Strother Martin
Encyclopedia
Strother Martin was an American
actor
in numerous film
s and television
programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke
, where he uttered the line, "What we've got here is...failure to communicate."
. As a child, he excelled at swimming
and diving
, and got the nickname "T-Bone Martin" from his diving expertise. At 17, he won the National Junior Springboard Diving Championship. He served as a swimming instructor in the U.S. Navy during World War II
and was a member of the diving team at the University of Michigan
. He entered the adult National Springboard Diving competition in hopes of gaining a berth on the U.S. Olympic team, but finished third in the competition.
and worked as a swimming instructor and as a swimming extra in water scenes in films, eventually earning bit roles in a number of pictures. He quickly became a frequent fixture in small character roles in movies and television through the 1950s, having appeared in such programs as Frontier
on NBC
and the syndicated
American Civil War
drama Gray Ghost
. He appeared in the first Brian Keith
series, Crusader
, a Cold War
drama. He guest starred as a circus tight rope walker in one of the 1957 Have Gun Will Travel TV westerns. He guest starred in 1958 as a henpecked soldier in an episode of the syndicated Boots and Saddles
. In 1960, Martin guest starred in James Whitmore
's crime drama, The Law and Mr. Jones
on ABC
. In 1966, he appeared twice as "Cousin Fletch" in the short-lived ABC comedy western The Rounders
, with Ron Hayes
, Patrick Wayne
, and Chill Wills
.
Martin's distinctive, reedy voice and menacing demeanor made him ideal for villain
ous roles in many of the best-known Westerns of the 1960s and 1970s, including The Horse Soldiers
and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
. By the late 1960s, Martin was almost as well-known a figure as many top-billed stars. In 1967, he appeared in the episode "A Mighty Hunter Before the Lord" of NBC's The Road West
series starring Barry Sullivan
. In 1972, he appeared as James Garner
's uncle in the "Zacharia" episode of Nichols.
Martin appeared in all three of the classic Westerns released in 1969: Sam Peckinpah's
The Wild Bunch
(as Coffer, a bloodthirsty bounty hunter); George Roy Hill's
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
(as Percy Garris, the "colorful" Bolivian mine boss who hires the two title characters); and Henry Hathaway's
True Grit (as Colonel Stonehill, a horse dealer). He frequently acted alongside L. Q. Jones
, who in real life was one of his closest friends.
Though he usually appeared in supporting roles, he had major parts in Hannie Caulder
, The Brotherhood of Satan
(both 1971), Pocket Money
(1972) with Paul Newman
and Lee Marvin
, and SSSSSSS
(1973). Martin later appeared in another classic George Roy Hill film, Slap Shot
(1977), again with Paul Newman, as the cheap general manager of the Charlestown Chiefs hockey club. He appeared six times each with both John Wayne and Paul Newman. Strother Martin can also be seen in Cheech and Chong
's Up in Smoke
(1978) as Arnold Stoner, the father of Tommy Chong
's character Anthony.
Martin made many guest appearances on Gunsmoke
, including the two-part episode "Island in the Desert," in which he portrayed a crazy desert hermit named Ben Snow. In 1963, he appeared in Glynis Johns
's short-lived comedy series Glynis
in the episode "Ten Cents a Dance." In 1965, Martin appeared in the episode "Most Precious Gold" of the NBC comedy/drama series Kentucky Jones
, starring Dennis Weaver
. In 1965, he guest-starred as Meeker in the episode "Return to Lawrence" on the ABC
western The Legend of Jesse James
. In 1966, he guest-starred in the Lost In Space
episode "Blast Off Into Space" as a gritty mining engineer. On a Gilligan's Island
episode, Martin played a man living supposedly alone on the island for a radio show contest. He also starred in a two- part The Rockford Files
1977 episode as T.T. Flowers, an episode that took on urban invasion and the environment. One of his last acting jobs was as host of Saturday Night Live
on April 19, 1980. In one of the skits, Martin played the strict owner of a French Language camp for children - a role based on his role as the prison captain from the film, Cool Hand Luke
. He even paraphrased his most famous line from the film - "What we have here is failure to communicate BI-LINGUALLY!" In another, he played a terminally ill man who videotaped his last will and testament. This episode was supposed to be rerun during the summer of 1980, but was pulled and replaced with another episode due to his death.
