LEE MARVIN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Lee Marvin was born February 19, 1924 in New York, New York, USA.  His father was an advertising executive and his mother a fashion writer.  Lee Marvin attended St. Leo Preparatory College in Saint Leo, Florida after being thrown out of several schools for misbehaving.  Marvin quit high school and chose to join the marine corps, however he was wounded in battle while serving in the South Pacific.  He was discharged from the military and went on to work as a plumbers apprentice.   

He was asked to fill in for a an actor who was sick while repairing a toilet at a stock summer play rehearsal.  This sparked his interest in theater.  He decided to study in New York at the American Theater Wing.  After he appeared in Summer stock his career was underway.  He began working in television as well as Broadway.  His first Broadway appearance was in, "Billy Budd" (1951) and first time appearing on film was in, "You're in the Navy Now" (1951) starring Gary Cooper, Jane Greer, Millard Mitchell, Eddie Albert, John McIntire, Jack Webb, Ray Collins, Ed Begley, Harry Von Zell and film debuts of Charles Bronson, Jack Warden, Lee Marvin and Harvey Lembeck, along with some small appearances in television he decided to relocate to Hollywood. 

Martin was given the lead role in, "Eight Iron Men" (1952) with Arthur Franz, Richard Kiley, James Griffith and Dickie Moore followed by "The Wild One" (1953) starring Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy, Ray Teal, Jay C. Flippen, Robert Keith, John Doucette and Will Wright, "The Big Heat" (1953) starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jeanette Nolan, Jocelyn Brando, Willis Bouchey, Alexander Scourby and Carolyn Jones and "The Caine Mutiny" (1954) starring alongside Humphrey Bogart, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, Warner Anderson, Whit Bissell, James Best, Claude Akins, Arthur Franz, Tom Tully and E.G. Marshall.  Martin was now really beginning to establish himself in Hollywood and was beginning to get cast in more lead roles.  The Television series, "M Squad" (1957) cast him as a police detective and he was quite successful working on this show.  He appeared on over 100 episodes, and the public was really beginning to recognize his acting talent.  He won an Oscar for his role on "The Comancheros" (1961) starring John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Michael Ansara, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Nehemiah Persoff, Edgar Buchanan, Harry Carey Jr., Patrick Wayne, Bruce Cabot and Ina Balin. 

Marvin continued to get cast in more films such as, "The Professionals" (1966) co-starring Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Claudia Cardinale, Ralph Bellamy, Vaughn Taylor, Joe De Santis and Jack Palance, "The Dirty Dozen" (1967) also starring Donald Sutherland, Richard Jaeckel, Ernest Borgnine, Clint Walker, Telly Savalas, John Cassavetes, Trini Lopez, Robert Ryan, Jim Brown, Charles Bronson, Ralph Meeker, Robert Webber and George Kennedy and "Point Blank" (1967) starring with Angie Dickinson, Carroll O'Connor, Keenan Wynn, Lloyd Bochner and James Sikking.  He also had a hit song with 'I Was Born Under a Wandering Star' in, "Paint Your Wagon" (1969) co-starring Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg, Eddie Little Sky and Ray Walston, which to date, was one of the most expensive films ever made.

He went in to the 1970's continuing to work in film, but in less complicated roles on films such as, "Monte Walsh" (1970) co-starring Jeanne Moreau and Jack Palance, Mitch Ryan, Bo Hopkins and Jim Davis, "Prime Cut" (1972) also starring Gene Hackman, Sissy Spacek, Eddie Egan and Gregory Walcott, "Pocket Money" (1972) starring with Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Hector Elizondo and Wayne Rogers, "The Emperor of the North Pole" (1973) also starring Ernest Borgnine, Simon Oakland, Elisha Cook Jr. and Keith Carradine, "The Spikes Gang" (1974), "The Klansman" (1974) co-starring Richard Burton, O.J. Simpson, David Huddleston, Lola Falana, Cameron Mitchell and Linda Evans, "Shout at the Devil" (1976) also starring Ron Howard, Arthur Hunnicutt, Charles Martin Smith and Noah Beery Jr. and "The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday" (1976) also starring Kay Lenz, Robert Culp, Elizabeth Ashley, Olver Reed and Strother Martin.  However, the 70's for him were filled with mostly bad reviews on not only the films he appeared in, but his actual performance as well. 

