Victor Mature
Birth : 1913-01-29, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Death : 1999-08-04
History
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.
In July 1942 Mature attempted to enlist in the U.S. Navy but was rejected for color blindness. He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard after taking a different eye test the same day. He was assigned to the USCGC Storis (WMEC-38), which was doing Greenland patrol work. After 14 months aboard the Storis, Mature was promoted to the rate of Chief Boatswain's Mate. In 1944 he did a series of War Bond tours and acted in morale shows. He assisted Coast Guard recruiting efforts by being a featured player in the musical revue "Tars and Spars" which opened in Miami, Florida in April of 1944 and toured the United States for the next year. In May 1945 Mature was reassigned to the Coast Guard manned troop transport USS Admiral H. T. Mayo (AP-125) which was involved in transferring troops to the Pacific Theater. Mature was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard in November 1945 and he resumed his acting career.
Film career
After the war, Mature was cast by John Ford in My Darling Clementine, playing Doc Holliday opposite Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp. For the next decade, Mature settled into playing hard-boiled characters in a range of genres such as Westerns and Biblical films, such as The Robe (with Richard Burton and Jean Simmons) and its popular sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators (with Susan Hayward). Mature also starred with Hedy Lamarr in Cecil B. DeMille's Bible epic, Samson and Delilah (1949) and as Horemheb in The Egyptian (1954) with Jean Simmons and Gene Tierney. He reportedly stated he was successful in Biblical epics because he could "make with the holy look".
He also starred with Esther Williams in Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and, according to her autobiography, had a romantic relationship with her.
After five years of retirement, he was lured back into acting by the opportunity to parody himself in After the Fox (1966), co-written by Neil Simon. In a similar vein in 1968 he played a giant, The Big Victor, in Head, a potpourri movie starring The Monkees. The character poked fun at both his screen image and, reportedly, RCA Victor who distributed Colgems Records, the Monkees's label. Mature enjoyed the script while admitting it made no sense to him, stating "All I know is it makes me laugh."
Mature was famously self-deprecatory about his acting skills. Once, after being rejected for membership in a country club because he was an actor, he cracked, "I'm not an actor — and I've got sixty-four films to prove it!" He was quoted in 1968 on his acting career: "Actually, I am a golfer. That is my real occupation. I never was an actor. Ask anybody, particularly the critics."
Victor Mature died of leukemia in 1999, at his Rancho Santa Fe, California home, at the age of 86. He was buried in the family plot at St. Michael's Cemetery in his hometown of Louisville.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Victor Mature has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6780 Hollywood Blvd.
Self (archive footage)
Her story is well-known - the lonely child who yearned for affection and approval which she finally seemed to find as Hollywood's greatest love goddess. But even though she scaled heights few could even dream of, she was one of the loneliest of stars. And yet, in spite of the breakdowns, the failed marriages, the sordid rumors surrounding her life -- and her death.
Manoah
Samson and Delilah tv movie
Howard Everett
A mercenary is hired by the FBI to track down a powerful recluse criminal, a woman is also trying to track him down for her own personal vendetta.
Nick
A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.
Himself (archive footage)
A memory of Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962), woman, actress, goddess, myth, in the words of the Spanish director and scriptwriter José Luis Garci, who returns to his childhood and recovers a lost paradise.
Carmine Ganucci
An Englishwoman turns nanny and kidnaps the son of an Italian gangster who took over her dancing school.
The Big Victor
In this surrealistic and free-form follow-up to the Monkees' television show, the band frolic their way through a series of musical set pieces and vignettes containing humor and anti-establishment social commentary.
Tony Powell
A criminal mastermind sets up a phony film production as part of a plan to smuggle stolen gold.
(archive footage)
A short film containing a collection of clips from various Hollywood movies.
Oleg
The Tartars and the Vikings maintain a fragile peace in the harsh landscape of the Russian Steppe. When the leader of the Vikings, Oleg, declines to accompany the Tartars on a campaign against the Slavs, there is an explosion of violence. After Oleg kills the Tartar leader and kidnaps his daughter, the dead man's brother, Burandai, retaliates by holding Oleg's wife, Helga, hostage. The stalemate can be resolved only on the battlefield.
