Marc Lawrence

For other people named Mark Lawrence, see Mark Lawrence (disambiguation).

Marc Lawrence
Born	February 17, 1910(1910-02-17) New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	November 28, 2005(2005-11-28) (aged 95) Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor

Marc Lawrence (February 17, 1910 – November 28, 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.

Life and career

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. He married novelist and screenwriter Fanya Foss, with whom he had two children; she died on December 12, 1995. Lawrence died of heart failure on November 28, 2005 at the age of 95. He was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Westwood, California. His son, Michael Lawrence, is a writer and artist based on the Greek island of Hydra, whose book, My Voyage In Art, details his meetings with various of his father's actor friends; while at UCLA he befriended the singer-songwriter James Douglas "Jim" Morrison. His daughter, actress Toni Lawrence, was once married to actor Billy Bob Thornton and starred in his film "Daddy's Girl".

Acting 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 stereotypical 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

• White Woman (1933)
• Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
• The Spider's Web (1938 serial)
• Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938)
• Sergeant Madden (1939)
• Blind Alley (1939)
• The Housekeeper's Daughter (1939)
• Invisible Stripes (1939)
• Johnny Apollo (1940)
• Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940)
• The Monster and the Girl (1941)
• The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)
• Hold That Ghost (1941)
• Sundown (1941)
• Nazi Agent (1942)
• This Gun for Hire (1942)
• 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge (1942)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
• Submarine Alert (1943)
• Tampico (1944)
• The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
• Dillinger (1945)
• Flame of Barbary Coast (1945)
• Captain from Castile (1947)
• I Walk Alone (1948)
• Key Largo (1948)
• Jigsaw (1949)
• Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
• The Desert Hawk (1950)
• My Favorite Spy (1951)
• La Tratta delle bianche (1952)
• Funniest Show on Earth (1953)
• Helen of Troy (1956)
• Days of Wine and Roses (1958) (TV)
• Johnny Tiger (1966)
• Rat Patrol episode "The Moment of Truce Raid" (1966)
• Krakatoa, East of Java (1969)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
• Marathon Man (1976)
• A Piece of the Action (1977)
• Foul Play (1978)
• Hot Stuff (1979)
• Super Fuzz (1980)
• Cat and Dog (1982)
• Night Train to Terror (1985)
• The Big Easy (1987)
• Blood Red (1989)
• Ruby (1992)
• Newsies (1992)
• Four Rooms (1995)
• From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
• Gotti (1996)
• End of Days (1999)
• The Shipping News (2001)
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

References

1. ^ Marc Lawrence Biography (1910-2005)
2. ^ Vallance, Tom (2005-12-03). "Marc Lawrence". The Independent. http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article330900.ece. Retrieved 2007-01-26. 
3. ^ "Marc Lawrence". Telegraph. 2005-12-03. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/03/db0302.xml. Retrieved 2007-01-26. 

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

Biography portal

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

Persondata
Name	Lawrence, Marc
Alternative names
Short description	Actor
Date of birth	December 17, 1909
Place of birth	New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of death	November 28, 2005
Place of death	Palm Springs, California, U.S.