Not only was his career not on the up track, he was also dealing with a high profile lawsuit from his girlfriend of six years, Michelle Triola.  She sued him for 'palimony' $1,800,000, one half of his earnings during the span of their relationship. The landmark trial, much watched and discussed by Marvin's fellow celebrities, ended with Triola awarded only 104,000 dollars.

Well into the 80's, Marvin continued to work in the entertainment industry with roles on, "Big Red One" (1980) also starring Mark Hamill and Robert Carradine, "Death Hunt" (1981) starring alongside Charles Bronson, Angie Dickinson, Carl Weathers, Maury Chaykin, Ed Lauter and Andrew Stevens, "Gorky Park" (1983) strring with William Hurt and Brian Dennehy, "Dog Day" (1984), and his final appearance was in "The Delta Force" (1986) co-starring Chuck Norris, Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Vaughn, Steve James, Robert Forster, Shelley Winters and George Kennedy.

In addition to Lee Marvin's considerable film career he also found time to appear in numerous television shows such as "Bonanza", "Biff Baker, U.S.A.", "Climax!", "Dragnet", "The Ford Show Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford", "General Electric Theater", "The Investigators", "The Barbara Stanwyck Show", "Route 66", "The Untouchables", "Checkmate", "The Dick Powell Show", "Combat!", "The Twilight Zone", "Kraft Suspense Theatre", "Dr. Kildare", "Wagon Train" and "The Virginian" in addition to starring in his own show "M Squad".

Lee Marvin died in 1987 of a heart attack in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 63, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
 

Filmography
 
2004   The Big Red One: The Reconstruction
1986   The Delta Force
1985   The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission
1983   Dog Day
1983   Gorky Park
1981   Death Hunt
1980   The Big Red One
1979   Avalanche Express
1976   Shout at the Devil
1976   The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday
1974   The Klansman
1974   The Spikes Gang
1973   Emperor of the North
1973   The Iceman Cometh
1972   Pocket Money
1972   Prime Cut
1970   Monte Walsh
1969   Paint Your Wagon
1968   Hell in the Pacific
1968   Sergeant Ryker 
1967   Point Blank
1967   The Dirty Dozen
1966   The Meanest Men in the West
1966   The Professionals
1965   Cat Ballou as Kid Shelleen
1965   Ship of Fools
1964   The Killers 
1963   Combat!: Bridge at Chalons
1963   Donovan's Reef
1963   The Twilight Zone: Steel
1962   Bonanza: Crucible
1962   The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962   The Untouchables: A Fist of Five
1962   The Untouchables: Element of Danger
1961   The Comancheros 
1961   The Twilight Zone: The Grave
1961   The Untouchables: The Nick Acropolis Story
1958   The Missouri Traveler
1957   M Squad 
1957   Raintree County
1956   Attack 
1956   Pillars of the Sky
1956   Seven Men from Now 
1956   The Rack
1955   A Life in the Balance
1955   Bad Day at Black Rock
1955   I Died a Thousand Times
1955   Not as a Stranger
1955   Pete Kelly's Blues
1955   Shack out on 101 
1955   Violent Saturday
1954   Gorilla at Large
1954   The Caine Mutiny
1954   The Raid
1954   The Wild One
1953   Down Among the Sheltering Palms
1953   Dragnet: The Big Whiff
1953   Gun Fury
1953   Seminole
1953   The Big Heat
1953   The Glory Brigade
1953   The Stranger Wore a Gun
1952   Diplomatic Courier
1952   Dragnet: The Big Cast
1952   Eight Iron Men 
1952   Hangman's Knot
1952   The Duel at Silver Creek
1952   We're Not Married