What actor...

I tended bar in a small Hollywood nightclub for a while. The club's owner, Bill, told me about one time (1970s) he was driving on Pacific Coast Highway (main road that runs along the beach areas in LA) and it was in the wee hours and very foggy so he had to drive slowly. Through the fog he could make out a man staggering down the middle of the highway toward him. He thought the guy might be hurt so he pulled over to talk to the man. It turned out to be Lee Marvin and he was very drunk. He didn't live far away so, after chatting for a bit, Bill gave Lee a lift to his Malibu home.
 
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My favorite western is "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." One of the classic movie channels showed it a few months ago, then they talked afterwards about the film. They also showed a short interview Marvin gave about making the film.

During the discussion it came out director John Ford was rude, bordering on nasty, to both John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Ford treated Marvin much better than the two bigger named stars because he respected Marvin's service as a wounded combat veteran Marine in WWII.

What the post movie discussion didn't explain was Ford's love of and respect for the USMC due to his experiences filming Marines defending Midway Island under attack by the Japanese in June 1942. Ford's resulting documentary on the Battle of Midway is still considered one of best of WWII .
 
Lee Marvin was also offered the role and declined. The claimed reason varies depending on who you read. I suspect the truest version was that Marvin didn't want to work with an inexperienced director.
I believe I read that somewhere a few years back.