Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.
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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0001514
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q358317
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Filmography (Movies)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:15/05/2012
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Character:(archive footage)
Release Date:20/07/1999
Samson and Delilah
Character:Manoah
Release Date:31/03/1984
Firepower
Character:Howard Everett
Release Date:27/04/1979
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Character:Nick
Release Date:26/07/1976
Mi Marilyn
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:02/01/1975
Every Little Crook and Nanny
Character:Carmine Ganucci
Release Date:14/06/1972
Dynamite Chicken
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:20/01/1971
Head
Character:The Big Victor
Release Date:06/11/1968
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
Character:
Release Date:30/11/1966
After the Fox
Character:Tony Powell
Release Date:08/09/1966
Uncertain Verification
Character:(archive footage)
Release Date:30/04/1965
The Tartars
Character:Oleg
Release Date:01/04/1961
Hannibal
Character:Hannibal
Release Date:21/12/1959
The Big Circus
Character:Henry Jasper 'Hank' Whirling
Release Date:05/07/1959
The Bandit Of Zhobe
Character:Kasmin Khan
Release Date:01/04/1959
Escort West
Character:Ben Lassiter
Release Date:23/01/1959
Timbuktu
Character:Mike Conway
Release Date:14/12/1958
China Doll
Character:Capt. Cliff Brandon
Release Date:06/06/1958
Tank Force!
Character:Sgt. David Thatcher
Release Date:22/04/1958
The Long Haul
Character:Harry Miller
Release Date:27/08/1957
Interpol
Character:Charles Sturgis
Release Date:02/04/1957
Zarak
Character:Zarak Khan
Release Date:01/12/1956
The Sharkfighters
Character:Lt. Cmdr. Ben Staves
Release Date:01/11/1956
Safari
Character:Ken Duffield
Release Date:20/06/1956
The Last Frontier
Character:Jed Cooper
Release Date:07/12/1955
Chief Crazy Horse
Character:Crazy Horse
Release Date:01/04/1955
Violent Saturday
Character:Shelley Martin
Release Date:01/04/1955
Betrayed
Character:'The Scarf'
Release Date:07/09/1954
The Egyptian
Character:Horemheb
Release Date:25/08/1954
Demetrius and the Gladiators
Character:Demetrius
Release Date:16/06/1954
Dangerous Mission
Character:Matt Hallett
Release Date:06/03/1954
The Veils of Bagdad
Character:Antar
Release Date:06/10/1953
The Robe
Character:Demetrius
Release Date:16/09/1953
Affair with a Stranger
Character:Bill Blakeley
Release Date:20/06/1953
The Glory Brigade
Character:Lt. Sam Pryor
Release Date:20/05/1953
Million Dollar Mermaid
Character:James Sullivan
Release Date:04/12/1952
Androcles and the Lion
Character:Captain
Release Date:01/12/1952
Something for the Birds
Character:Steve Bennett
Release Date:30/09/1952
The Las Vegas Story
Character:Lt. Dave Andrews
Release Date:30/01/1952
House of Dreams
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:05/07/1951
Gambling House
Character:Marc Fury
Release Date:27/12/1950
Stella
Character:Jeff DeMarco
Release Date:20/07/1950
Wabash Avenue
Character:Andy Clark
Release Date:31/03/1950
Samson and Delilah
Character:Samson
Release Date:21/12/1949
Easy Living
Character:Pete Wilson
Release Date:08/10/1949
Red, Hot and Blue
Character:Danny James
Release Date:05/09/1949
Cry of the City
Character:Lt. Candella
Release Date:29/09/1948
Fury at Furnace Creek
Character:Cash Blackwell / Tex Cameron
Release Date:30/04/1948
Kiss of Death
Character:Nick Bianco
Release Date:27/08/1947
Moss Rose
Character:Michael Drego
Release Date:30/05/1947
My Darling Clementine
Character:Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
Release Date:17/10/1946
Show-Business at War
Character:Self
Release Date:21/05/1943
Seven Days' Leave
Character:Johnny Grey
Release Date:13/11/1942
Footlight Serenade
Character:Tommy Lundy
Release Date:01/08/1942
My Gal Sal
Character:Paul Dresser
Release Date:30/04/1942
Song of the Islands
Character:Jefferson Harper
Release Date:13/03/1942
The Shanghai Gesture
Character:Doctor Omar
Release Date:25/12/1941
I Wake Up Screaming
Character:Frankie Christopher (Botticelli)
Release Date:31/10/1941
No, No, Nanette
Character:William Trainor
Release Date:19/12/1940
Captain Caution
Character:Daniel 'Dan' Marvin
Release Date:09/08/1940
One Million B.C.
Character:Tumak
Release Date:05/04/1940
The Housekeeper's Daughter
Character:Lefty
Release Date:26/10/1939
Television Appearances
Images