Hannibal
A Carthaginian general attempts to cross the Alps with an army of elephants in order to conquer Rome.
Mike Conway
An American wheeler-dealer woos a colonel's wife amid danger at a French Foreign Legion fort.
Henry Jasper 'Hank' Whirling
A circus owner tries to keep his financially troubled circus on the road, despite the efforts of a murderous saboteur who has decided that the show must not go on.
Kasmin Khan
British soldiers in India must contend with an outlaw bandit.
Ben Lassiter
Seeking a new place to call home, former Confederate soldier Ben Lassiter (Victor Mature) and his daughter meet Beth (Elaine Stewart), whose fiancé is a Union soldier. Lassiter falls for Beth, and when Indians attack, they head to a cavalry camp where Lassiter must battle the Indians as well as Beth's fiancé.
Capt. Cliff Brandon
American pilot Cliff Brandon, fighting the Japanese in China, finds himself the unintentional "owner" of a Chinese housekeeper, Shu-Jen. The unlikely couple falls in love and marries, but not without tragedy brought on by the war.
Sgt. David Thatcher
During World War II, members of a British tank unit in northern Africa are captured and held prisoners by Germans.
Harry Miller
An American ex-GI takes a job as a truck driver to support his British war bride Connie. It isn't long, however, before Harry is blackmailed into joining a smuggling operation run by a conniving criminal.
Charles Sturgis
Spurred on by the death of his drug-addicted sister at the hands of ruthless narcotics kingpin Frank McNally, U.S. drug enforcement agent Charles Sturgis embarks on an investigation that takes him from New York to London, Lisbon, Rome, Naples and finally Athens in pursuit of McNally's shapely associate, Gina Broger.
Zarak Khan
A notorious bandit develops a grudging respect for the English military man assigned to capture him.
Lt. Cmdr. Ben Staves
Landing on a small island not far from Havana, Cuba, Lt. Cmdr. Ben Staves joins a Navy scientific project engaged in finding an effective shark repellent to help save the lives of WWII military personnel stranded in shark-infested waters. His zeal for completing the project as fast as possible is explained by his having lost a large percentage of his crew to sharks when his ship was sunk by the Japanese. Against the advice of the others on the project, Staves demands that the new repellent be tested on a live subject surrounded by hungry sharks and will allow no one but himself to be the test subject!
Ken Duffield
Wealthy eccentric Sir Vincent Brampton and his fiancée Linda Latham hire Ken Duffield to lead them on a jungle hunt. Duffield is looking for the murderer of his son; he gets the killer and Linda.
Jed Cooper
Three trappers become scouts for a cavalry captain who loses his fort to a hated colonel.
Shelley Martin
Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.
Crazy Horse
When young Crazy Horse, of whom great things were predicted, wins his bride, rival Little Big Man goes to villainous traders with evidence of gold in the sacred Lakota burial ground. Of course, a new gold rush starts despite all treaties, and Crazy Horse becomes military leader of his people. Initial Indian victories lead to the inevitable result. Uniquely, all is told from the Indian perspective.
'The Scarf'
Screen superstars Clark Gable ("Gone With The Wind," "It Happened One Night") and sultry bombshell Lana Turner ("Peyton Place," "The Postman Always Rings Twice") team-up in this intriguing WWII drama. Suspected of being a Nazi spy, Dutch-resistance member Turner is given a last chance mission to redeem herself. Gable is an American colonel who falls in love with her. Co-starring Victor Mature ("My Darling Clementine") and Oscar-nominee Louis Calhern ("The Asphalt Jungle").
Horemheb
In eighteenth-dynasty Egypt, Sinuhe, a poor orphan, becomes a brilliant physician and with his friend Horemheb is appointed to the service of the new Pharoah. Sinuhe's personal triumphs and tragedies are played against the larger canvas of the turbulent events of the 18th dynasty. As Sinuhe is drawn into court intrigues he learns the answers to the questions he has sought since his birth.
