10 War Movie Actors Who Were Actually There

10. Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin was a legend of an actor. Initially typecast as "the Heavy" in noir and Western pictures, Marvin truly broke out with 1953's The Big Heat, a noir classic directed by Fritz Lang. Other early career highlights include the eponymous Liberty Valance in John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance, Chino in The Wild One, and Hector David in Bad Day at Black Rock, but arguably more iconic was his turn as Major Reisman in The Dirty Dozen, a Robert Aldrich-directed picture that saw Marvin take charge of condemned U.S. Army soldiers for a suicide mission against the Nazis.

The Dirty Dozen was one of several World War II-set films Marvin starred in, with other acclaimed examples being Hell in the Pacific (directed by John Boorman, who directed Marvin in his greatest film, Point Blank), and Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One, which was based on the director's wartime experiences as a member of the First Infantry Division.

Marvin lent a real force of gravity and stature to these performances, as well as authenticity; during the war, Marvin had enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and became a scout sniper, seeing action in the bloody Battle of Saipan in 1944, among other numerous engagements. He was wounded during the battle, along with most of his company, and received a medical discharge in 1945.

It goes without saying that Marvin's wartime experiences carried over into his films - especially those that focused on the Second World War. In many instances he was able to act as an advisor on set, ensuring a greater level of authenticity to those productions he starred in - only two of which brought him back to the Pacific.