Lee Marvin (bornLamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playinghardboiled "tough guy" characters. Although initiallytypecast as the "heavy" (i.e. villainous character), he later gained prominence for portrayinganti-heroes, such as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger on the television seriesM Squad (1957–1960). Marvin's notable roles in film included Charlie Strom inThe Killers (1964), Rico Fardan inThe Professionals (1966), Major John Reisman inThe Dirty Dozen (1967), Ben Rumson inPaint Your Wagon (1969), Walker inPoint Blank (1967), the Sergeant inThe Big Red One (1980), Jack Osborne inGorky Park (1983) and co-starred oppositeChuck Norris inThe Delta Force (1986).
Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr. was born in New York City to Lamont Waltman Marvin – aWorld War I veteran of theArmy Corps of Engineers and an advertising executive – and Courtenay Washington (née Davidge), a fashion writer. Confederate GeneralRobert E. Lee was his first cousin, four times removed.[1][2] He was also a second cousin six times removed of firstU.S. PresidentGeorge Washington.[3] His father was a direct descendant of Matthew Marvin Sr., who emigrated fromGreat Bentley,Essex,England, in 1635, and helped foundHartford, Connecticut. Marvin studied violin when he was young.[4] Marvin did not enjoy school and performed poorly. As a teenager, Marvin "spent weekends and spare time hunting deer, puma, wild turkey, andbobwhite in the wilds of the then-unchartedEverglades".[5]
After the war, while working as a plumber's assistant in the artist village ofWoodstock 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 toGreenwich Village and used theG.I. Bill to study at theAmerican Theatre Wing.[14][15]
He appeared on stage in a production ofUniform of Flesh, the original version ofBilly Budd (1949).[16] It was performed at the Experimental Theatre, where a few months later, Marvin also appeared inThe Nineteenth Hole of Europe (1949).[17]
He had a similarly small part inTeresa (1951), directed byFred 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.
Marvin received much acclaim for his portrayal of villains inFritz Lang'sThe Big Heat (1953), where he playedGloria Grahame's vicious boyfriend andThe Wild One (1953), oppositeMarlon Brando (Marvin's gang in the film was named "The Beetles"), produced by Stanley Kramer.[22]
In 1955, he was cast as Hector, the small-town hood inBad Day at Black Rock which starredSpencer Tracy.[24] He played a conflicted, brutal bank-robber inViolent 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."[25]
Marvin was the villain inSeven Men from Now (1956) starring Randolph Scott and directed by Boetticher. He was second-billed to Palance inAttack (1956) directed byRobert Aldrich.
Marvin debuted as a leading man inM 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, violentDragnet ...with a hard-as-nails Marvin" playing a tough police lieutenant. Marvin received the role after guest-starring in aDragnet episode as aserial killer.[26]
For directorDon Siegel, Marvin appeared inThe Killers (1964) playing an efficient professional assassin alongsideClu Gulager, grappling with villainsRonald Reagan andAngie Dickinson. The film is a remake ofThe Killers by Richard Siodmak, made in 1946 and starringBurt Lancaster andAva Gardner.The Killers was the first film in which Marvin received top billing.[29] Originally made as a TV-movie, the film was deemed so entertaining that it was exhibited in theaters instead.
He followed that film with the hugely successful World War II epicThe Dirty Dozen (1967) in which top-billed Marvin again portrayed an intrepid commander of a colorful group (played byJohn Cassavetes,Charles Bronson,Telly Savalas,Jim Brown, andDonald Sutherland) performing an almost impossible mission.Robert Aldrich directed.[38] In an interview, Marvin stated his time in the Marine Corps helped shape that role "by playing an officer how I felt it should have been seen, from the bias of an enlisted man's viewpoint".[39]
In the wake of these films and after having received his Oscar, Marvin was a huge star, given enormous control over his next filmPoint Blank. InPoint Blank, an influential film from directorJohn Boorman, he portrayed a hard-nosed criminal bent on revenge. Marvin, who had selected Boorman for the director's slot, had a central role in the film's development, plot, and staging.[40]
In 1968, Marvin also appeared in another Boorman film, the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful World War II character studyHell in the Pacific, also starring famed Japanese actorToshiro Mifune. Boorman recounted his work with Lee Marvin on these two films and Marvin's influence on his career in the 1998 documentaryLee Marvin: A Personal Portrait by John Boorman.The Case Against Paul Ryker withBradford Dillman, which Marvin shot for TV'sKraft Suspense Theatre and had been telecast in 1963, was released theatrically asSergeant Ryker in 1968 after the runaway success ofThe Dirty Dozen.[41]
Marvin was originally cast as Pike Bishop (later played byWilliam Holden) inThe Wild Bunch (1969), but fell out with directorSam Peckinpah and pulled out to star in the Western musicalPaint Your Wagon (1969), in which he was top-billed over a singingClint Eastwood. Despite his limited singing ability, he had a hit with the song "Wand'rin' Star". By this time, he was getting paid $1 million per film, $200,000 less than top starPaul Newman was making at the time, yet he was ambivalent about the movie business, even with its financial rewards:[4]
You spend the first forty years of your life trying to get in this business, and the next forty years trying to get out. And then when you're making the bread, who needs it?
