Victor Mature (Actor)

Victor Mature in Samson and Delilah. (Photo: Paramount)

A handsome leading man noted as much for his muscular physique as for his charming screen presence, Victor Mature was smart enough not to take his talent too seriously. The son of immigrants, he dropped out of school at age 14 and found enough success working in the confections industry to purchase a share in a restaurant by the time he was 17. After selling out, Mature traveled West to try his hand at acting, landing a fellowship at the Pasadena Playhouse. His Spartan lifestyle (reportedly he lived in a pup tent and subsisted on canned sardines and chocolate bars) was decried by some as a means of calling attention to himself. If true, Mature succeeded. He landed leading roles in over 50 productions at the Pasadena Playhouse and caught the attention of producer Hal Roach who signed the actor to a contract. After debuting opposite Joan Bennett in "The Housekeeper's Daughter" (1939), Mature was cast in the attention-getting role of a caveman in "One Million B.C." (1940), which required little of him but to exhibit his muscles and look good. He made his Broadway debut in the unchallenging role of a movie star opposite Gertrude Lawrence in the musical "Lady in the Dark" (1941).

Put under contract by 20th Century Fox, Mature was paired with Betty Grable and other light leading ladies in a series of musicals which required little of his abilities. Despite his almost too-handsome looks, Mature proved a much better actor than many (including himself) believed. Working in period films and Westerns, where he was often cast as characters of mythic proportions, such as the tubercular Doc Holliday in John Ford's splendid "My Darling Clementine" (1946) and the wilderness scout in "The Last Frontier" (1956). He was equally fine in such standout films noir as Henry Hathaway's "Kiss of Death" (1947) and Robert Siodmak's "Cry of the City" (1948). Memorable as Samson to Hedy Lamarr's Delilah (1949), Mature offered a more credible performance in "The Robe" (1953) than his prestige (but over-the-top) co-star Richard Burton.

Mature "retired" from acting in 1961 but made occasional films, generally poking fun at his image as an untalented hunk, as in his very funny turn as a has-been movie star not unlike himself in Vittorio De Sica's "After the Fox" (1966) and in Bob Rafelson's "Head" (1968, as The Big Victor). His last screen appearance was appropriately enough as Samson's father in the TV remake of "Samson and Delilah" (ABC, 1984).