Years active 1914–1943 Name Tully Marshall | Role Character actor | |
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Full Name William Phillips Born April 10, 1864 ( 1864-04-10 ) Nevada City, California, U.S. Died March 10, 1943, Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States Spouse Marion Fairfax (m. 1899–1943) Movies The Big Trail, Ball of Fire, The Cat and the Canary, Fighting Caravans, This Gun for Hire Similar People Marion Fairfax, Paul Leni, James Cruze, Otto Brower, Irving Thalberg | ||
Tully Marshall (April 10, 1864 – March 10, 1943) was an American character actor with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind him before he made his first film appearance in 1914.
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Early years
Marshall was born William Phillips in Nevada City, California. He attended private schools and Santa Clara College, from which he graduated with an engineering degree.
Stage
Marshall began acting on the stage at 19, appearing in Saratoga at the Winter Garden in San Francisco on March 8, 1883. He played a wide variety of roles on Broadway from 1887. His Broadway credits include The Clever Ones (1914).
For several years, Marshall played with a variety of stock theater troupes, including both acting and being stage manager for E. H. Sothern's company.
In 1909, appearing in Clyde Fitch's drama The City, he was the first actor to say "Goddamn" on Broadway.
Film
In 1914, Marshall arrived in Hollywood. His screen debut was in Paid in Full (1914). By the time D. W. Griffith cast him as the High Priest of Bel in Intolerance (1916), he had already appeared in a number of silent films.
His career continued to thrive during the sound era and he remained busy for the remaining three decades of his life. He played a vast array of drunken trail scouts, lovable grandpas, unforgiving fathers, sinister attorneys and lecherous aristocrats. In one of his last films, This Gun for Hire, he plays a sinister treacherous nitrogen industrialist.
Personal life
Marshall was married to screenwriter and playwright Marion Fairfax.
Death
Marshall died on March 10, 1943, age 78, after a heart attack at his home in Encino, California. His grave is located in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.