NAME: Lee Marvin
BORN: 19/02/1924
BIRTH PLACE: New York, USA
DIED: 29/08/1987
Lee Marvin quit high school to join the Marine Corps during World War II, and was wounded in battle in the South Pacific. Recovery was slow, and he then served as a plumber’s apprentice.
Marvin made his Broadway debut in a production of ‘Billy Budd’ in 1951, landing his first film role the same year, in ‘You’re in the Navy Now’. The film’s director, Henry Hathaway, hired him again for ‘The Diplomatic Courier’ in 1942
In 1952, Marvin landed the lead role in ‘Eight Iron Men’, directed by Stanley Kramer, and starred in Fritz Lang’s ‘The Big Heat’ in 1953.
He became known as a screen villain in films such as ‘Bad Day at Black Rock’, and appeared opposite Marlon Brando in ‘The Wild One’, in 1954.
After some notable B-movies, such as ‘I Died a Thousand Times’, Marvin moved to television, starring in the police series ‘M Squad’.
He returned to film in the 1961 John Wayne film, ‘The Comancheros’, and starred with him again in the John Ford classic, ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’.
After branching into comedy with Kramer’s 1965 ‘Ship of Fools’, he won an Oscar for his performance in Western pastiche, ‘Cat Ballou’.
1967 proved his year for stardom, with the release of ‘The Dirty Dozen’, one of the year’s biggest hits. ‘Point Blank’ was similarly massive, as was the Clint Eastwood musical comedy, ‘Paint Your Wagon’. At that point, ‘Paint Your Wagon’ was one of the most expensive movies ever made.
Starring with Paul Newman in 1972’s ‘Pocket Money’, Marvin constantly considered retirement, and even turned down the lead in ‘Deliverance’. After bad reviews for 1976 films, he shrunk from public view.
A high-profile alimony case, brought by his long-term girlfriend, for share of earnings did little for his reputation.
Marvin reprised his Major Reisman role in ‘The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission’, but died of a heart attack on 29th August 1987.