During this time, Marvin was offered the role of Quint inJaws (1975) but declined, stating "What would I tell my fishing friends who'd see me come off as a hero against a dummy shark?"[45]
In 1976, Marvin co-lead withRoger Moore in the filmShout at the Devil, a World War I adventure, directed byPeter Hunt. While the reviews were mixed, the film was a commercial success. Both stars were offered to return to their roles in a sequel that never happened.[46]
In 1979, Marvin co-lead withRobert Shaw inMark Robson's Cold War thrillerAvalanche Express, his co-star and the director both died from heart related illness shortly after production.[48]
In 1980, Marvin's last big role was inSamuel Fuller'sThe Big Red One, a war film based on Fuller's own war experiences.[49] Fuller said that Marvin character was the "carpenter of death, the sergeants of this world have been dealing death to young men for 10,000 years." Matthew Carey Salyer who liked the film said that "it's one of Lee Marvin's most brilliant performances, in part because of its restraint."[50]
In 1981, Marvin co-led withCharles Bronson inPeter Hunt's adventure filmDeath Hunt. It is a fictionalized account of theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pursuit of a man namedAlbert Johnson.[51] InVincent Canby's review forThe New York Times, he recognized that two old pros were at work. "Mr. Bronson and Mr. Marvin are such old hands at this sort of movie that each can create a character with ease, out of thin, cold air."[52] The film grossed $5,000,000 at the US box-office.[53]
In 1984, Marvin acted inMichael Apted'sGorky Park, which starsWilliam Hurt.[54] Film criticRoger Ebert liked the film and while he felt Marvin was typecast, but perfect as the businessman.[55] The film grossed $15,856,028 at the US box-office.[56]
In 1984, Marvin played an American bank robber inYves Boisset's French filmCanicule. Of the project Marvin said "I pull this job and I get trapped by farmers I have the money on me so that brings out their evil — the evil that lurks in men".[57]
In 1985, Marvin acted inThe Dirty Dozen: Next Mission, a television film sequel toThe Dirty Dozen that picked up where his character had left off. The TV film featured some other original cast members as well as new characters. Fred Rothenberg in his review published inThe Grand Island Independent said "Lee Marvin, the gruff, throw-out-the-book major, may be nearly 20 years older since the last "Dirty Dozen," but he can still deliver the lines and the goods."[58]
In 1986, Marvin made his final appearance, co-leading withChuck Norris, inMenahem Golan's action filmThe Delta Force.[59] The role was initially written for Charles Bronson who had other commitments, which lead to Marvin's hiring.[60] The film grossed $17,768,900 at the US box-office.[61]
Marvin married Betty Ebeling in April 1952[64][65] and together they had four children: a son Christopher Lamont (1952 – 2013),[66] and three daughters: Courtenay Lee, Cynthia Louise, and Claudia Leslie (1958 - 2012).[67][68] After a separation of two years, they divorced in January 1967.[69] In her 2010 book,Tales of a Hollywood Housewife: A Memoir by the First Mrs. Lee Marvin, Betty claimed that Lee had an affair with actressAnne Bancroft.[70]
After his famous relationship withMichelle Triola, Marvin reconnected with his childhood sweetheart Pamela Feeley, whom he married in 1970. They remained married until his death in 1987.[71] After his death, Pamela wrote and publishedLee: A Romance in 1997.
