Lee Marvin: Point Blank

Dwayne Epstein’s biography of Lee Marvin, Lee Marvin: Point Blank, is a well-researched labor that he spent years completing.

With the help of Marvin’s family and friends, Epstein has pieced together a detailed, and not always flattering, portrait of the actor and the man. Marvin was conflicted, often at war with internal demons that damaged his family and professional life. The actor’s struggle with the bottle is a case in point. Sadly, the demons ultimately beat Marvin down, and he died at age 63. Epstein’s book chronicles the amazing journey of one of the movies’ greatest character stars, while tracing the history of Hollywood from the 1940s-80s, with all of its wild changes. This book isn’t perfect, but it’s a good, warts-and-all portrait of a truly complicated man, seen through Epstein’s sympathetic eyes.