halftrack over the bridge. Lee Marvin was off set, thinking he was done filming and was found "so drunk he couldn't say his own name".
    They poured him into a car, got him in makeup and costume and plopped him in the driver's seat. Charles Bronson, who was booked on a flight home said "So help me Lee, if you #$#% this up, I'll kill you".
    Lee changed gears, drove the thing and the one take is in the film.
    They just don't make them like that anymore.




    We deal in lead, friend.

  • Hi Bill, Gorch,

    All three of those movies are great to watch. I also have all three and watch them ocasionally. I never tire of any of them. As a coupe of stations here were playing war movies on them all day long, I woke up to To Hell and Back, ate lunch while Patton was on, and then cought all of Kellys Heroes. ;-)) Today was a great day to be at home and to watch TV. I skipped the two Rambo movies because some station was showing John Waynes: The Alamo ;-))

    Thanks for the Dirty Dozen info ;-)) that is some interesting stuff. And looking at that scene where Marvin is driving that SDKFZ-251 Halftrack over the bridge, one wouldn't have been able to know about Lees ""disability"".

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • Pleased to meet you, Ringo.
    I think Lee had more experience driving under the influence than sober. John Boorman tells a story of how they went out to dinner and drinks one night and although trashed, Lee insisted on driving back. A scuffle ensued and Boorman got hold of Lee's keys but Lee refused to enter the car.


    They compromised by having Boorman drive with the windows down and Lee lying on the roof. Naturally, Boorman got pulled over and the cop strode to the driver's side, assessed the situation, and asked Borrman "Do you know Lee Marvin's on the roof of your car?" Boorman repled he knew and the cop told him to just be careful.


    His bouts with Duke must be legendary.



    We deal in lead, friend

  • Just picked up the complete M Squad series (117 episodes) on DVD from Sam's Club.
    Only had time to watch three episodes but the writing and production values are very good for 1958. The quality of the film is not as good as Have Gun Will Travel, but it's probably never going to get better.
    Marvin makes some nasty moves and it's great to see him make arrests with no Miranda Rights and search premises without a warrant.
    Lee plays it so straight though, his voice over narrations sound like Leslie Nielsen in Police Squad.
    Still, I'm happy and have 114 episodes to go.




    We deal in lead, friend.

  • Lee Marvin: rising above the reputation


    He was a drunk, on-screen and off, and starred in the most violent films of his age. But, first and foremost, he was a fantastic actor


    This week's re-release of John Boorman's magnificent 1967 thriller Point Blank is all the evidence we really need of Lee Marvin's inextinguishable greatness as a movie icon. But since I've written elsewhere about Point Blank this week, let's imagine it never existed, and recall all the other reasons to love Lee.


    Because for a couple of decades from the 50s to the 70s, whenever people referred to a movie as the most violent ever made, the chances were pretty good that Lee Marvin would be close to, if not the actual cause of, the very worst of the mayhem. Prime example: throwing a pot of scalding coffee in Gloria Grahame's face in Fritz Lang's potent big city crime thriller The Big Heat. Oh, Marvin is scumbag embodied in that movie – the last time I saw it on TCM it was 59 years old and still rated TV-MA.


    Add The Dirty Dozen and Point Blank, representing state-of-the-art movie violence in the year before the Production Code was overthrown, and Marvin emerges as the emblematic homme du violence du jour. Be sad, however, that he fell out with Sam Peckinpah in pre-production on The Wild Bunch (the sine qua non of most violent movies ever made), and never got to play Pike Bishop, the role that went to William Holden. The greatest Peckinpah actor who never worked with Peckinpah? Add that to the list.


    Because Marvin was also the greatest macho Hollywood drunk of all time, as evidenced by his blitzed appearance in Peter Whitehead's Tonite Let's All Make Love In London (on a night off from filming Dozen), to say nothing of a half-dozen famously half-/wholly cut chatshow appearances in his 70s maturity. Remember Boorman's famous memory of Lee, shitfaced in Hollywood at dawn, hailing a cab and saying, "Take me home; hills above Sunset Plaza … Uh, somewhere." Failing to find it, Marvin found a kid selling maps to the stars' homes. "OK, this is me, drive up here." And arriving to hear the new owner of the house tell him, "Ah, Mr Marvin, you sold me this house four years ago."


    Because, macho as he was – the sponsor of his 1957-60 TV cop show M Squad was Pall Mall cigarettes – with that humiliating bullet wound from storming Saipan island with his Marine battalion, a harrowing percentage of whom were slaughtered around him (shot in the ass, all his buddies dead, and you wonder why he drank?), he was also a beautiful, sensitive actor, as can be seen in the quiet 1970 mud-and-rags western Monte Walsh and in the wrenching 1960 TV drama The American, his quiet side almost as imposing as his barking psychopathic side. He was also a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat and – who knew? – came out in favour of gay liberation in 1969, in the week of the Stonewall riots. Yeah, Lee Marvin.


    He's dead and gone – died on my birthday in 1987 and ruined it – and there will never be another. Thank God he made all those movies.


    http://www.guardian.co.uk/film…lee-marvin-john-patterson

  • Never was a big fan. Granted, he did make some good ones, usually as a military man. Played a lot of bad guys or missfits. Great actor, just never high on my list..