Marc Lawrence

Marc Lawrence
Lawrence in This Gun for Hire
Born	February 17, 1910(1910-02-17) New York City, New York United States
Died	November 27, 2005 (aged 95) Palm Springs, California United States

Marc Lawrence (February 17, 1910 – November 27, 2005) was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C. Lawrence.

Biography

Personal life

Lawrence was born as Max Goldsmith in New York City, the son of a Polish Jewish mother, Minerva Norma (née Sugarman), and a Russian Jewish father, Israel Simon Goldsmith.^[1][2][3] He participated in plays in school, then attended the City College of New York. Lawrence died of heart failure on November 27, 2005 at the age of 95. He was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Westwood, California. His daughter, actress Toni Lawrence, was once married to actor Billy Bob Thornton.

Career

In 1930, Lawrence befriended another young actor, John Garfield. The two appeared in a number of plays before Lawrence was given a film contract with Columbia Pictures. Lawrence appeared in films beginning in 1931, Garfield followed starting his film acting in 1938. Lawrence's pock-marked complexion and brooding appearance made him a natural for heavies, and he played scores of gangsters and mob bosses over the next six decades. Later, Lawrence found himself under scrutiny for his political leanings. When called before the House Un-American Activities Committee, he admitted he had once been a member of the Communist Party. He was blacklisted and departed for Europe, where he continued to make films. Following the demise of the blacklist, he returned to America and resumed his position as a familiar and talented purveyor of gangland types. He played gangsters in two James Bond movies: 1971's Diamonds Are Forever opposite Sean Connery, and 1974's The Man With the Golden Gun opposite Roger Moore. He also portrayed a henchman opposite Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man (1976) and a sterotypical Miami mob boss alongside Jerry Reed and Dom DeLuise in the comedy Hot Stuff (1979).

One of his last roles was as Mr. Zeemo in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang". Notably, he played the elderly Gatherer Volnoth in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Vengeance Factor".

In 1991, Lawrence's autobiography was published entitled "Long Time No See: Confessions of a Hollywood Gangster" (ISBN 0-9636700-0-X). Lawrence was also the subject of a novel, The Beautiful and the Profane (ISBN 1410702928/ISBN 978-14107029200)(published in 2002).

His final film role was in Looney Tunes Back in Action, appearing as an Acme Corporation vice president.

Partial filmography

• Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
• Blind Alley (1939)
• Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940)
• Johnny Apollo (1940)
• The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)
• Hold That Ghost (1941)
• This Gun for Hire (1942)
• Nazi Agent (1942)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
• Tampico (1944)
• Dillinger (1945)
• Flame of Barbary Coast (1945)
• Key Largo (1948)
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
• Funniest Show on Earth (1953)
• Krakatoa, East of Java (1969)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
• Marathon Man (1976)
• Foul Play (1978)
• Hot Stuff (1979)
• Super Fuzz (1980)
• Cat and Dog (1982)
• The Big Easy (1987)
• Ruby (film) (1992)
• From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
• Gotti (1996)
• End of Days (1999)
• The Shipping News (2001)
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

References

Further reading

• Names You Never Remember, With Faces You Never Forget, by Justin Humphreys. BearManor Media, Albany, 2006. ISBN # 1-59393-041-0.

External links

• Marc Lawrence at the Internet Movie Database
• Marc Lawrence at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Marc Lawrence at Find a Grave