in 1980 at the age of 61. His widow, who was 10 years his junior, died in 1997, and her ashes were interred with Martin's in Court of Remembrance, Columbarium of Radiant Dawn, at Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn, in North Hollywood, CA.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
in numerous film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
, where he uttered the line, "What we've got here is...failure to communicate."
Early life
Strother Martin Jr. was born in Kokomo, IndianaKokomo, Indiana
Kokomo is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States, Indiana's 13th largest city. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard and Tipton counties....
. As a child, he excelled at swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, and got the nickname "T-Bone Martin" from his diving expertise. At 17, he won the National Junior Springboard Diving Championship. He served as a swimming instructor in the U.S. Navy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was a member of the diving team at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. He entered the adult National Springboard Diving competition in hopes of gaining a berth on the U.S. Olympic team, but finished third in the competition.
Acting career
After the war, Martin moved to Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and worked as a swimming instructor and as a swimming extra in water scenes in films, eventually earning bit roles in a number of pictures. He quickly became a frequent fixture in small character roles in movies and television through the 1950s, having appeared in such programs as Frontier
Frontier (1955 TV series)
This program should not be confused with Frontiers , the British program Frontier , Frontier Justice , Frontier Circus, or Frontier Doctor....
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
drama Gray Ghost
Gray Ghost (TV series)
The Gray Ghost is an American historical series which aired in syndication from October 10, 1957, to July 3, 1958. It depicts the true story of Major John Singleton Mosby, a Virginia officer in the Confederate Army, whose cunning and stealth earned him the nickname "Gray Ghost".-Synopsis:The Gray...
. He appeared in the first Brian Keith
Brian Keith
Brian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and...
series, Crusader
Crusader (TV series)
Crusader is a half-hour black-and-white American adventure/drama series that aired on CBS for two seasons from October 7, 1955 to December 28, 1956.-Synopsis:...
, a Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
drama. He guest starred as a circus tight rope walker in one of the 1957 Have Gun Will Travel TV westerns. He guest starred in 1958 as a henpecked soldier in an episode of the syndicated Boots and Saddles
Boots and Saddles (TV series)
Boots and Saddles is an American Western television series that aired in syndication from 1957 to 1958. The series was created by Robert A. Cinader.-Synopsis:...
. In 1960, Martin guest starred in James Whitmore
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
's crime drama, The Law and Mr. Jones
The Law and Mr. Jones
The Law and Mr. Jones is a 45-episode half-hour television crime drama starring James Whitmore. The series aired on ABC in two nonconsecutive seasons from October 7, 1960, to September 22, 1961, and again from April 19 to July 5, 1962...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. In 1966, he appeared twice as "Cousin Fletch" in the short-lived ABC comedy western The Rounders
The Rounders (TV series)
The Rounders is a 17-episode western-style situation comedy about two cowboys on the fictitious J.L. Ranch in Texas, starring Ron Hayes , as Ben Jones and Patrick Wayne , a son of John Wayne, as Howdy Lewis. The M-G-M television series aired on ABC from September 6, 1966, to January 3, 1967...
, with Ron Hayes
Ron Hayes
Ronald G. Hayes was an American television actor who, as an activist in the environmental movement, worked for the establishment of the first Earth Day, observed on April 22, 1970. He was a member of the Sierra Club and a founder of the ecological interest group Wilderness World...
, Patrick Wayne
Patrick Wayne
Patrick John Morrison, better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne , is an American actor, the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films in his career, including nine with his father...
, and Chill Wills
Chill Wills
Chill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...
.
