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American actor (1914–1998) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
E. G. Marshall (born Everett Eugene Grunz;[1][2] June 18, 1914 – August 24, 1998) was an American actor. One of the first group selected for the new Actors Studio, by 1948, Marshall had performed in major plays on Broadway.
E. G. Marshall | |
|---|---|
Marshall in 1970 | |
| Born | Everett Eugene Grunz June 18, 1914 Owatonna, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 1998 (aged 84) Bedford, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1945–1998 |
| Spouses | Helen Wolf
(m. 1931; div. 1953)
|
| Children | 5 |
Among his film roles Marshall is perhaps best known as the unflappable and analytical Juror 4 in Sidney Lumet's courtroom drama 12 Angry Men (1957).[3][4][5] He played the President of the United States in Superman II (1980), and Nazi collaborator Henri Denault on the CBS prime-time drama Falcon Crest in 1982. Marshall was also known as the host of the radio drama series CBS Radio Mystery Theater (1974–1982).
Marshall was born Everett Eugene Grunz[1] in Owatonna, Minnesota,[2] the son of Hazel Irene (née Cobb) and Charles G. Grunz. His paternal grandparents were German immigrants.[6] During his life, he chose not to reveal what "E. G." stood for, saying that it stood for "Everybody's Guess."[7] The U.S. Social Security Claims Index states that he was listed with the Social Security Administration in June 1937 as Everett Eugene Grunz, and in December 1975 as E.G. Marshall.[2]
Marshall claimed in interviews in later life to have attended both Carleton College and the University of Minnesota, but there is no evidence that he ever attended either institution, or had attended college at all.[8]
He took the surname "Marshall" for his acting career. Although most familiar for his later television and movie roles, which gained wide audiences, Marshall also had a distinguished Broadway career. In 1948, having already performed in the original New York productions of The Skin of Our Teeth and The Iceman Cometh, Marshall joined Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Julie Harris, Kim Stanley, and 45 others to make up the first group of actors granted membership in the newly formed Actors Studio.[9] In subsequent years, he landed the leading roles in The Crucible and Waiting for Godot.[10]
Marshall achieved perhaps his highest profile as top-billed star of the CBS-TV legal drama The Defenders (1961-5). Marshall portrayed Manhattan defense attorney Lawrence Preston, for which he won two Emmys. He later played Dr. David Craig in the television series The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1969–73), and Nazi collaborator Henri Denault on the CBS prime-time drama Falcon Crest in 1982.
In 1973, Marshall returned to the live stage to play the title role in a well-received production of Macbeth at the Virginia Museum Theatre in Richmond, Virginia, under the direction of Keith Fowler. The production was highly praised by the New York Times.[11] From January 1974 until February 1982, Marshall was an occasional participant and the original host of the popular nightly radio drama, The CBS Radio Mystery Theater.[3]
In film, Marshall was known for playing Juror 4 in 12 Angry Men (1957), District Attorney Harold Horn in Compulsion (1959), Colonel Jerome Pakenham in Town Without Pity (1961), Colonel Rufus S. Bratton in Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Arthur in Interiors (1978), the President of the United States in Superman II (1980), Arthur "Art" Smith (Ellen's father) in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), John N. Mitchell in Nixon (1995), and Walter Sullivan in Absolute Power (1997). His final performance was a reprisal of his role as Lawrence Preston in two TV Movies based on The Defenders.
Marshall was selected as a Fellow of the American Bar Association and an officer of the American Judicature Society, a national organization of judges, lawyers, and lay persons devoted to promoting the effective administration of justice.[12]
Marshall was married twice, in 1931 to Helen Wolf (divorced 1953) and then to Judith Coy.[13] He had a total of five children: Jed, Sarah, Jill, Degen, and Sam.[14][15]
As a member of the Committee for National Health Insurance, Marshall was a long-time advocate of government-provided health care in the United States.[16] During the 1968 United States presidential campaign, he filmed and narrated a political advertisement endorsing Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey.[17]
Marshall died of lung cancer at his home in Bedford, New York, on August 24, 1998, at age 84.[18] He was buried at Middle Patent Rural Cemetery, in the hamlet of Banksville, within the Town of North Castle, New York.[citation needed]
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