Top 30 Quotes & Sayings by Lee Marvin

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American actor Lee Marvin.

Last updated on December 23, 2024.

Lee Marvin was an American film and television actor. Known for his distinctive voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled, "tough guy" characters. Although initially typecast as the "heavy", 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).

American - Actor | February 19, 1924 - August 29, 1987

Source: Wikipedia

I was on Saipan when I got hit. Not too bad, but bad enough to hamper me if I stayed. I was hit in my left buttocks just below the belt line.

Lee Marvin

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.

Lee Marvin

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.

Lee Marvin

My father was the classic Puritan. Hold the emotions in check. Keep up appearances.

Lee Marvin

I only make movies to finance my fishing.

Lee Marvin

It's one of the things I always do. I move faster onscreen. Creates a sense of danger.

Lee Marvin

Newman has it all worked out. I get a million. He gets a million two, but that includes $200,000 expenses.

Lee Marvin

I didn't like school. Every day, it was a toss-up whether I'd go or skip.

Lee Marvin

I know Chicago cops. They're tough. They have to be. The whole city would explode. It's like a bomb, Chicago.

Lee Marvin

I've never been able to accept any kind of discipline.

Lee Marvin

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.

Lee Marvin

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.

Lee Marvin

It's important not to think too much about what you do.

Lee Marvin

A guy digging ditches or a plumber wiping joints - it solves problems, you know? You have to dig this hole so wide, so long, so deep. You dig it, and that's it.

Lee Marvin

I was so overwhelmed years ago, when I was a kid, by 'All Quiet on the Western Front.' I think it was the second movie I ever saw. I never got over that one.

Lee Marvin

After a sheltered life, I went the other way. I wanted to prove how tough I was.

Lee Marvin

I studied violin when I was very young.

Lee Marvin

My father was tough. At least, he thought so, and I guess I have a lot of his traits.

Lee Marvin

I love Marlon Brando. Never seem him bad, just less good.

Lee Marvin

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.

Lee Marvin

It was the Marines who taught me how to act. After that, pretending to be rough wasn't so hard.

Lee Marvin

If I have any appeal at all, it's to the fellow who takes out the garbage.

Lee Marvin

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.

Lee Marvin

If I put on a tie and play what I really think I am, I'm a disaster.

Lee Marvin

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.

Lee Marvin

If your house burns down, rescue the dogs. At least they'll be faithful to you.

Lee Marvin

Ah, stardom! They put your name on a star in the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard and you walk down and find a pile of dog manure on it. That tells the whole story, baby.

Lee Marvin

I know my career is going badly because I'm being quoted correctly.

Lee Marvin

And once by God, I was a Marine!

Lee Marvin

One of the good things about getting older is you find you're more interesting than most of the people you meet.

Lee Marvin