Demetrius
The story picks up at the point where "The Robe" ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-keeping, but the emperor Caligula wants it back to benefit from its powers. Marcellus' former slave Demetrius seeks to prevent this, and catches the eye of Messalina, wife to Caligula's uncle Claudius. Messalina tempts Demetrius, he winds up fighting in the arena, and wavers in his faith.
Matt Hallett
A policeman tries to protect a young woman against a hit man, when she flees New York after witnessing a mob killing.
Antar
Antar is sent by Suleiman, head of the Ottoman Empire, to Bagdad to prevent Hammam, Pasha of Bagdad, from purchasing the services of local leader Mustapha to unite the hill tribes and overthrow the emperor. The intrigue mounts as Antar falls in love with dancer Selima, who tries to avenge her father's death against Hammam's right-hand-man Kasseim, whose wife Rosanna has fallen in love with Antar!
Demetrius
Marcellus is a tribune in the time of Christ. He is in charge of the group that is assigned to crucify Jesus. Drunk, he wins Jesus' homespun robe after the crucifixion. He is tormented by nightmares and delusions after the event. Hoping to find a way to live with what he has done, and still not believing in Jesus, he returns to Palestine to try and learn what he can of the man he killed.
Bill Blakeley
Director Roy Rowland's 1953 drama, depicting the rocky marriage of a young model and her Broadway playwright-husband, stars Victor Mature, Jean Simmons, Jane Darwell, Dabbs Greer, Nicholas Joy, Lillian Bronson and George Cleveland.
Lt. Sam Pryor
During the Korean War Lt. Sam Pryor volunteers his platoon to escort Greek troops to perform a reconnaissance mission behind Communist lines. Due to his Greek heritage Pryor is initially proud to accompany the Greek contingent but his feelings change to scorn and mistrust when what he believes is cowardice shown by the Greek soldiers and their leaders results in the near annihiliation of his own platoon. An uneasy alliance is maintained between the US and Greek troops as the enemy's true objective is learned.
James Sullivan
After overcoming polio, Annette Kellerman achieves fame and creates a scandal when her one-piece bathing suit is considered indecent.
Captain
George Bernard Shaw’s breezy, delightful dramatization of this classic fable—about a Christian slave who pulls a thorn from a lion’s paw and is spared from death in the Colosseum as a result of his kind act—was written as a meditation on modern Christian values. Pascal’s final Shaw production is played broadly, with comic character actor Alan Young as the titular naïf. He’s ably supported by Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Robert Newton, and Elsa Lanchester.
Steve Bennett
A conservationist fights to save the habitat of the California condor and to do it she works her way into the affections of a representative of the oil company that wants the land for their own purposes.
Lt. Dave Andrews
When newlyweds visit Las Vegas, the wife's shady past comes to the surface.
Marc Fury
A gambler faces deportation when he gets mixed up with murder.
Jeff DeMarco
Screwball black comedy about a wacky family that forgets where they've buried a corpse.
Andy Clark
Andy Clark discovers he was cheated out of a half interest in partner Mike's business, now a thriving dance hall in 1892 Chicago. Unable to win it back, Andy schemes to make Mike's position untenable. He also hopes to turn Ruby Summers, Mike's motor-mouthed burlesque queen, into a classier entertainer, and incidentally to make her his own. But at the last minute, Andy's revenge comes unravelled.
Samson
When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks vengeance that brings horrible consequences they both regret. The classic story of Samson and Delilah as told by Cecil B. DeMille.
Pete Wilson
A football halfback has a heart condition, a nagging wife and a team secretary who loves him.
Danny James
A Broadway director rescues a starlet from mobsters who blame her for a shooting.
Lt. Candella
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Cash Blackwell / Tex Cameron
The Arizona wilderness, 1880. Gen. Fletcher Blackwell sends a message telling Capt. Walsh, who is escorting a wagon-train through Apache territory, heading for the fort at Furnace Creek, that he should cancel the escort and rush to another town. Apache leader "Little Dog" is leading the attack on the wagon-train and massacring everyone at the poorly manned fort. As a result the treaty is broken with the Indians and the white settlers take over the territory with the help of the cavalry, as the Apaches are wiped out and only "Little Dog" remains at large. Gen. Fletcher Blackwell is court-martial-led for treason.
