"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."
American actor (1924-1987). He was born in
New York City, where he was kicked out of numerous schools for
bad behavior. After his family moved to
Florida (where he also got kicked out of school), he joined the
Marines at the beginning of
World War II.
In the
Battle of Saipan in 1944, Marvin was -- ahem -- shot in the butt. His
sciatic nerve was severed, and he received a
Purple Heart and a ticket back to the
States. He apparently felt a large amount of
guilt about his
injury and considered himself a
coward for many years. He took a
menial job as a
plumber's
apprentice in
Woodstock, New York, and while repairing some plumbing at a local
community theater, he was asked if he'd stand in for an absent actor during a
rehearsal. He quickly discovered how much he loved
acting (though he later claimed that he learned how to
act while in the Marines, when he tried to look
brave during
combat) and moved back to
the Big Apple, where he performed
off-Broadway. After making his
Broadway debut in "
Billy Budd," he began getting more work in
television and
film.
He often played
vicious heavies in
Hollywood, though he graduated to
action hero status as he became more successful. He also played a few completely
light-hearted roles, often as
comic con men and
drunks -- he even sang (sort of) in "
Paint Your Wagon"! Some of his
films include: "
Eight Iron Men," "
The Big Heat," "
The Wild One," "
Bad Day at Black Rock," "
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "
Donovan's Reef," "
The Killers," "
Cat Ballou," "
The Dirty Dozen," "
Gorky Park," "
Delta Force," and many more. He won an
Oscar for his
dual role as the
drunken gunfighter and his
evil noseless brother in "
Cat Ballou."
Marvin had been involved in a long-term relationship with
Michelle Triola. After they broke up, Triola sued in 1976, requesting a large portion of Marvin's
assets. Her case failed, but established the
legal precedent for
palimony.
Apparently, Lee Marvin was also a direct descendant of
Thomas Jefferson.
Upon accepting his Cat Ballou Oscar: "I think half of this belongs to a horse somewhere out in the valley."
Research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)