Strother Douglas Martin Jr. (March 26, 1919 â€" August 1, 1980) was an
American character actor who often appeared in support of John Wayne
and Paul Newman and in Western films directed by John Ford and Sam
Peckinpah. Martin perhaps is best known as the prison "captain" in the
1967 film Cool Hand Luke, in which he uttered the line, "What we've
got here is failure to communicate." The line is number 11 on the
American Film Institute list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie
Quotes.Martin was born in Kokomo, the county seat of Central Indiana's
Howard County to Ethel (née Dunlap) and Strother Douglas Martin. For
a short time, the Martins moved to San Antonio, but soon returned to
Indiana. As a child, he excelled at swimming and diving; he was
nicknamed "T-Bone Martin" because of his diving expertise. At 17, he
won the National Junior Springboard Diving Championship. He served as
a swimming instructor in the United States Navy during World War II
and was a member of the diving team at the University of Michigan in
Ann Arbor, Michigan. He entered the adult National Springboard Diving
competition in hopes of gaining a berth on the U.S. Olympic team, but
finished third in the competition.After the war, Martin moved to Los
Angeles and worked as a swimming instructor and as a swimming extra in
water scenes in films. He earned bit roles in a number of pictures and
soon gained frequent character roles in films and television through
the 1950s, having appeared in such programs as the Western anthology
series, Frontier on NBC and the syndicated American Civil War drama
Gray Ghost. He was cast in 1955 as Landry Kersh in the episode "Shadow
of God" on the ABC religion anthology series, Crossroads. He gave a
memorable performance as a man with learning difficulties in the
"Cooter" episode written by Sam Peckinpah in the third season of
Gunsmoke (1958).
American character actor who often appeared in support of John Wayne
and Paul Newman and in Western films directed by John Ford and Sam
Peckinpah. Martin perhaps is best known as the prison "captain" in the
1967 film Cool Hand Luke, in which he uttered the line, "What we've
got here is failure to communicate." The line is number 11 on the
American Film Institute list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie
Quotes.Martin was born in Kokomo, the county seat of Central Indiana's
Howard County to Ethel (née Dunlap) and Strother Douglas Martin. For
a short time, the Martins moved to San Antonio, but soon returned to
Indiana. As a child, he excelled at swimming and diving; he was
nicknamed "T-Bone Martin" because of his diving expertise. At 17, he
won the National Junior Springboard Diving Championship. He served as
a swimming instructor in the United States Navy during World War II
and was a member of the diving team at the University of Michigan in
Ann Arbor, Michigan. He entered the adult National Springboard Diving
competition in hopes of gaining a berth on the U.S. Olympic team, but
finished third in the competition.After the war, Martin moved to Los
Angeles and worked as a swimming instructor and as a swimming extra in
water scenes in films. He earned bit roles in a number of pictures and
soon gained frequent character roles in films and television through
the 1950s, having appeared in such programs as the Western anthology
series, Frontier on NBC and the syndicated American Civil War drama
Gray Ghost. He was cast in 1955 as Landry Kersh in the episode "Shadow
of God" on the ABC religion anthology series, Crossroads. He gave a
memorable performance as a man with learning difficulties in the
"Cooter" episode written by Sam Peckinpah in the third season of
Gunsmoke (1958).
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