D'Urville Martin

D'Urville Martin (February 11, 1939 – May 28, 1984) was an American actor and director in both film and television. He appeared in numerous 1970s movies in the blaxploitation genre. He also appeared in two unaired pilots of what would become All in the Family as Lionel Jefferson. Born in New York City, Martin began his career in the mid-1960s and soon appeared in prominent films such as Black Like Me and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Martin also directed films in his career, including Dolemite, starring Rudy Ray Moore.[1]

D'Urville Martin
D'urville Martin in 1974
Born	February 11, 1939 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	May 28, 1984 (aged 45) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Inglewood Park Cemetery
Spouse(s)	Lillian Martin (m.1966)
Children	3

Personal life

D'Urville Martin was born in New York City in 1939. He had a daughter, Debra, with his first wife, Frances L. Johnson. After their divorce, he married Lillian Ferguson in 1966 and had two more children. Martin died of a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1984 at the age of 45.[2]

Career

Martin's first film role was as a speaking-line extra in Black Like Me (1964).[3] He then had small roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) (as Frankie, whose car is accidentally struck by Tracy)[4] and Rosemary's Baby (1968) (as Diego, the elevator operator).[5]

Later movies of D'Urville Martin are of the blaxploitation genre, starting with The Legend of Nigger Charley in 1972 and continuing throughout the decade until he appeared in The Bear in 1983. In The Legend of Nigger Charley, Martin played Toby, a fellow fugitive of the title character. He reprised his role in the film's two sequels: The Soul of Nigger Charley (1973) and Boss Nigger (1975).

He played Sonny in the film Hammer (1972), Reverend Rufus in Black Caesar (1973) and its sequel Hell Up in Harlem (also 1973), and the pimp in The Get-Man (aka Combat Cops) (1974).

Martin directed the 1975 Rudy Ray Moore movie Dolemite. In addition to directing the film, Martin plays the villain, Willie Green. The movie inspired the sequel,= The Human Tornado,= in 1976 that was not directed by Martin. In the 2019 film about Moore and the making of Dolemite, Dolemite Is My Name, Martin is played by Wesley Snipes, and is portrayed as a reluctant participant in the film, with his role as director regularly usurped by Moore.

Legacy

Directing Dolemite, Martin directed a film that proved to be a good example of the era's blaxploitation movies and to this day remains one of the most popular, still inspiring spoofs today such as Black Dynamite (2009). Cultural historian Todd Boyd finds that Rudy Ray Moore's depiction of Dolemite is linked to rappers like Snoop Dogg and The Notorious B.I.G., pointing out Moore came up with the pronunciation "Biotch!", which later became ubiquitous. Boyd notes the humor in Moore carrying himself off as a sex symbol "to bed the fine-ass women who can't keep their hands off him.”[6]

In the 2020 film Dolemite is My Name, Martin is portrayed by Wesley Snipes, in a rather antagonistic light as a prima-donna type who reluctantly agrees to work with Rudy Ray Moore.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Black Like Me
1967	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner	Frankie
1968	Rosemary's Baby	Diego
	A Time to Sing	Luke Harper
1970	Watermelon Man	Bus Driver
1972	The Legend of Nigger Charley	Toby
	The Final Comedown	Billy Joe Ashley
	Hammer	Sonny
1973	Black Caesar	Reverend Rufus
	Book of Numbers	Billy Bowlegs
	The Soul of Nigger Charley	Toby
	Five on the Black Hand Side	Booker T.
	Hell Up in Harlem	Reverend Rufus
1974	The Get-Man	The Pimp
1975	Boss Nigger	Amos
	Sheba, Baby	Pilot
	Dolemite	Willie Green	Also directed
1976	Death Journey	Detective Don
	Blind Rage	Willie Black
	Black Samurai		Uncredited
1977	Disco 9000	Stuffman
1983	The Big Score	Easy
1984	The Bear	Billy	(final film role)

References

1. "D'Urville Martin | The Museum Of UnCut Funk". museumofuncutfunk.com. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
2. "Actor D'Urville Martin Dies Of Heart Attack". Jet. 66 (14): 14. June 11, 1984.
3. D'Urville Martin filmography, d-urville-martin.fullmoviereview.com; accessed November 1, 2014.
4. IMDb synopsis of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, imdb.com; accessed November 1, 2014.
5. IMDB synopsis of Rosemary's Baby, imdb.com; accessed November 1, 2014.
6. Greg Oguss's review of Todd Boyd's book A Guide to the Super Fly '70s: A connoisseur's Journey through the Fabulous Flix, Hip Sounds and Cool Vibes that Defined a Decade in the article "Stereotypes of a Black Male Misunderstood", 2007

External links

• D'Urville Martin at Find a Grave
• D'Urville Martin at IMDb