If you're from the local area, chances are you may have heard at some point about how the legendary Hollywood actor Victor Mature was from Louisville. The star of almost forty feature films, he is often remembered especially for his roles in The Robe, Samson and Delilah, Kiss of Death, and My Darling Clementine. But before he went on to great heights in the Hollywood industry, he was the son of local cutler Marcello Gelindo Maturi, an Italian speaking man from Pinzolo, Italy. His mother, Clara P. Ackley, was a Kentucky-born Swiss-American.
Being raised by a hard-working immigrant businessman like Marcello instilled a strong work ethic into Victor, as well as a soft spot for the underdog, and he started working and helping his father as early as age nine. At seventeen, he bought his own ideally situated, impressive-quality restaurant. He was educated at parish-based schools, the Kentucky Military Institute, and the Spencerian Business School.
But his life's direction changed when a high-society girl socially spurned him for asking her to dance with him at a local event. Deeply insulted, Victor promised to never return to Louisville again until his family's name dwarfed the arrogant local sophisticates. He arrived in California with elevent cents to his name. He studied at the Pasadena Playhouse and worked a variety of jobs to pay for his tuition. After starring in more than sixty plays there, he was discovered and given a Hollywood contract.
Victor Mature's Hollywood career took off to a soaring start with the cult classic 1,000,000 B.C., and continued throughout the upcoming decades. Starring in such reputed films as Kiss of Death, The Robe, Samson and Delilah, and others, his name did end up dwarfing the snobs who had shunned back in his hometown. And instead of being rejected by conceited belles in Hollywood, his rugged looks and brawny build (which earned him his career nickname of "Beautiful Hunk of Man") made him one of the most sought after men by females all over the world. Mature personally had romantic relationships with some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood history: Elizabeth Taylor, Veronica Lake, Esther Williams, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, and Gene Tierney, and many more. Married five times, he finally stuck with one, his last wife Lorey, who he stayed married to until his death in 1999.
During World War II, he served in the Coast Guard, receiving the Good Conduct Ribbon. Once during the war, he took a motor trip to Palm Springs. By the time he arrived, he had given away a thousand dollars cash-on-hand (a large sum in the 1940's) to hitchhiking servicemen, and had to borrow some money just to eat. After the war was over, he lived in his dressing room on the Hollywood lot for ten months, because he didn't want to be living the good life in a posh residence, while many veterans were sitting on the streetcurbs with their families.
Mature had a great sense of humor about his acting prowess, often claiming that he wasn't an actor and could prove it by showing you his performances in movies. Mature also had a distinct affinity for underdogs, once saying that when he saw directors belittling minor actors or workers that he would intervene and take up for them. In recent times, Louisville's most acclaimed citizen is undoubtedly Muhammad Ali, but Louisvillians shouldn't forget the other iconic names from the city's heritage, of whom one of the most memorable is certainly Victor Mature.
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