MARC LAWRENCE

February 17, 1910

Marc Lawrence was born Max Goldsmith in New York City. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C. Lawrence.

He participated in plays in school, then attended the City College of New York. In 1930, he received a two-year scholarship to the repertory theater operated by Eva Le Gallienne where he became friendly with John Garfield. He appeared on Broadway in three plays with the Group Theatre.

“I was typed as the arch gangster. It’s this face – what could I do about it?” ~ Marc Lawrence

His screen debut came in 1932 with Paramount’s If I Had a Million. He played a gangster which set the tone for the rest of his career.  The film also featured future “Lucy” players Irving Bacon and Bess Flowers. 

Following the Second World War, as anti-Communist fervor gripped America, Lawrence found himself under scrutiny for his political leanings, just like Lucille Ball was in 1953.  When he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee, he admitted he had once been a member of the Communist Party and was blacklisted> He left for Europe, where he continued to make films. After the end of the blacklist, he returned to America and resumed his career of playing gangland types. 

His television debut came in a July 1955 episode of “Studio One” that also starred Jack Klugman. 

As one of Hollywood’s go-to mobster types, he did three episodes of Desilu’s “The Untouchables” in 1960, 1961, and 1963. 

In 1970, he was a mobster named Joe Grapefruit in “Lucy and Ma Parker” (HL S3;E15), a satire on the Ma Barker crime family. 

A year later he played Ruby, a mob hit man, in “Lucy and Mannix Are Held Hostage” (HL S4;E4). Coincidentally, between 1969 and 1974 Lawrence appeared in three episodes of “Mannix,” a series saved from cancelation by Lucille Ball.  

Lawrence was married twice and had two children. He died in 2005 at age 95.