Lee Marvin

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Lee Marvin

American actor

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Last Updated: Mar 25, 2025 • Article History

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Born:: February 19, 1924, New York, New York, U.S.

Died:: August 29, 1987, Tucson, Arizona (aged 63)

Awards And Honors:: Academy Award (1966); Academy Award (1966): Actor in a Leading Role; Golden Globe Award (1966): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Married To:: Elizabeth (Betty) Ebeling (1951–1967); Pamela Marvin (married 1970)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Fireside Theatre" (1952); "Studio 57" (1957); "Not as a Stranger" (1955); "Gorilla at Large" (1954); "Dragnet" (1952–1953); "The Iceman Cometh" (1973); "Avalanche Express" (1979); "Ben Casey" (1962); "Escape" (1950); "Suspense" (1950–1953); "A Life in the Balance" (1955); "Paint Your Wagon" (1969); "Rebound" (1952); "Gorky Park" (1983); "Shout at the Devil" (1976); "Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre" (1955); "Studio One" (1955); "Bonanza" (1962); "Prime Cut" (1972); "General Electric Theater" (1954–1961); "The Untouchables" (1961–1962); "Biff Baker, U.S.A." (1952); "Monte Walsh" (1970); "Combat!" (1963); "Route 66" (1961); "The DuPont Show of the Week" (1962); "7 Men from Now" (1956); "I Died a Thousand Times" (1955); "Pete Kelly's Blues" (1955); "The Virginian" (1962); "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" (1959); "Kraft Television Theatre" (1956); "The Delta Force" (1986); "The Big Red One" (1980); "Bad Day at Black Rock" (1955); "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1965); "The Stranger Wore a Gun" (1953); "Hangman's Knot" (1952); "Climax!" (1955–1958); "Wagon Train" (1960–1961); "Raintree County" (1957); "The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse" (1954); "M Squad" (1957–1960); "Dr. Kildare" (1962–1964); "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962); "The Investigators" (1961); "The Raid" (1954); "Emperor of the North Pole" (1973); "Shack Out on 101" (1955); "The Big Heat" (1953); "Attack" (1956); "Alcoa Premiere" (1961); "Cat Ballou" (1965); "Eight Iron Men" (1952); "The Barbara Stanwyck Show" (1961); "The Comancheros" (1961); "The Big Story" (1950); "The United States Steel Hour" (1957); "The Missouri Traveler" (1958); "The Professionals" (1966); "Kraft Suspense Theatre" (1963); "Hell in the Pacific" (1968); "Seminole" (1953); "Treasury Men in Action" (1950); "Pillars of the Sky" (1956); "Medic" (1954); "Violent Saturday" (1955); "The Wild One" (1953); "ABC Album" (1953); "Donovan's Reef" (1963); "Pocket Money" (1972); "The Glory Brigade" (1953); "Point Blank" (1967); "The Motorola Television Hour" (1953); "Klansman" (1974); "The Caine Mutiny" (1954); "The Revlon Mirror Theater" (1953); "The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday" (1976); "The Duel at Silver Creek" (1952); "Ship of Fools" (1965); "Gun Fury" (1953); "The Rack" (1956); "Checkmate" (1961); "The Americans" (1961); "Canicule" (1984); "The Doctor" (1953); "The Great Adventure" (1963); "Center Stage" (1954); "Sunday Showcase" (1960); "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1954–1959); "The Spikes Gang" (1974); "The Dirty Dozen" (1967); "Front Row Center" (1956); "Death Hunt" (1981); "TV Reader's Digest" (1955); "The Killers" (1964); "The Twilight Zone" (1961–1963); "The Dick Powell Show" (1963)

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Lee Marvin (born February 19, 1924, New York, New York, U.S.—died August 29, 1987, Tucson, Arizona) was a rugged, durable American actor who was perhaps the quintessential cinematic “tough guy.”

Marvin took up acting after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, and in 1949 he began appearing in Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. The following year he had guest parts in several television shows, which led to his film debut in 1951. For the better part of 14 years, he appeared in smaller roles. His tall, lean, brutal, stone-faced appearance made him an excellent choice for the role of villain in Hollywood action movies and westerns. Many of Marvin’s early films were notable works of major directors, such as Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat (1953), László Benedek’s The Wild One (1953), John Sturges’s Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), and Robert Aldrich’s Attack (1956). Marvin continued to make TV appearances as well, and he starred as the tough but good-hearted Lieut. Frank Ballinger in the series M Squad (1957–60).

*Cat Ballou*Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda in *Cat Ballou* (1965), directed by Elliot Silverstein.

In 1962 Marvin appeared as Liberty Valance, a mean, snarling cowboy in John Ford’s legendary The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. This role led to his dual casting as a drunken cowboy hero and his nasty gun-slinging twin brother in Cat Ballou (1965), a western comedy. His performance in this film won him an Oscar, and he was soon in demand as a leading man.

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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*Point Blank*Angie Dickinson and Lee Marvin in *Point Blank* (1967), directed by John Boorman.

Borrowing from his vast experience at playing bad guys, Marvin brought complexity to his roles as a leading man by incorporating elements of the thug. In 1967 he delivered two of his most memorable performances: in The Dirty Dozen, he portrayed the no-nonsense military commander who leads a group of condemned criminals on a deadly war mission; and in John Boorman’s Point Blank, he played an emotionless man out to exact violent revenge on the men who robbed him and left him for dead.

Marvin was sometimes miscast—for example, as a singing cowboy in Paint Your Wagon (1969), though his recording of the song “Wand’rin’ Star” became an unexpected hit. His ability to show tenderness, as he did in Monte Walsh (1970), was not often exploited by directors. His last great role was that of another determined World War II platoon leader, this time in Samuel Fuller’s The Big Red One (1980).

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