Strother Douglas Martin, Jr. (March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980), was a popular American character actor who often appeared in support of superstars John Wayne and Paul Newman and was memorable in Western films directed by John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. Martin perhaps is best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, in which he uttered the since famous line, "What we've got here is failure to communicate." The line is number 11 on the American Film Institute list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.
August 1, 1980, Thousand Oaks, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Kokomo, Indiana, USA
Height
5' 7" (1.7 m)
Profession
Actor, Soundtrack
Spouse
Helen Meisels (m. 1967–1980)
Parents
Ethel Dunlap Martin, Strother Douglas Martin
Music Groups
The Baby Namboos
TV Shows
Hotel de Paree, Hawkins, The Rounders
Star Sign
Aries
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Trademark
1
Often played grimy, unlikeable villains
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Quote
1
[on his career] Maybe there has been some diamond dust and gold glitter in my life . . . but among so much shit, it didn't have much luster.
2
[Three days before his death] No man can achieve immortality. We don't live for what comes after we are dead, but for what we can achieve in this life - the only chance we have.
3
[interviewed in March, 1980] The character actor's struggle for survival is a bitch today. There was a time when people like me would have been approached, at least, to be under contract to the studio and farmed out picture by picture. It's true that a man like myself does not know after this movie--this may be the last movie I ever do in my life. I have no assurance.
4
Age is as much an asset for character players as it is for good wine. Human experiences, both good and bad, leave their marks on one's face and bearing. A few lines on the face and a few gray hairs coupled with the idiosyncrasies an actor adopts throughout life help out round out the actor's personality. So far as I'm concerned, the older a character actor gets, the firmer his position is.
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Fact
1
Once described the characters he played in westerns as "prairie scum".
In 1970 the First Annual Strother Martin Film Festival was held at Chicio State College in California.
4
In 1936 he won the National Junior Sringboard Division Championship at age 17. He never won the adult championship, finishing second in 1944 nd third in 1946. Although he barely missed making the 1948 Olympic Team, he did gain access to Hollywood by giving swimming lessons to Marion Davies at San Simeon and the children of Charles Chaplin. He was hired as a swimming extra in films between 1948 and 1950m including The Damned Don't Cry (1950).
5
The name Strother is old Teutonic for 'river.'.
6
The press dubbed him as "The Andy Devine for the Age of Anxiety" and "A Gabby Hayes without Honor.".
7
Played a character named Stoner in two unrelated movies: Sssssss (1973) and Up in Smoke (1978).
He collaborated with friend and filmmaker J.D. Feigelson on dialog in the screenplay for the cult film Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981). Feigelson was writing the the film to star Strother, but before it could be set for production he passed away. Charles Durning replaced Martin in the lead role of Otis P. Hazelrigg. One of the memorable lines in the film was Martin's contribution: "He's thirty-three years old, Mrs. Ritter, he's physically mature.".
10
Interviewed in "Bad at the Bijou" by William R. Horner (McFarland, 1982).
11
No relation to Dewey Martin although erroneously claimed as such in some sources.
12
Frequently co-starred with L.Q. Jones, who in real life was one of his closest friends.
Did an episode of the The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) called "Baby Fat" in which he portrayed a playwright based on Tennessee Williams in 1965. Fifteen years later while hosting Saturday Night Live (1975), he admitted during the monologue that because of that part, many times he was actually mistaken for the famous playwright.
15
Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA, in the Court of Remembrance, #G62420.
16
Bitten by a snake during filming of Sssssss (1973)
$400,000
