Lamont Warren "Lee" Marvin Jr. (February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987) was an American actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. He received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two BAFTA Awards. He was also a decorated United States Marine during the Second World War. He was also a descendant of the Lee family of Virginia.
Although initially typecast as the "heavy" (i.e. villainous character), he later gained prominence for portraying anti-heroes, such as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger on the television series M Squad (1957–1960). Marvin's notable roles in film included Vince Stone in The Big Heat (1953), Liberty Valance in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Charlie Strom in The Killers (1964), Rico Fardan in The Professionals (1966), Major John Reisman in The Dirty Dozen (1967), Walker in Point Blank (1967), Ben Rumson in Paint Your Wagon (1969), the Sergeant in The Big Red One (1980), and Jack Osborne in Gorky Park (1983).
Marvin achieved numerous accolades when he portrayed a dual role as gunfighter Kid Shelleen and criminal Tim Strawn for the comedy Western film Cat Ballou (1965), alongside Jane Fonda, a surprise hit which won him the Oscar for Best Actor, along with a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, an NBR Award, and the Silver Bear for Best Actor.
Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr. was born in New York City to Lamont Waltman Marvin – a World War I veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers and an advertising executive – and Courtenay Washington (née Davidge), a fashion writer. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was his first cousin, four times removed. He was also a second cousin six times removed of first U.S. President George Washington. His father was a direct descendant of Matthew Marvin Sr., who emigrated from Great Bentley, Essex, England, in 1635, and helped found Hartford, Connecticut. Marvin studied violin when he was young. Marvin did not enjoy school and performed poorly. As a teenager, Marvin "spent weekends and spare time hunting deer, puma, wild turkey, and bobwhite in the wilds of the then-uncharted Everglades".
He attended Manumit School, a Christian socialist boarding school in Pawling, New York, during the late 1930s, and Peekskill Military Academy in Peekskill, New York. He later attended St. Leo College Preparatory School, a Catholic school in St. Leo, Florida, after being expelled from several other schools for bad behavior (smoking cigarettes, truancy of lessons and fights).
Marvin enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on August 12, 1942 at 18 years old. Before finishing the School of Infantry, he served as a quartermaster. Marvin served in the 4th Marine Division as a scout sniper in the Pacific Theater during World War II, including assaults on Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Saipan-Tinian. While serving as a member of India ("I") Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, Marvin participated in 21 amphibious assaults on Japanese-held islands. He was wounded in action on June 18, 1944, while taking part in the assault on Mount Tapochau during the Battle of Saipan, in which most of his company became casualties. He was hit by machine gun fire, which severed his sciatic nerve, and then was hit in the foot by a sniper. After over a year of medical treatment in naval hospitals, Marvin was given a medical discharge with the rank of private first class. He had previously held the rank of corporal before being demoted for troublemaking.
Marvin's decorations include the Purple Heart Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.
After the war, while working as a plumber's assistant in the artist village of Woodstock in upstate New York, Marvin was asked to replace an actor who had fallen ill during rehearsals. He caught the acting bug and got a job with the company for $7 a week. He moved to Greenwich Village and used the G.I. Bill to study at the American Theatre Wing.
He appeared on stage in a production of Uniform of Flesh, the original version of Billy Budd (1949). It was performed at the Experimental Theatre, where a few months later, Marvin also appeared in The Nineteenth Hole of Europe (1949).
Marvin began appearing on television shows like Escape, The Big Story, and Treasury Men in Action.
He made it to Broadway with a small role in a production of Uniform of Flesh, now titled Billy Budd, in February 1951.
Marvin's film debut was in You're in the Navy Now (1951), directed by Henry Hathaway, a movie that also marked the debuts of Charles Bronson and Jack Warden. This required some filming in Hollywood and Marvin decided to stay in California.
He had a similarly small part in Teresa (1951), directed by Fred Zinnemann. As a decorated combat veteran, Marvin was a natural in war dramas, where he frequently assisted the director and other actors in realistically portraying infantry movement, arranging costumes, and the use of firearms.
He guest starred on episodes of Fireside Theatre, Suspense, and Rebound. Hathaway used him again on Diplomatic Courier (1952) and he could be seen in Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952), directed by Edmund Goulding; We're Not Married! (1952), also for Goulding; The Duel at Silver Creek (1952), directed by Don Siegel; and Hangman's Knot (1952), directed by Roy Huggins.
He guest starred on Biff Baker, U.S.A. and Dragnet, and had a showcase role as the squad leader in a feature titled Eight Iron Men (1952), a war film directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Stanley Kramer (Marvin's role had been played on Broadway by Burt Lancaster).
He was a sergeant in Seminole (1953), a Western directed by Budd Boetticher, and was a corporal in The Glory Brigade (1953), a Korean War film.
Marvin guest starred in The Doctor, The Revlon Mirror Theater, Suspense, and The Motorola Television Hour.
He was now in much demand for Westerns and starred in The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953) with Randolph Scott and Gun Fury (1953) with Rock Hudson.