In-depth interviews with family, friends, and associates underlie a biographical portrait of the superstar singer and actress

This biography presents a portrait of Lee Marvin warts and all. A very charismatic, seemingly outgoing and yet private man, Marvin was a decorated soldier, who enlisted at 18 in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and served with the 4th Marine Division in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His service left its mark on him, but on film he was a man's man, playing hoods, bank robbers, assassins, and a long run of soldiers. But some of his greatest successes were when he played against type, as in Cat Ballou and Paint Your Wagon. Marvin entered the Hollywood food chain during a time of upheaval in both America and the film industry. Movie Star Marvin walked a sublime line between old-school masculinity and new-school subversive spirit. During this transitional period, armed with barely disguised and irresistible contempt, he does exactly what The Man tells him to, but still somehow does what he least expects or intends; as the box-office grosses indicated, there was something nearly every American could love about that. This book discusses his films, his life, and examines how unusual he was as both an actor, and a human being.