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The Sons of Lee Marvin is a tongue-in-cheek

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

devoted to iconic American actor

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alth ...

. The sole entry requirement for the club is that one must have a physical resemblance to plausibly look like a son of Marvin. Founding member and film director

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

explained, "If you look like you could be a son of Lee Marvin, then you are instantly thought of by the Sons of Lee Marvin to be a Son of Lee Marvin". courtesy link __NOTOC__

Members

Besides Jarmusch, the founding members of the society are said to include the actors and musicians

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

John Lurie John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including '' Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...

, and

Richard Boes Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

. Musician

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

, whom Jarmusch knew when living in Berlin, was inducted as a member after having been mistaken for a brother of the director. Director

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, best known for feature films such as ''Point Blank'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), ''Zardoz'' (1974), '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977), ...

is an honorary member, having been presented with one of the society's elaborate Waits-designed

business cards Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company or business aff ...

. Others rumored to be members include

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

Josh Brolin Joshua James Brolin (; born February 12, 1968) is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''The Goonies'' (1985), ''Mimic'' (1997), ''Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Grindhouse'' (2007), ''No Country for Old Men'' (2007), '' American Gangste ...

and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

though none have been formally recognized by the society, which refuses to disclose its inner workings to the public. The society meets occasionally, supposedly to watch Lee Marvin films together.

Mythology

The society's members perpetuate the joke in the media. Tom Waits described it to ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' in 1986 as "somewhere between the

Elks Club The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

and the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

", and claimed to have met Jarmusch at an annual meeting of the New York chapter. When asked about the society by friend and collaborator

Lucy Sante Lucy Sante (formerly Luc Sante; born May 25, 1954) is a Belgium-born American writer, critic, and artist. She is a frequent contributor to ''The New York Review of Books''. Her books include '' Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York'' (1991) ...

in a 1989 interview, Jarmusch commented "I'm not at liberty to divulge information about the organization, other than to tell you that it does exist. I can identify three other members of the organization: Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Richard Boes ... You have to have a facial structure such that you could be related to, or be a son of, Lee Marvin. There are no women, obviously, in the organization. We have communiques and secret meetings. Other than that, I can't talk about it." Jarmusch revealed in a 1992 interview that the real son of Lee Marvin, Christopher, had objected to the existence of the organization in an encounter with Waits at a bar: Christopher Marvin, a professional drummer and the only son of Lee Marvin, featured as a guest artist on the song "Cold Water" from Waits's album ''

Mule Variations ''Mule Variations'' is the thirteenth studio album by American musician Tom Waits, released on April 16, 1999, on the ANTI- record label, label. It was Waits' first studio album in six years, following ''The Black Rider (album), The Black Rider'' ...

'' (1999).

The Sons

File:Jim Jarmusch.jpg, Jim Jarmusch File:Tom Waits (1974–75 Asylum publicity photo - with cigarette).jpg, Tom Waits File:01 John Lurie.jpg, John Lurie File:Nick Cave 2009 New York City 2.jpg, Nick Cave File:JohnBoorman 2006.jpg, John Boorman File:Thurston Moore at the Brooklyn Book Festival.jpg, Thurston Moore File:IggyChesterRocks.jpg, Iggy Pop File:Josh Brolin LF.jpg, Josh Brolin File:Neil Young - Per Ole Hagen.jpg, Neil Young

Citations

References

External links

The Sons of Lee Marvin
at The Jim Jarmusch Resource Page, curated by Jarmusch scholar Ludvig Hertzberg

an essay by Phil Snyder originally published in ''Eyewash'' in 1993 and preserved by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sons Of Lee Marvin, The Celebrity fandom Film fan clubs Secret societies in the United States