Lee Marvin on screen and stage

Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. 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: Charlie Strom in The Killers (1964), Rico Fardan in The Professionals (1966), Major John Reisman in The Dirty Dozen (1967), Ben Rumson in Paint Your Wagon (1969), Walker in Point Blank (1967) and the Sergeant in The Big Red One (1980).

Lee Marvin acting in the Twilight Zone (1961)

Marvin achieved numerous accolades when he portrayed both gunfighter Kid Shelleen and criminal Tim Strawn in a dual role for the comedy Western film Cat Ballou (1965), alongside Jane Fonda, a surprise hit which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor, along with a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, an NBR Award and the Silver Bear for Best Actor.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1951	You're in the Navy Now	Radio Man	Uncredited	[1]
	Teresa	G.I.
1952	Diplomatic Courier	MP at Trieste		[2]
	We're Not Married!	"Pinky"		[3]
	The Duel at Silver Creek	Tinhorn Burgess		[4]
	Hangman's Knot	Rolph Bainter
	Eight Iron Men	Sgt. Joe Mooney
1953	Down Among the Sheltering Palms	Pvt. Snively	Uncredited
	Seminole	Sgt. Magruder
	The Glory Brigade	Cpl. Bowman
	The Stranger Wore a Gun	Dan Kurth
	The Big Heat	Vince Stone
	Gun Fury	Blinky
	The Wild One	Chino
1954	Gorilla at Large	Shaughnessy, Policeman
	The Caine Mutiny	"Meatball"
	The Raid	Lt. Keating
1955	Bad Day at Black Rock	Hector David
	Violent Saturday	Dill, Bank Robber
	Not as a Stranger	Brundage
	A Life in the Balance	The Killer
	Pete Kelly's Blues	Al Gannaway
	I Died a Thousand Times	Babe Kossuck
	Shack Out on 101	Slob / Mr. Gregory
1956	Seven Men from Now	Bill Masters	Made by Batjac Productions, John Wayne's company.
	Attack	Lt. Col. Clyde Bartlett
	Pillars of the Sky	Sergeant Lloyd Carracart
	The Rack	Capt. John R. Miller
1957	Raintree County	Orville "Flash" Perkins	Nominated—Laurel Award for Best Male Supporting Performance
1958	The Missouri Traveler	Tobias Brown
1961	The Comancheros	Tully Crow	Nominated—Laurel Award for Best Male Supporting Performance
1962	The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance	Liberty Valance	Bronze Wrangler for Best Theatrical Motion Picture Nominated—Laurel Award for Best Action Performance
1963	Donovan's Reef	Thomas Aloysius "Boats" Gilhooley
1964	The Killers	Charlie Strom	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (also for Cat Ballou) Nominated—Laurel Award for Best Action Performance
1965	Cat Ballou	Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn	Academy Award for Best Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (also for The Killers) Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Laurel Award for Best Male Comedy Performance National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (also for Ship of Fools) Silver Bear for Best Actor Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
	Ship of Fools	Bill Tenny	National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (also for Cat Ballou)
1966	The Professionals	Henry "Rico" Fardan	Laurel Award for Best Action Performance
1967	The Dirty Dozen	Major John Reisman
	Point Blank	Walker
1968	Hell in the Pacific	American Pilot
1969	Paint Your Wagon	Ben Rumson	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1970	Monte Walsh	Monte Walsh	Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Foreign Performer Nominated—Laurel Award for Best Action Performance
1972	Pocket Money	Leonard
	Prime Cut	Nick Devlin
1973	Emperor of the North Pole	A No. 1
	The Iceman Cometh	Hickey
1974	The Spikes Gang	Harry Spikes
	The Klansman	Sheriff Track Bascomb
1976	Shout at the Devil	Col. Flynn O'Flynn		[5]
	The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday	Sam Longwood		[6]
