Movie tough guy Lee Marvin mined his WWII experiences and turned them into pure gold in the Hollywood crucible, initially portraying flagrantly sadistic heavies in supporting roles before growing into a leading man whose inescapable violence was often heroic. He had joined the Marines with his father's permission at age 18 and participated in 21 island landings as a scout sniper in the South Pacific before a bullet severed a nerve below his spine and invalidated him out of the service. Recognizing man's capacity for evil in his own cruel wartime deeds, he recounted for the cameras what he had
