Lamont "Lee" Waltman Marvin Jr. was born in New York City to Lamont Waltman Marvin – World War I veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers and an advertising executive – and Courtenay Washington , a fashion writer. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was his first cousin, four times removed. His father was a direct descendant of Matthew Marvin Sr., who emigrated from Great Bentley, Essex, England in 1635, and helped found Hartford, Connecticut. Marvin studied violin when he was young. Marvin did not enjoy school and studied poorly. As a teenager, Marvin "spent weekends and spare time hunting deer, puma, wild turkey, and bobwhite in the wilds of the then-uncharted Everglades". He attended Manumit School, a Christian socialist boarding school in Pawling, New York, during the late 1930s, and Peekskill Military Academy in Peekskill, New York. He later attended St. Leo College Preparatory School, a Catholic school in St. Leo, Florida, Marvin enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on August 12, 1942. Before finishing School of Infantry, he was a quartermaster. Marvin served in the 4th Marine Division as a scout sniper in the Pacific Theater during World War II, including assaults on Eniwetok and Saipan-Tinian. While serving as a member of "I" Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, Marvin participated in 21 amphibious assaults on Japanese-held islands. He was wounded in action on June 18, 1944, while taking part in the assault on Mount Tapochau during the Battle of Saipan, in the course of which most of his company became casualties. He was hit by machine gun fire, which severed his sciatic nerve, and then was hit again in the foot by a sniper. After over a year of medical treatment in naval hospitals, Marvin was given a medical discharge with the rank of private first class. He previously held the rank of corporal, but had been demoted for troublemaking. Marvin's decorations include the Purple Heart Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon. After the war, while working as a plumber's assistant in the artist village of Woodstock in upstate New York, Marvin was asked to replace an actor who had fallen ill during rehearsals. He caught the acting bug and got a job with the company for $7 a week. He moved to Greenwich Village and used the G.I. Bill to study at the American Theatre Wing. Marvin appeared in many TV shows and movies including several war movies where he often assisted the producer with his personal experience of war. Courtesy of wikipedia.org