Sue Sue Applegate wrote:Thanks for that wonderful insight, Dwayne.
I was wondering if you had any other personal comments about Woody Strode that might not be related to his relationship to Lee Marvin, and also could you discuss your interviews with Alvy Moore? I think it is so interesting how familiar he was with Lee and his family.
Oh, I could again risk writer's cramp in my attempts to convey all the wonderful things told to me by both Woody Strode and Alvy Moore, even more so on a personal level. Woody especially had a key fondness for Lee Marvin. SInce almost everything Woody told me about he and Marvin went in the book, I thought it might be cool to cut & paste a little of the transcript from my interview with Woody that did NOT go in the book as it gives a pretty good indication of their relationship. I'd like to preface it by saying if readers are easily offended, they should avoid reading this as it's pretty raw:Sue Sue Applegate wrote:Thanks for that wonderful insight, Dwayne.
I was wondering if you had any other personal comments about Woody Strode that might not be related to his relationship to Lee Marvin, and also could you discuss your interviews with Alvy Moore? I think it is so interesting how familiar he was with Lee and his family.
"When I did my first western in Italy, had to be around ‘70, ‘72, somewhere in there. I was getting $5,000 a week for ten weeks. I ain’t never seen that kind of money. I called him from Europe...I told Lee, 'I finally got to the money.' Now, I stayed in Europe for years. I came home and I hadn’t seen Lee for about four years. I got a job in New Mexico called The Gatling Gun. By now, I got a Mercedes. The good life had touched me. I called Lee. I said, 'Lee, I’m working in New Mexico and I’m coming to see you when I finish.' We finished the picture. I didn’t let him know I was driving a Mercedes. Well baby, it took a couple of days to get there. I parked out in front of the house in Tucson. I honked the horn. He come out saying, 'Who the hell is honking that horn?' He come outside and I said, 'Hello, you son-of-a-b****. You see what I’m driving? I got to the fucking money, in a foreign country.' That’s the type of relationship we had. By then he had separated from the wife who kicked me out of the house....So, we had our little weekend. Pamela [Lee's wife as of 1971] didn’t know me like that but she heard about me. When I got there, a writer from Australia was doing an article on Lee Marvin. He saw our relationship and said, 'You guys are like brothers.' I been in Europe almost four years and he ain’t seen me in years. I’m in a Mercedes, got a little bank account. It made him feel real good."
See what I mean? He was such a GREAT interview! On a personal level, as you asked, I can add that after interviewing Woody I got in contact with cult director Budd Boetticher who had worked with Lee and when he I told him I interviewed Woody, he asked me to put him in contact with Woody as he hadn't seen him in years. Woody did indeed pass away shortly thereafter and Budd died a few years after that. In a small way I like to think I helped two old friends reconnect before it was too late.