Lamont Warren "Lee" Marvin Jr. (February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987) was an American actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. He received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two BAFTA Awards. He was also a decorated United States Marine during the Second World War. He was also a descendant of the Lee family of Virginia.
Although initially typecast as the "heavy" (i.e. villainous character), he later gained prominence for portraying anti-heroes, such as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger on the television series M Squad (1957–1960). Marvin's notable roles in film included Vince Stone in The Big Heat (1953), Liberty Valance in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Charlie Strom in The Killers (1964), Rico Fardan in The Professionals (1966), Major John Reisman in The Dirty Dozen (1967), Walker in Point Blank (1967), Ben Rumson in Paint Your Wagon (1969), the Sergeant in The Big Red One (1980), and Jack Osborne in Gorky Park (1983).
Marvin achieved numerous accolades when he portrayed a dual role as gunfighter Kid Shelleen and criminal Tim Strawn for the comedy Western film Cat Ballou (1965), alongside Jane Fonda, a surprise hit which won him the Oscar for Best Actor, along with a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, an NBR Award, and the Silver Bear for Best Actor.
Early life Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr. was born in New York City to Lamont Waltman Marvin – a World War I veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers and an advertising executive – and Courtenay Washington (née Davidge), a fashion writer. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was his first cousin, four times removed. He was also a second cousin six times removed of first U.S. President George Washington. His father was a direct descendant of Matthew Marvin Sr., who emigrated from Great Bentley, Essex, England, in 1635, and helped found Hartford, Connecticut. Marvin studied violin when he was young. Marvin did not enjoy school and performed poorly. As a teenager, Marvin "spent weekends and spare time hunting deer, puma, wild turkey, and bobwhite in the wilds of the then-uncharted Everglades".
He attended Manumit School, a Christian socialist boarding school in Pawling, New York, during the late 1930s, and Peekskill Military Academy in Peekskill, New York. He later attended St. Leo College Preparatory School, a Catholic school in St. Leo, Florida, after being expelled from several other schools for bad behavior (smoking cigarettes, truancy of lessons and fights).Zec 1980, pp. 20–25.
Military service
Marvin enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on August 12, 1942 at 18 years old. Before finishing the School of Infantry, he served as a quartermaster. Marvin served in the 4th Marine Division as a scout sniper in the Pacific Theater during World War II,Wise and Rehill 1999, p. 43. including assaults on Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Saipan-Tinian. While serving as a member of India ("I") Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, Marvin participated in 21 amphibious assaults on Japanese-held islands. He was wounded in action on June 18, 1944, while taking part in the assault on Mount Tapochau during the Battle of Saipan, in which most of his company became casualties.Zec 1980, p. 38. He was hit by machine gun fire, which severed his sciatic nerve, and then was hit in the foot by a sniper. After over a year of medical treatment in naval hospitals, Marvin was given a medical discharge with the rank of private first class. He had previously held the rank of corporal before being demoted for troublemaking.
Marvin's decorations include the Purple Heart Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.
Medals and ribbons Purple Heart Combat Action Ribbon Presidential Unit Citation Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal
Acting career
Early acting career After the war, while working as a plumber's assistant in the artist village of Woodstock in upstate New York, Marvin was asked to replace an actor who had fallen ill during rehearsals. He caught the acting bug and got a job with the company for $7 a week. He moved to Greenwich Village and used the G.I. Bill to study at the American Theatre Wing.Epstein 2013, p. 67.
He appeared on stage in a production of Uniform of Flesh, the original version of Billy Budd (1949). It was performed at the Experimental Theatre, where a few months later, Marvin also appeared in The Nineteenth Hole of Europe (1949).
Marvin began appearing on television shows like Escape, The Big Story, and Treasury Men in Action.
He made it to Broadway with a small role in a production of Uniform of Flesh, now titled Billy Budd, in February 1951.
Hollywood Marvin's film debut was in You're in the Navy Now (1951), directed by Henry Hathaway, a movie that also marked the debuts of Charles Bronson and Jack Warden. This required some filming in Hollywood and Marvin decided to stay in California.
He had a similarly small part in Teresa (1951), directed by Fred Zinnemann. As a decorated combat veteran, Marvin was a natural in war dramas, where he frequently assisted the director and other actors in realistically portraying infantry movement, arranging costumes, and the use of firearms.
He guest starred on episodes of Fireside Theatre, Suspense, and Rebound. Hathaway used him again on Diplomatic Courier (1952) and he could be seen in Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952), directed by Edmund Goulding; We're Not Married! (1952), also for Goulding; The Duel at Silver Creek (1952), directed by Don Siegel; and Hangman's Knot (1952), directed by Roy Huggins.
He guest starred on Biff Baker, U.S.A. and Dragnet, and had a showcase role as the squad leader in a feature titled Eight Iron Men (1952), a war film directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Stanley Kramer (Marvin's role had been played on Broadway by Burt Lancaster).
He was a sergeant in Seminole (1953), a Western directed by Budd Boetticher, and was a corporal in The Glory Brigade (1953), a Korean War film.
