LEE MARVIN IN CARICATURE
Back in the studio days of Hollywood it was quite common to see caricatures of popular stars in everything from Bugs Bunny cartoons to the walls of the Brown Derby. The trend faded with time but in its prime, Lee Marvin was a ripe target as shown below….
Famed caricaturist Cristiano cleverly rendered James Stewart, Lee and John Wayne in the climax of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) without giving away ‘too’ much of the plot twist that has to be seen all the way to the end.
The rave review for Ship of Fools (1965) in the old NEW YORK WORLD TELEGRAM included this cartoon rendering of co-stars Vivien Leigh, Jose Greco, Lee and Michael Dunn.
Lee’s great oscar-winning performance in Cat Ballou (1965) resulted in the poorly rendered cartoon below…
A wonderful caricature by STARK for Lee’s 1967 cult classic Point Blank is shown above.
You never really made it as a celebrity unless you were rendered by Al Hirschfeld. For 1977’s Avalanche Express are Lee, Linda Evans and Robert Shaw. Can you spot the Ninas??
Court artist Bill Robles strove very hard NOT to render Marvin as a cartoon during the palimony trial of 1979 as shown here in Los Angeles Magazine. Think he succeeded?
Always liked Lee Marvin as an actor. He always had a gravitas which made you take him seriously, especially with that effortless bass voice of his. Amazingly, he was so successful singing Wand’rin’ Star in Paint Your Wagon. Cartoon and caricature wise he was a great target. He was distinctive and heavy featured. The big heavy Mick jagger-like lips, the haggard, bushy eyebrows, the ice-cold blue eyes, perennially grey hair, the large upper lip area, the chiselled cheekbones. In caricatures he was often depicted as somewhat bovine featured. The caricatures rendered him instantly recognisable, but plug-ugly. However the reality is that the gals liked him and his uncompromisingly severe looks – they’re at the best judges of what makes a man attractive or otherwise. The LA palimony cartoon is very human and spot-on in my view, conveying marvin in a thinking mode. The Avalanche Express cartoon renders him bovine and grotesque, whereas the post cat Ballou shows him in a more recognisable way. Generally, I enjoy caricatures as they highlight aspects of a person’s features which were always there but not instantly visible
Interesting thoughts, Phillip. Thank you.
Since you’re obviously a fan, may I ask if you’ve read the book, yet?