In 1971, Marvin was sued byMichelle Triola, hislive-in girlfriend from 1965 to 1970, who legally changed her surname to "Marvin".[4] Although the couple never married, she sought financial compensation similar to that available to spouses under California'salimony andcommunity property laws. Triola claimed Marvin made her pregnant three times and paid for two abortions, while one pregnancy ended in miscarriage.[72] She claimed the second abortion left her unable to bear children.[72] The result was the landmark "palimony" case,Marvin v. Marvin, 18 Cal. 3d 660 (1976).[73]
In 1979, Marvin was ordered to pay $104,000 to Triola for "rehabilitation purposes", but the court denied her community property claim for one-half of the $3.6 million which Marvin had earned during their six years of cohabitation – distinguishing nonmarital relationship contracts from marriage, with community property rights only attaching to the latter by operation of law. Rights equivalent to community property only apply in nonmarital relationship contracts when the parties expressly, whether orally or in writing, contract for such rights to operate between them. In August 1981, the California Court of Appeal found that no such contract existed between them and nullified the award she had received.[74][75] Michelle Triola died of lung cancer on October 30, 2009, having been with actorDick Van Dyke since 1976.[76]
Later there was controversy after Marvin characterized the trial as a "circus", saying "everyone was lying, even I lied". There were official comments about possibly charging Marvin with perjury, but no charges were filed.[77]
Grave of Lee Marvin at Arlington National Cemetery
A heavy smoker and drinker, Marvin had health problems by the end of his life. In December 1986, Marvin was hospitalized for more than two weeks because of a condition related tococcidioidomycosis. He went into respiratory distress and was administered steroids to help his breathing. He had major intestinal ruptures as a result, and underwent acolectomy. Marvin died of a heart attack on August 29, 1987, aged 63.[80] He was buried withfull military honors atArlington National Cemetery.[81][82]
^The film proved to be Leigh's last film and her anguished portrayal of a desperate older woman was punctuated by her real-life "battle with demons".[32] Leigh's performance was tinged by paranoia and resulted in outbursts that marred her relationship with other actors, although both Simone Signoret and Marvin were sympathetic and understanding.[33] In one unusual instance, she hit Marvin so hard with a spiked shoe, it marked his face.[34]
^abOfficial Military Personnel File for Lee Marvin. Series: Official Military Personnel Files, 1905 - 1998. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. August 1942. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2022 – via National archives catalog.
^Brooks Atkinson (January 31, 1949). "Experimental Theatre Stages Sea Drama Made From One of Herman Melville's Minor Novels".The New York Times. p. 15.
^Brooks Atkinson (March 28, 1949). "At The Theatre: Vivian Connell's 'The Nineteenth Hole of Europe' Put on By the Experimental Theatre".The New York Times. p. 16.
^"'Billy Budd' Makes Its Debut Tonight: Coxe-Chapman Play Based on Melville Novel Will Arrive at the Biltmore Theatre".The New York Times. February 10, 1951. p. 22.
^"Filmland Briefs".Los Angeles Times. February 14, 1952. p. A10.
^Mills, Nancy (February 12, 1984). "Too late to be Mr. Nice Guy Actor has to live with the tough image he created".The Kansas City Star. pp. 7E.
^Rothenberg, Fred (February 3, 1985). "If you loved original 'Dirty Dozen,' you'll like 'Dirty Dozen: Next Mission'".The Grand Island Independent. pp. 1–G.
David, Catherine.Simone Signoret. New York: Overlook Press, 1995.ISBN978-0-87951-581-2.
Epstein, Dwayne (2013).Lee Marvin: Point Blank. Tucson: Schaffner.ISBN978-1-93618-240-4.
Lentz, Robert J. (2000).Lee Marvin: His Films and Career. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.ISBN0-7864-0723-9.
Marvin, Betty.Tales of a Hollywood Housewife: A Memoir by the First Mrs. Lee Marvin. Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse, 2010.ISBN978-1440198274.
Marvin, Pamela.Lee: A Romance. London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1997.ISBN978-0-571-19028-7.
Walker, Alexander.Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh. New York: Grove Press, 1987.ISBN0-8021-3259-6.
Wise, James E. and Anne Collier Rehill.Stars in the Corps: Movie Actors in the United States Marines. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1999.ISBN978-1-55750-949-9.
Zec, Donald.Marvin: The Story of Lee Marvin. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980.ISBN0-312-51780-7.
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