Marvin guest starred in The Doctor, The Revlon Mirror Theater, Suspense, and The Motorola Television Hour.
He was now in much demand for Westerns and starred in The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953) with Randolph Scott and Gun Fury (1953) with Rock Hudson.
The Big Heat and The Wild One Marvin received much acclaim for his portrayal of villains in Fritz Lang's The Big Heat (1953), where he played Gloria Grahame's vicious boyfriend and The Wild One (1953), opposite Marlon Brando (Marvin's gang in the film was named "The Beetles"), produced by Stanley Kramer.
He continued in TV shows such as The Plymouth Playhouse and The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse. He had supporting roles in Gorilla at Large (1954) and had a notable small role in The Caine Mutiny (1954), also produced by Kramer, as the smart-aleck sailor Meatball.
In 1954, Marvin was in The Raid and on TV in Center Stage, Medic and TV Reader's Digest.
In 1955, he was cast as Hector, the small-town hood in Bad Day at Black Rock which starred Spencer Tracy.Epstein 2013, pp. 95–96. He played a conflicted, brutal bank-robber in Violent Saturday. Of Marvin's performance, one critic wrote that "Marvin brings a multi-faceted complexity to the role and gives a great example of the early promise that launched his long and successful career."
Marvin played Robert Mitchum's and Frank Sinatra's friend in Not as a Stranger (1955), a medical drama produced and directed by Stanley Kramer. He had good supporting roles in A Life in the Balance (1955) (he was third billed), and Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) and appeared on TV in Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre and Studio One in Hollywood.
Marvin was in I Died a Thousand Times (1955) with Jack Palance, Shack Out on 101 (1955), Kraft Theatre, and Front Row Center.
Marvin was the villain in Seven Men from Now (1956) starring Randolph Scott and directed by Boetticher. He was second-billed to Palance in Attack (1956) directed by Robert Aldrich.
Marvin had roles in Pillars of the Sky (1956) with Jeff Chandler, The Rack (1956) with Paul Newman, Raintree County (1957) with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift and a leading role in The Missouri Traveler (1958). He also guest starred on Climax! (several times), Studio 57, The United States Steel Hour and Schlitz Playhouse.
M Squad
Marvin debuted as a leading man in M Squad as Chicago cop Frank Ballinger in 100 episodes of the successful 1957–1960 television series. One critic described the show as "a hyped-up, violent Dragnet ...with a hard-as-nails Marvin" playing a tough police lieutenant. Marvin received the role after guest-starring in a Dragnet episode as a serial killer.Epstein 2013, p. 79.
When the series ended Marvin appeared on Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, NBC Sunday Showcase, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Americans, Wagon Train, Checkmate, General Electric Theater, Alcoa Premiere, The Investigators, Route 66 (he was injured during a fight scene), Ben Casey, Bonanza, The Untouchables (several times), The Virginian, The Twilight Zone ("The Grave" and "Steel"), and The Dick Powell Theatre.
Early 1960s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Marvin returned to feature films with a prominent role in The Comancheros (1961) starring John Wayne and Stuart Whitman. He played in two more films with Wayne, both directed by John Ford: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and Donovan's Reef (1963). As the vicious Liberty Valance, Marvin held his own with two of the screen's biggest stars, Wayne and James Stewart.Epstein 2013, p. 124.
Television In 1962 Marvin appeared as Martin Kalig on the TV Western The Virginian in the episode titled "It Tolls for Thee." He continued to guest star on shows like Combat!, Dr. Kildare and The Great Adventure. He did The Case Against Paul Ryker for Kraft Suspense Theatre. Also in 1962, Marvin appeared as Peter Kane on the TV Western Bonanza in the 28th episode of season 3 titled "The Crucible".
The Killers For director Don Siegel, Marvin appeared in The Killers (1964) playing an efficient professional assassin alongside Clu Gulager, grappling with villains Ronald Reagan and Angie Dickinson. The film is a remake of The Killers by Richard Siodmak, made in 1946 and starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. The Killers was the first film in which Marvin received top billing.Epstein 2013, p. 135. Originally made as a TV-movie, the film was deemed so entertaining that it was exhibited in theaters instead.
In January 1965, he guest starred on Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre.
Cat Ballou and stardom Marvin finally became a star for his dual role in the offbeat comedic Western Cat Ballou (1965) starring Jane Fonda. This was a surprise hit, and Marvin won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival in 1965."Berlinale 1965: Prize Winners". Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin. Retrieved: October 11, 2013.
Playing alongside Vivien Leigh and Simone Signoret, Marvin won the 1966 National Board of Review Award for male actors for his role in Ship of Fools (1965) directed by Kramer.
The Professionals Marvin next performed in the highly regarded Western The Professionals (1966), in which he played the leader of a small band of skilled mercenaries (Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, and Woody Strode) rescuing a kidnap victim (Claudia Cardinale) shortly after the Mexican Revolution. He had top billing to Lancaster.
The Dirty Dozen