Lee Marvin

According to his first wife Betty Ebeling (1928-2018) in her memoirs, "Tales Of a Hollywood Housewife", when Marvin died he left only $10,000 in his will for his four children. She also said that during their marriage he was often pulled over by police for drunken driving, but got away with only a warning and signing an autograph for the officers.

Prematurely white-haired character star who began as a supporting player of generally vicious demeanor, then metamorphosed into a star of both action and drama projects, Lee Marvin was born in New York City, the son of Courtenay Washington (Davidge), a fashion writer, and Lamont Waltman Marvin, an advertising executive. The young Marvin was thrown out of dozens of schools for incorrigibility. His parents took him to Florida, where he attended St. Leo's Preparatory School near Dade City. Dismissed there as well, he enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps at the beginning of World War II. In the battle of Saipan in June 1944, he was wounded in the buttocks by Japanese fire which severed his sciatic nerve. He received a medical discharge and got menial work as a plumber's apprentice in Woodstock, NY. While repairing a toilet at the local community theater, he was asked to replace an ailing actor in a rehearsal. He was immediately stricken with a love for the theater and went to New York City, where he studied and played small roles in stock and Off-Broadway.

He landed an extra role in Henry Hathaway's You're in the Navy Now (1951), and found his role expanded when Hathaway took a liking to him. Returning to the stage, he made his Broadway debut in "Billy Budd", and after a succession of small TV roles, moved to Hollywood, where he began playing heavies and cops in roles of increasing size and frequency.

Given a leading role in Eight Iron Men (1952), he followed it with enormously memorable heavies in The Big Heat (1953) and The Wild One (1953).

Could not ride a motorcycle at the time The Wild One (1953) was filmed but, determined not to be bettered by the star, Marlon Brando, he quickly learned. He later became a keen competitor on his Triumph 200cc Tiger Cub in desert races.

Became a father for the second time at age 30 when his first wife Betty Ebeling gave birth to their daughter Courtenay Lee Marvin on May 7, 1954.

Became a father for the third time at age 32 when his first wife Betty Ebeling gave birth to their daughter Cynthia Marvin on June 8, 1956.

Now established as a major screen villain, Marvin began shifting toward leading roles with a successful run as a police detective in the TV series M Squad (1957).

Became a father for the fourth time at age 34 when his first wife Betty Ebeling gave birth to their daughter Claudia Marvin on March 3, 1958.

Publicly endorsed John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election.

A surprise Oscar for his dual role as a drunken gunfighter and his evil, noseless brother in the western comedy Cat Ballou (1965) placed him in the upper tiers of Hollywood leading men, and he filled out his career with predominantly action-oriented films. A long-term romantic relationship with Michelle Triola led, after their breakup, to a highly publicized lawsuit in which Triola asked for a substantial portion of Marvin's assets. Her case failed in its main pursuit, but did establish a legal precedent for the rights of unmarried cohabitors, the so-called "palimony" law.

Burt Lancaster and he did not get along during the shoot of The Professionals (1966) due to that fact that Marvin's bottoming-out alcoholism was making him unreliable and difficult at the time. Director Richard Brooks felt the need to intervene because he feared Lancaster was going to "take Lee Marvin by the ass and throw him off that mountain".

While serving in the Marine Corps he became best friends with John Miara of Malden, MA. Miara became Marvin's model for the character of Maj. Reisman in The Dirty Dozen (1967).

He supported Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 Democratic primaries, and voted for George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election.

Was as surprised as anyone when his recording of "Wandering Star", from the Paint Your Wagon (1969) soundtrack, became a surprise hit, earning the Gold Record (the standard in those days) for one million copies sold in 1969.

Turned down the lead role of Gen. George S. Patton in Patton (1970) because he did not want to glorify war.

Turned down two movies directed by William Friedkin, The French Connection (1971) and Sorcerer (1977).

John Boorman originally wanted Marvin and Marlon Brando to play Ed and Lewis, respectively, in Deliverance (1972). However, Marvin suggested that he and Brando were too old and that Boorman should use younger actors.

Jeff Bridges has said that it was seeing Marvin and Robert Ryan at work in The Iceman Cometh (1973) that made him decide to fully commit to acting. He found that Marvin and Ryan, despite their obvious tough-guy personas, were unusually kind and giving actors.

Was Steven Spielberg's first choice to play Quint in Jaws (1975).

Went into semi-retirement from acting after filming The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976).

Lived with Michelle Triola for six years. In 1977 she sued him for palimony and the case went to trial. On 18 April 1979, Judge Arthur K. Marshall ordered Marvin to pay $104,000 to Triola for "rehabilitation purposes", but denied her community property claim for one-half of the $3.6 million which Marvin had earned during their six years of cohabitation. Both sides claimed victory, but in August 1981, the California Court of Appeal ruled that Triola could not show any contract between herself and Marvin to justify any payment to her. As a result, Triola recovered no money from Marvin.

Turned down the role of Col. Trautman in Rambo: First Blood (1982), as he didn't want to play a colonel.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 611-613. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

At the time of his death from a sudden heart attack, he had been hospitalized at Tucson (AZ) Medical Center since 13 August 1987 with what his spokesman described as "a run-down condition related to the flu".

Together with Nicolas Cage (Adaptation. (2002)), José Ferrer (Moulin Rouge (1952)) and Peter Sellers (Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)), he is one of only four actors with an Oscar nomination for playing multiple characters in a film (in Cat Ballou (1965) he plays two characters, Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn). Marvin is the only one who actually won one for a double role.