Nick Bianco
An ex-con trying to go straight must face a crazed criminal out for revenge.
Michael Drego
When a music-hall dancer is murdered, a moss rose marks the page of a Bible next to her body. Luckily, another chorus girl saw a gentleman leaving the lodgings. She approaches him directly, saying she'll go to the police if he doesn't meet her demands, but he brushes her off contemptuously. When he learns she's dead serious, he tries to buy her off with a thick wad of pound notes. But it's not money she's after; all she wants is two weeks at his country estate, living the life of a `lady.'
Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil ride into Tombstone and leave brother James in charge of their cattle herd. On their return they find their cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal, making his brothers deputies, and vows to stay in Tombstone until James' killers are found. He soon runs into the brooding, coughing, hard-drinking Doc Holliday as well as the sullen and vicious Clanton clan. Wyatt discovers the owner of a trinket stolen from James' dead body and the stage is set for the Earps' long-awaited revenge.
Self
A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
Johnny Grey
Soldier Johnny Grey is engaged to marry singer Mapy Cortes, but his plans go awry when he learns that he is the heir to $100,000 from his great-grandfather -- a bequest that comes with a catch: before claiming the money, Johnny must marry a descendant of his great-grandfather's Civil War enemy, General Havelock-Allen. Not wanting to disrupt his planned marriage to Mapy, Johnny must figure out how to concoct a temporary marriage-of-convenience with the descendant -- who turns out to be the beautiful Terry Havelock-Allen.
Tommy Lundy
Conceited World Champion boxer Tommy Lundy decides to test his popularity in a Broadway show. Tommy always has an eye for the ladies and he starts paying attention to beautiful chorus girl Pat Lambert. Pat's boyfriend Bill Smith isn't impressed with Tommy even though Tommy gets him a boxing part in the show. When Tommy finds out that Pat and Bill were secretly together the night before the show opens, he angrily plans to turn the boxing scene with Bill into a real bout.
Paul Dresser
Biopic chronicling the early life of gay nineties-era songwriter Paul Dresser as he outgrows his job as carnival entertainer and moves up into New York society, writing one hit song after another. Despite his egotistical behavior, he manages to woo and win Sally Elliott, one of the more popular songstresses of the day
Jefferson Harper
With his sidekick Rusty, Jeff Harper sails to paradisiacal tropical isle Ahmi-Oni to bargain on behalf of his cattle baron father for land owned by transplanted Irishman Dennis O'Brien. But Jeff falls in love with O'Brien's daughter, Eileen, and even his father can't break them up after he arrives and himself falls under the spell of island splendor.
Doctor Omar
A gambling queen uses blackmail to stop a British financier from closing her Chinese clip joint.
Frankie Christopher (Botticelli)
A young promoter is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn, a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.
William Trainor
Perky young Nanette attempts to save the marriage of her uncle and aunt by untangling Uncle Jimmy from several innocent but ensnaring flirtations. Attempting one such unentanglement, Nanette enlists the help of theatrical producer Bill Trainor, who promptly falls in love with her. The same thing happens when artist Tom Gillespie is called on for help. But soon Uncle Jimmy's flirtations become too numerous, and Nanette's romances with Tom and Bill run into trouble. Will Uncle Jimmy's marriage survive, and will Nanette find happiness with Tom, Bill, or somebody else?
Daniel 'Dan' Marvin
When her father dies, a young girl helps a young man take command of the ship to fight the British during the war of 1812.
Tumak
One Million B.C. is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles Cave Man, Man and His Mate, and Tumak. The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist Tumak, a young cave man who strives to unite the uncivilized Rock Tribe and the peaceful Shell Tribe, Carole Landis as Loana, daughter of the Shell Tribe chief and Tumak's love interest, and Lon Chaney, Jr. as Tumak's stern father and leader of the Rock Tribe.
Lefty
A mobster's moll leads a newsman, cub reporter and photographer to a scoop.