Martin's distinctive, reedy voice and menacing demeanor made him ideal for villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
ous roles in many of the best-known Westerns of the 1960s and 1970s, including The Horse Soldiers
The Horse Soldiers
The Horse Soldiers is a 1959 DeLuxe Color war film, set in the American Civil War, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers...
and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring James Stewart and John Wayne. The black-and-white film was released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a short story written by Dorothy M...
. By the late 1960s, Martin was almost as well-known a figure as many top-billed stars. In 1967, he appeared in the episode "A Mighty Hunter Before the Lord" of NBC's The Road West
The Road West
The Road West is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from September 12, 1966 to May 1, 1967 for twenty-nine episodes with rebroadcasts continuing until August 28. The hour-long series, sponsored by Kraft Foods, aired in the 9 p.m...
series starring Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
. In 1972, he appeared as James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
's uncle in the "Zacharia" episode of Nichols.
Martin appeared in all three of the classic Westerns released in 1969: Sam Peckinpah's
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch is a 1969 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913...
(as Coffer, a bloodthirsty bounty hunter); George Roy Hill's
George Roy Hill
George Roy Hill was an American film director. He is most noted for directing such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, which both starred the acting duo Paul Newman and Robert Redford...
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
(as Percy Garris, the "colorful" Bolivian mine boss who hires the two title characters); and Henry Hathaway's
Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring John Wayne.-Background:...
True Grit (as Colonel Stonehill, a horse dealer). He frequently acted alongside L. Q. Jones
L. Q. Jones
L.Q. Jones is an American character actor and film director, known for his work in the films of Sam Peckinpah.-Life and career:...
, who in real life was one of his closest friends.
Though he usually appeared in supporting roles, he had major parts in Hannie Caulder
Hannie Caulder
Hannie Caulder is a 1971 British Western film directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Raquel Welch, Robert Culp and Ernest Borgnine.-Plot:Hannie Caulder is a frontier wife whose husband is murdered by the Clemens brothers, a trio of rather inept outlaw brothers .After a disastrous bank raid, the...
, The Brotherhood of Satan
The Brotherhood of Satan
The Brotherhood of Satan is a 1971 low-budget horror film written, produced and starring L. Q. Jones It was directed by Bernard McEveety and also stars Strother Martin.-Plot:...
(both 1971), Pocket Money
Pocket Money
Pocket Money is a 1972 film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, from a screenplay written by Terrence Malick and based on the novel Jim Kane by Joseph P. Brown...
(1972) with Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
and Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
, and SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS is a 1973 horror film starring Dirk Benedict, Heather Menzies, Reb Brown, and Strother Martin. It was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and written by Hal Dresner and Daniel C. Striepeke. The makeup effects were created by John Chambers and Nick Marcellino...
(1973). Martin later appeared in another classic George Roy Hill film, Slap Shot
Slap Shot (film)
Slap Shot is a 1977 film comedy starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean directed by George Roy Hill. It depicts a minor league hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity in a declining factory town.- Plot :...
(1977), again with Paul Newman, as the cheap general manager of the Charlestown Chiefs hockey club. He appeared six times each with both John Wayne and Paul Newman. Strother Martin can also be seen in Cheech and Chong
Cheech and Chong
Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Richard "Cheech" Marin and Tommy Chong, who found a wide audience in the 1970s and 1980s for their films and stand-up routines, which were based on the hippie and free love era, and especially drug culture movements, most notably their love for...
's Up in Smoke
Up in Smoke
Up in Smoke, directed by Lou Adler, is Cheech and Chong's first feature-length film, released in 1978 by Paramount Pictures. It stars Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Edie Adams, Strother Martin, and Stacy Keach....
(1978) as Arnold Stoner, the father of Tommy Chong
Tommy Chong
Tommy Chong is a Canadian-American comedian, actor, writer, director, activist, and musician who is well known for his stereotypical portrayals of hippie-era stoners...
's character Anthony.
