TOMBSTONE TRIBUTES

Victor Mature
by: Bo Jaworsky

   Victor Mature was undoubtedly a "man's man" of the same mold as Duke Wayne, Gary Cooper and Clark Gable.  He possessed a Robert Mitchum "laid-back" style replete with the "sleepy" Sylvester Stallone eyes and a look of passivity.  He was very cool until he had to spring into action with all the deadly force of a coiled cobra.

    Two noteworthy Biblical epics starring Mature are the Cecil B. DeMille classic, Samson and Delilah and one of the first Biblical epics shot in Cinemascope, The Robe.  In 1956, Mature starred in The Shark Fighters.  Later, a Dell comic adaptation of this movie featured Mature on the cover surrounded by finned predators!  Around the same time, Mature starred in the cult classic, Kiss of Death, with Richard Widmark.

    But, out of all his terrific roles, Victor Mature was an awesome Doc Holliday in John Ford's immortal My Darling Clementine (1946).  He was strikingly handsome, immovable and loyal to a fault to the renowned Wyatt Earp (played by Henry Fonda).

    Victor Mature retired early on in the 1960s and soon pursued his hobby, golf.  He died at 86, full of years and movie star memories.