1979	Avalanche Express	Col. Harry Wargrave		[7]
1980	The Big Red One	The Sergeant		[8]
1981	Death Hunt	Sergeant Edgar Millen		[9]
1983	Gorky Park	Jack Osborne		[10]
1984	Dog Day	Jimmy Cobb	French title: Canicule	[11]
1986	The Delta Force	Col. Nick Alexander	(final film role)	[12]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1950	Escape		Episode: "Whappernocker Song"
	The Big Story		Episode: "Eugene Travis, Memphis Tennessee Reporter"
	Treasury Men in Action		Episode: "The Case of the Deadly Fish"
1950–1953	Suspense	Barrow	2 episodes
1952	Rebound	Sgt. Krone / Bull
	Fireside Theatre		Episode: "Sound in the Night"
	Biff Baker, U.S.A.	Michler / Captain Hollis	Episode: "Alpine Assignment"
1952–1953	Dragnet	James Mitchell / Henry Ross	2 episodes
1953	The Doctor		Episode: "The Runaways"
	The Revlon Mirror Theater	Red Johnson	Episode: "Lullaby"
	The Motorola Television Hour		Episode: "Outlaw's Reckoning"
	Plymouth Playhouse
1954	The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse	John Temple	2 episodes
	Center Stage	Zach Toombs	Episode: "The Day Before Atlanta"
	Medic	Larry Collins	Episode: "White Is the Color"
1954–1959	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Jim Patterson / Russ Anderson	3 episodes
1954–1961	General Electric Theater	Sid Benton / Clerk / Joe Kittridge / Dick Giles / Art Temple / Captain Morrissey	7 episodes
1955	TV Reader's Digest	Charlie Faust	Episode: "How Charlie Faust Won a Pennant for the Giants"
	Fireside Theatre	Jigger	Episode: "Little Guy"
	Studio One	Teale	Episode: "Shakedown Cruise"
1955–1958	Climax!	Mannon Tate / 'Little Man' Brush / Charter Plane Pilot / Capt. Cavallero	4 episodes
1956	Kraft Television Theatre	Milo Bogardus	Episode: "The Fool Killer"
	Front Row Center	David Hawken	Episode: "Dinner Date"
1957	Studio 57		Episode: "You Take Ballistics"
	The United States Steel Hour		Episode: "Shadow of Evil"
1957–1960	M Squad	Detective Lt. Frank Ballinger / Lt. Frank Ballinger / Barney	117 episodes
1959	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse	Captain David Roberts	Episode: "Man in Orbit"
1960	NBC Sunday Showcase	Ira Hayes	Episode: "The American"
1960–1961	Wagon Train	Jud Benedict / Jose Morales	2 episodes
1961	Route 66	John Ryan / Woody Biggs
	The Barbara Stanwyck Show	Jud Hollister	Episode: "Confession"
	The Americans	Capt. Judd	Episode: "Reconnaissance"
	Checkmate	Lee Tabor	Episode: "Jungle Castle"
	Alcoa Premiere	Hughes	Episode: "People Need People" Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
	The Investigators	"Nostradamus" (Walter Mimms)	Episode: "The Oracle"
1961–1962	The Untouchables	Mike Brannon / Victor Rait / Howard Carson / Nick Acropolis	3 episodes
1961–1963	The Twilight Zone	Sam "Steel" Kelly / Conny Miller	Episodes: "The Grave" and "Steel"
1962	Ben Casey	Gerry Bramson	Episode: "A Story to Be Softly Told"
	Bonanza	Peter Kane	Episode: "The Crucible"
	The DuPont Show of the Week	Juan de Nuñez	Episode: "The Richest Man in Bogotá"
	The Virginian	Martin Kalig	Episode: "It Tolls for Thee"
1962–1964	Dr. Kildare	Buddy Bishop / Dr. Paul Probeck	2 episodes
1963	The Dick Powell Show	Finn / Dave Blassingame
	Combat!	Sgt. Turk	Episode: "The Bridge at Châlons"
	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Sgt. Paul Ryker	2 episodes
	The Great Adventure	Misok Bedrozian	Episode: "Six Wagons to the Sea"
1963–1964	Lawbreakers	Himself – Host / Narrator	35 episodes
1965	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Nick Karajanian	Episode: "The Loving Cup"
1968	Sergeant Ryker	Sgt. Paul Ryker	Kraft Suspense Theatre
1985	The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission	Maj. John Reisman	Television film	[13]

Stage

• Billy Budd (1951)^[14]