Martin made many guest appearances on Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, including the two-part episode "Island in the Desert," in which he portrayed a crazy desert hermit named Ben Snow. In 1963, he appeared in Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
's short-lived comedy series Glynis
Glynis
Glynis is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from September 25 to December 18, 1963.-Synopsis:The series stars Welsh actress Glynis Johns as Glynis Granville, a mystery writer. Keith Andes appeared as Keith Granville, Glynis' husband who works as a successful criminal defense attorney....
in the episode "Ten Cents a Dance." In 1965, Martin appeared in the episode "Most Precious Gold" of the NBC comedy/drama series Kentucky Jones
Kentucky Jones
Kentucky Jones is a half-hour comedy/drama starring Dennis Weaver as Kenneth Yarborough "K.Y. or Kentucky" Jones, D.V.M., a recently widowed former horse trainer and active rancher, who becomes the guardian of Dwight Eisenhower "Ike" "Wong, a 10-year-old Chinese orphan, played by Ricky Der...
, starring Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and the 1971 TV movie Duel....
. In 1965, he guest-starred as Meeker in the episode "Return to Lawrence" on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
western The Legend of Jesse James
The Legend of Jesse James (TV series)
The Legend of Jesse James is a 34-episode western television series starring Christopher Jones in the tile role of notorious outlaw Jesse James which aired on ABC from September 13, 1965, to May 9, 1966...
. In 1966, he guest-starred in the Lost In Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
episode "Blast Off Into Space" as a gritty mining engineer. On a Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
episode, Martin played a man living supposedly alone on the island for a radio show contest. He also starred in a two- part The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
1977 episode as T.T. Flowers, an episode that took on urban invasion and the environment. One of his last acting jobs was as host of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
on April 19, 1980. In one of the skits, Martin played the strict owner of a French Language camp for children - a role based on his role as the prison captain from the film, Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
. He even paraphrased his most famous line from the film - "What we have here is failure to communicate BI-LINGUALLY!" In another, he played a terminally ill man who videotaped his last will and testament. This episode was supposed to be rerun during the summer of 1980, but was pulled and replaced with another episode due to his death.
Death
Martin was married to Helen Meisels-Martin from 1967 until his death. He died of a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1980 at the age of 61. His widow, who was 10 years his junior, died in 1997, and her ashes were interred with Martin's in Court of Remembrance, Columbarium of Radiant Dawn, at Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn, in North Hollywood, CA.
Partial filmography
- The Asphalt JungleThe Asphalt JungleThe Asphalt Jungle is a 1950 film noir directed by John Huston. The caper film is based on the novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett and stars an ensemble cast including Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Louis Calhern, James Whitmore, and, in a minor but key role, Marilyn Monroe, an unknown...
(1950) (uncredited) - RhubarbRhubarb (1951 film)Rhubarb is a 1951 film adapted from the 1946 novel Rhubarb by humorist, H. Allen Smith. Directed by Arthur Lubin, the screwball noir comedy stars the cat Orangey, Jan Sterling and Ray Milland.-Characters and story:...
(1951) (uncredited) - Kiss Me DeadlyKiss Me DeadlyKiss Me Deadly is a 1955 film noir drama produced and directed by Robert Aldrich starring Ralph Meeker. The screenplay was written by A.I. Bezzerides, based on the Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer mystery novel Kiss Me, Deadly. Kiss Me Deadly is often considered a classic of the noir genre. The film...
(1955) - Attack! (1956)
- Black PatchBlack Patch (film)Black Patch is a 1957 American Western film directed by Allen H. Miner and written by Leo Gordon, who also plays a supporting role. The film stars George Montgomery and Diane Brewster , and is the first film featuring a musical score by Jerry Goldsmith.-Cast:*George Montgomery as Marshal Clay...
(1957) - The Shaggy DogThe Shaggy Dog (1959 film)The Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney film about Wilby Daniels, a teenage boy who is transformed into an Old English Sheepdog by an enchanted ring of the Borgias. The film was based on the story, The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten...
