For Sale £15 original sketch plus print (£4 print only) incl. UK P&P
Born in New York City Lee was an American film actor known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6ft 2in presence, playing tough guy roles.
Having joined the Marines when he left school, serving as a sniper scout, he was wounded in action by machine gun fire at the battle of Saipan. The features of the battle earned various nicknames, Hell’s Pocket, Death Valley and Purple Heart Ridge, which was indicative of the severity of the fighting. Lee was given a medical discharge having been awarded the Purple Heart.
After the war, he eventually moved to Hollywood and found work in supporting roles, mainly cast in various war films … clearly given he was a decorated veteran, he was a natural. He had a small but memorable role in The Wild One (1953) opposite Marlon Brando and made an impact in The Caine Mutiny and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) with Spencer Tracy. It was his ‘hard as nails’ portrayal of Chicago cop Frank Ballinger in the 50’s TV series M Squad that raised his profile.
By the 60’s he was co-starring in major films, alongside John Wayne in The Comancheros (1961), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Donovan’s Reef (1963). With top billing as a professional assassin in The Killers (1964), he also won an Academy Award for his comic portrayal in Cat Balou. Other hit movies such as The Professional (1966) and the Dirty Dozen (1967) followed and he was given complete control in the film Point Blank, as a hard nosed criminal bent on revenge. Surprisingly he had a hit song with Wand’rin Star from the musical Paint your Wagon. The 70’s and 80’s saw him with a greater variety of roles before his final film The Delta Force in 1986.
A father of four he is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery

A couple of quotes by him: ‘I love Marlon Brando. Never seen him bad, just less good’ and ‘Tequila. Straight. There’s a real polite drink. You just keep drinking until finally it just won’t down. Then you know you’ve reached your limit’.