Lee Marvin Overview:

Legendary actor, Lee Marvin, was born on Feb 19, 1924 in New York City, NY. Marvin died at the age of 63 on Aug 29, 1987 in Tucson, AZ and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

MINI BIO:

Menacing, tall and gangling American actor with distinctive receding temples to his dark (later silver) hair, furiously busy in the early fifties as western villains and thuggish gangsters (sometimes in cahoots with Ernest Borgnine, whose career followed a similar pattern). He had progressed to principal villain when a TV series M Squad promoted him to showier roles, one of which, the drunken gunfighter in Cat Ballou, won him an Oscar and made him a star as a series of powerful, sometimes more sympathetic protagonists in action films. Died from a heart attack.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Lee Marvin was nominated for one Academy Award, winning for Best Actor for Cat Ballou (as Kid Shelleen/Tim Strawn) in 1965.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1965Best ActorCat Ballou (1965)Kid Shelleen/Tim StrawnWon
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BlogHub Articles:

as Liberty Valance (1962)

By 4 Star Film Fan on May 18, 2016 From 4 Star Films

I can enter into a discussion of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance from two different avenues.?Most obvious is the film itself. As far as star power, is playing third fiddle to John Wayne and James Stewart, the undisputed stars of this film. However, Liberty Valance is a wonderful role, be... Read full article


as Liberty Valance (1962)

By 4 Star Film Fan on May 18, 2016 From 4 Star Films

I can enter into a discussion of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance from two different avenues.?Most obvious is the film itself. As far as star power, is playing third fiddle to John Wayne and James Stewart, the undisputed stars of this film. However, Liberty Valance is a wonderful role, be... Read full article


Hollywood Veterans in Arlington National Cemetery:

on Mar 21, 2015 From Comet Over Hollywood

Last weekend, filmmaker Brandon Brown and I set out to find six celebrities buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC. The venture took four hours and more than five miles of walking. To put that into perspective, we were hunting for six graves out of more than 400,000 people buried in... Read full article


Book Review--Tales of a Hollywood Housewife: A Memoir by the First Mrs.

By KC on Aug 7, 2013 From Classic Movies

Tales of a Hollywood Housewife: A Memoir by the First Mrs. iUniverse Betty Marvin, 2010 When I reviewed the marvelous : Point Blank earlier this summer, I was especially charmed by the stories told about him by his first wife, Betty Marvin. She was the most important voice in ... Read full article


The Five Best Performances

By Rick29 on Mar 11, 2013 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

While recently reading a new biography of , I was reminded of his many memorable performances. That led to this latest installment in our "Five Best" series: 1. Point Blank. As the vengeance-driven Walker, could have opted to play the protagonist as a robotic killing machine... Read full article


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Lee Marvin Quotes:

Earl Sylvester: I don't know where Johnny is, what trouble he got into ...
Lee: [Interrupting] He's dead!
Earl Sylvester: [as Lee smiles at him in amusement] He's dead?
Charlie Strom: [laconically] ALL the way.


Horace Tabor: Is it your proposal, Mr. Rumson, that we knock out the stage driver, steal a coach, and kidnap six women?
Ben Rumson: Sounds better every time I hear it.


Walker: How bad does he want you, Chris?
Chris: Oh, I don't know. Who knows.
Walker: Yeah, you know. How bad?
Chris: Pretty bad, I guess.
Walker: Bad enough to let you through into the Huntley?
Chris: Why should I?
Walker: Well, it's up to you.


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Best Actor Oscar 1965





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Lee Marvin Facts
Served as a marine in the Pacific theater during WW2. In total, he took part in the invasions of 21 islands, and was wounded and nearly died as a result during the Battle of Saipan. He was a sniper, and would be sent in during the night in a small rubber boat, prior to the rest of his platoon. His wartime experiences deeply affected him for the remainder of his life.

Burt Lancaster and he did not get along during the shoot of The Professionals (1966) due to that fact that Marvin's bottoming-out alcoholism was making him unreliable and difficult at the time. Director Richard Brooks felt the need to intervene because he feared Lancaster was going to "take Lee Marvin by the ass and throw him off that mountain".

Marvin hated his most famous film The Dirty Dozen (1967), which he made only for the money and said was nothing like the actual war. He much preferred Hell in the Pacific (1968) and The Big Red One (1980), both of which reflected his strong anti-war feelings.

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