(1959) - The Wild and the InnocentThe Wild and the InnocentThe Wild and the Innocent is a 1959 Western film starring Audie Murphy and Sandra Dee as two inexperienced young people who get into trouble when they visit a town for the very first time.-Cast:*Audie Murphy as Yancy Hawks*Joanne Dru as Marcy Howard...
(1959) - The Horse SoldiersThe Horse SoldiersThe Horse Soldiers is a 1959 DeLuxe Color war film, set in the American Civil War, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers...
(1959) - SanctuarySanctuaryA sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
(1961) - The Deadly CompanionsThe Deadly CompanionsThe Deadly Companions is a 1961 Western. It was directed by Sam Peckinpah and starred Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran and Chill Wills. The film is based on A.S. Fleischman's novel of the same name. The film was Peckinpah's motion picture directorial debut...
(1961) - The Man Who Shot Liberty ValanceThe Man Who Shot Liberty ValanceThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring James Stewart and John Wayne. The black-and-white film was released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a short story written by Dorothy M...
(1962) - McLintock!McLintock!McLintock! is a 1963 comedy Western starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and loosely based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The film is notable, perhaps even infamous, for its two spanking scenes, in which mother and daughter are each paddled with coal shovels: the daughter by her...
(1963) - Invitation to a GunfighterInvitation to a GunfighterInvitation to a Gunfighter is a 1964 drama directed by Richard Wilson, starring Yul Brynner and George Segal.-Plot:Confederate veteran Matt Weaver returning home after the Civil War discovers his farm was sold by a banker named Brewster .-Cast:* Yul Brynner as Jules Gaspard d'Estaing* Janice Rule...
(1964) - BrainstormBrainstorm (1965 film)Brainstorm, released in 1965, is a late film noir. The film stars Jeffrey Hunter and Anne Francis and was produced and directed by William Conrad, who became better known as an actor in such television series as Cannon and Jake and the Fat Man.-Plot:On a lonely highway, Jim Grayam spots a car...
(1965) - ShenandoahShenandoah (film)Shenandoah is a 1965 American Civil War film starring James Stewart, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, and Katharine Ross. The picture was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Though set during the American Civil War, the film's strong antiwar and humanitarian themes resonated with audiences...
(1965) - The Sons of Katie ElderThe Sons of Katie ElderThe Sons of Katie Elder is a 1965 Technicolor western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. The movie was filmed principally in Mexico....
(1965) - HarperHarper (film)Harper is a 1966 film written by William Goldman from a novel by Ross Macdonald. The movie starred Paul Newman as the eponymous Lew Harper . The original music score was composed by Johnny Mandel. Goldman received a 1967 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay...
(1966) - Nevada SmithNevada SmithNevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film starring Steve McQueen and made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway with Joseph E...
(1966) - An Eye for an EyeAn Eye for an Eye (1966 film)An Eye for an Eye is a 1966 Western film directed by Michael D. Moore. The film is about two bounty hunters who team up to track and take down another man....
(1966) - The Flim-Flam ManThe Flim-Flam ManThe Flim-Flam Man is a 1967 American film directed by Irvin Kershner, starring George C. Scott, Michael Sarrazin and Sue Lyon, based on the novel The Ballad of the Flim-Flam Man by Guy Owen. The film boasts a cast of well-known character actors in supporting roles, including Jack Albertson, Slim...
(1967) - Cool Hand LukeCool Hand LukeCool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
(1967) - True Grit (1969)
- The Wild BunchThe Wild BunchThe Wild Bunch is a 1969 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913...
(1969) - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance KidButch Cassidy and the Sundance KidButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
(1969) - The Ballad of Cable HogueThe Ballad of Cable HogueThe Ballad of Cable Hogue is a 1970 Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Jason Robards, Stella Stevens and David Warner.Set in the desert of Arizona during the transitional period when the frontier was closing, the movie follows three years in the life of Cable Hogue, a failed...
(1970) - Red Sky at MorningRed Sky at Morning (1971 film)Red Sky at Morning is a 1971 American drama film based on the 1968 Richard Bradford novel of the same name, and starring Richard Thomas, Catherine Burns, and Desi Arnaz, Jr....
