TOMBSTONE TRIBUTES

Marc Lawrence
by: Oscar Moreno

    Ruthless, ornery, and with a stare that could turn steal into mush, Marc Lawrence was the seedy underworld gangster turned gritty, tough-as-nails Western outlaw. Lawrence is respected for being one of the most talented character actors of his time, but with a screen presence as intimidating as his, you’d swear he was the main character no matter how many lines of dialogue he was given. Notorious Mobster Johnny Rosselli is noted as calling Lawrence “the best hood in films.”

    His Western credits include: The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) opposite John Wayne, The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) with Henry Fonda, Don’t Fence Me In (1945) with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, and The Virginian (1946) with Joel McCrea. 

    Later in life he tried his hand at being on the other side of the camera directing such Western television classics as Bonanza, Rawhide, The Rifleman, and 18 episodes of Lawman.

    In addition to writing a column for Boyd Magers’ Western Clippings, Lawrence also wrote the autobiography entitled Long Time, No See; Confessions of a Movie Actor, where he details the ins and outs of his forever lasting career. He was an amazing actor, a writer, and producer who worked from the 1930s up to 2003, just two years before his death of heart failure. (For more on Marc Lawrence, see his exclusive interview published in Wildest Westerns, Issue #2.) Marc Lawrence was one of those screen guys we’ll always love to hate. He was 95.