February 19 Birthday Wishes

Lee Marvin [1924 - 1987]

Ron Foster [1930 - ]

Good ole Lee Marvin, he was good in whatever charater he protrayed, Westerns or War movies. Happy Birthday Lee!

I thought his biography was interesting:
Biography


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 to
Lamont Waltman Marvin, an advertising executive, and his wife Courtenay
Washington Davidge, a fashion writer. 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). 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). 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. Marvin continued making films of varying quality,
always as a star, until his sudden death from a heart attack in 1987.
Sandy

Howdy Pards!!

Ole Lee was suffering from emphysema for the last years of his life and I'm sure this is what brought on his heart attack. He had moved to Arizona and had built a new home, which he helped design. Although he appeared in many other films, like The Dirty Dozen and Point Blank, he never stopped making westerns. His character of Liberty Valance will never be forgotten by western fans, along with his roles in The Professionals and the original Monty Walsh, he has to rank as one of the top 5 western actors ever!!

Ron Foster was a character actor from the 50's into the 90's. He appeared on many of the ole 50's and 60's t.v. westerns, like The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp, Bonanza, Colt .45. He also appeared in the Twilight Zone Episode, The 7th Is Made Up Of Phantoms with Randy Boone and Warren Oates.

Ed

Man o day, Lee Marvin was a great actor! Whether as an extra or bit player, or a leading man, he was good in all of them.

He was a WWII veteran, and when he was cast in The Big Red One, director Sam Fuller had Marvin and the actors that played his squad, Robert Carradine, Mark Hamil, Bobby Di Cicco, and Kelly Ward, do everything as a squad. Marvin drilled the other actors like a drill instructor. When they all first met, Marvin at first wouldn't talk to them. Later, when they were riding in a taxi to the shooting range, Marvin asked "Which one of you is Carradine?", and when Bob answered him, Marvin said "F--- you, Carradine." After they started filming, Bob asked him why he said that, and Marvin told him his was the only name he recognized. The scene in The Big Red One where Marvin gets shot is said to be a recreation of when Marvin got shot in WWII.