(1971) - The Brotherhood of SatanThe Brotherhood of SatanThe Brotherhood of Satan is a 1971 low-budget horror film written, produced and starring L. Q. Jones It was directed by Bernard McEveety and also stars Strother Martin.-Plot:...
(1971) - Fools' Parade (1971)
- Hannie CaulderHannie CaulderHannie Caulder is a 1971 British Western film directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Raquel Welch, Robert Culp and Ernest Borgnine.-Plot:Hannie Caulder is a frontier wife whose husband is murdered by the Clemens brothers, a trio of rather inept outlaw brothers .After a disastrous bank raid, the...
(1971) - Pocket MoneyPocket MoneyPocket Money is a 1972 film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, from a screenplay written by Terrence Malick and based on the novel Jim Kane by Joseph P. Brown...
(1972) - SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS is a 1973 horror film starring Dirk Benedict, Heather Menzies, Reb Brown, and Strother Martin. It was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and written by Hal Dresner and Daniel C. Striepeke. The makeup effects were created by John Chambers and Nick Marcellino...
(1973) - Hard TimesHard Times (1975 film)Hard Times is a 1975 film starring Charles Bronson as Chaney, a drifter who travels to Louisiana during the Great Depression and begins competing in illegal bare-knuckled boxing matches...
(1975) - Rooster Cogburn (1975)
- The Great Scout & Cathouse ThursdayThe Great Scout & Cathouse ThursdayThe Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday is a 1976 film directed by Don Taylor starring Lee Marvin and Kay Lenz.-Cast:* Lee Marvin as Sam Longwood* Oliver Reed as Joe Knox* Robert Culp as Jack Colby* Kay Lenz as Thursday* Elizabeth Ashley as Nancy Sue...
(1976) - Slap ShotSlap Shot (film)Slap Shot is a 1977 film comedy starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean directed by George Roy Hill. It depicts a minor league hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity in a declining factory town.- Plot :...
(1977) - The EndThe End (film)The End is a 1978 comedy film, directed by Burt Reynolds and starring Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Sally Field, Strother Martin, David Steinberg, Joanne Woodward, Norman Fell, Myrna Loy, Kristy McNichol, Pat O'Brien, Robby Benson, and Carl Reiner.- Plot :...
(1978) - Up in SmokeUp in SmokeUp in Smoke, directed by Lou Adler, is Cheech and Chong's first feature-length film, released in 1978 by Paramount Pictures. It stars Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Edie Adams, Strother Martin, and Stacy Keach....
(1978) - The ChampThe Champ (1979 film)The Champ is a 1979 remake, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, of the 1931 Academy Award-winning film of the same name which was directed by King Vidor. It stars Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, and Ricky Schroder. It is also the final film for actress Joan Blondell....
(1979) - Love and BulletsLove and Bullets (1979 film)Love and Bullets is a 1979 film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Starring Charles Bronson in a leading role, it is based on a screenplay by Wendell Mayes and John Melson. The film was originally to have been directed by John Huston and advertisements were taken out in Variety to promote this fact...
(1979) - The Villain (1979)
- NightwingNightwing (film)Nightwing is a 1979 American horror film directed by Arthur Hiller. The screenplay by Martin Cruz Smith, Steve Shagan, and Bud Shrake is based on the 1977 novel of the same title by Smith...
(1979) - The Secret of Nikola TeslaThe Secret of Nikola TeslaThe Secret of Nikola Tesla , is a 1980 Yugoslav biographical film about the inventor Nikola Tesla directed by Krsto Papić and starring Petar Božović as the title character.-Cast:* Petar Božović as Nikola Tesla* Strother Martin as George Westinghouse...
(1980)
Further reading
- Beaver, JimJim BeaverJames Norman "Jim" Beaver, Jr. is an American stage, film, and television actor, playwright, screenwriter, and film historian...
. Strother Martin. Films in Review, November 1982.