VICTOR MATURE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Victor John Mature was born January 29th, 1913 in Louisville, Kentucky.  His father was an Austrian grinder.  At the young age of fifteen, mature dropped out of high school and supported himself with various jobs such as a dish washer and dog walker.  He was intelligent enough to actually take part in the opening of a restaurant in 1933 but two years later, at the age of only nineteen he headed west to take a chance at Hollywood.

He began with gaining experience at the Pasadena Community Playhouse where he was cast in over sixty plays.  Mature caught the attention of producer Hal Roach who signed the actor to a contract.  He then got a chance at his first on screen appearance with a small part in, "The Housekeeper's Daughter" (1939).  Victor then was lucky enough to get an even larger part about a year later in, "One Million B.C." (1940). This film was highly successful and open up many doors for his acting career.

Mature was very good looking with an athletic build and he was never really type cast into one type of film.  He was able to get roles in a variety of films such as comedy, adventure, drama, suspense and even a couple musicals.  In 1940, Mature signed with RKO Studio's and a year later in 1941 he signed a long term contract with 20th Century Fox.  Female fans were crazy over him and he was quite a popular film idol.  Some of his work included roles on, "Seven Days' Leave" (1942), "My Gal Sal" (1942), "Wake Up Screaming" (1941) and "Footlight Serenade" (1942).

When World War II approached, Mature briefly left acting to join the US Coast Guard, but right after the war he went right back to Hollywood and pursuing his acting career.  Some of his best work remembered occurred during this time such as his role on director John Ford's, "My Darling Clementine" (1946), "Kiss of Death" (1947) which launched the career of fellow actor Richard Widmark and "Samson and Delilah" (1949) along side one of the most beautiful women in the world, Hedy Lamarr. 

Mature starred in numerous other films before deciding to retire at the age of forty six.  He left Los Angeles and moved to Rancho Santa Fe, California.  For the most part he enjoyed retirement golfing and enjoying being not too far from sunny San Diego, California.  He did on a couple occasions return briefly to his love of acting to take on such roles in, "After the Fox" (1966) and "Every Little Crook and Nanny" (1972).  His last feature film was a role on, "Firepower" (1979) and his last appearance on television on, "Samson and Delilah" (1984).

He Was approached for the role of Sylvester Stallone's father in "Oscar" (1991), which eventually went to Kirk Douglas instead. 

On August 4th, 1999, Victor Mature passed away after losing the fight to cancer.  Throughout his lifetime, he was married five times and had only one child, his daughter Victoria, from all five marriages.  He was buried in the family plot at St. Michael's Cemetery in his hometown of Louisville.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Victor Mature has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
   

Filmography

1984   Samson and Delilah (TV movie)
1979   Firepower
1976   Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
1972   Every Little Crook and Nanny
1968   Head
1966   After the Fox
1961   I tartari
1959   Hannibal
1959   The Big Circus
1959   The Bandit of Zhobe
1959   Timbuktu
1958   Escort West
1958   China Doll
1958   Tank Force
1957   The Long Haul
1957   Pickup Alley
1956   Zarak
1956   The Sharkfighters
1956   Safari
1955   The Last Frontier
1955   Violent Saturday
1955   Chief Crazy Horse
1954   Betrayed
1954   The Egyptian
1954   Demetrius and the Gladiators
1954   Dangerous Mission
1953   The Veils of Bagdad
1953   The Robe
1953   Affair with a Stranger
1953   The Glory Brigade
1952   Androcles and the Lion
1952   Million Dollar Mermaid
1952   Something for the Birds
1952   The Las Vegas Story
1950   Gambling House
1950   Stella
1950   Wabash Avenue
1949   Samson and Delilah
1949   Easy Living
1949   Red, Hot and Blue
1948   Cry of the City
1948   Fury at Furnace Creek
1947   Kiss of Death
1947   Moss Rose
1946   My Darling Clementine
1942   Seven Days' Leave
1942   Footlight Serenade
1942   My Gal Sal
1942   Song of the Islands
1941   The Shanghai Gesture
1941   I Wake Up Screaming
1940   No, No, Nanette
1940   Captain Caution
1940   One Million B.C.
1939   The Housekeeper's Daughter