A biography for Lee Marvinhasn’t been written yet.
“If I have any appeal at all, it's to the fellow who takes out the garbage.”
“I once tried to figure out the first time I felt guilt, and it goes so far back that I might have been an inch long at the time.”
“I didn't get my hair cut for two movies, and it got a little long. I'm going back to a... not a crew cut. Back to, oh, about a Presbyterian length.”
“The first day of 'Liberty,' I was hanging around waiting for Ford to come in. Everybody told me how tough he was and not to say anything, or he'd single you out and get on you the whole shoot. But as he walked in, I got up and saluted him.”
“It's one of the things I always do. I move faster onscreen. Creates a sense of danger.”
“Wardrobe is - in films, I could say it's a good half of the acting. You get the right rags on, they'll talk for you.”
“Tequila. Straight. There's a real polite drink. You keep drinking until you finally take one more and it just won't go down. Then you know you've reached your limit.”
“Newman has it all worked out. I get a million. He gets a million two, but that includes $200,000 expenses.”
“It's important not to think too much about what you do.”
“After a sheltered life, I went the other way. I wanted to prove how tough I was.”
“I know Chicago cops. They're tough. They have to be. The whole city would explode. It's like a bomb, Chicago.”
“I studied violin when I was very young.”
“Now that I think I know what I'm doing, I'm scared. Before this, I just didn't know any better.”
“In school, I couldn't see any sense to reading, writing, and arithmetic. Sure, they kicked me out, but for trifles, like continual daydreaming and smoking, that wouldn't be grounds for expulsion nowadays.”
“As soon as people see my face on a movie screen, they knew two things: first, I'm not going to get the girl, and second, I'll get a cheap funeral before the picture is over.”
“My father was the classic Puritan. Hold the emotions in check. Keep up appearances.”
“I didn't like school. Every day, it was a toss-up whether I'd go or skip.”
“It was the Marines who taught me how to act. After that, pretending to be rough wasn't so hard.”
“I only make movies to finance my fishing.”
“I love Marlon Brando. Never seem him bad, just less good.”