D'Urville Martin

D'Urville Martin
D'urville Martin in 1974
Born	(1939-02-11)February 11, 1939 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	May 28, 1984(1984-05-28) (aged 45) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Inglewood Park Cemetery
Spouse(s)	Lillian Martin (19??-1984; his death)

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, the role was later played by Mike Evans. Born in New York City, Martin began his career in the mid-1960s, soon becoming a prominent recurring figure in the genre. Martin acted in several movies of the time, including Black Like Me and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Martin also directed films in his career, including Dolemite, starring Rudy Ray Moore.

D'Urville Martin was born in New York City in 1939. He was married to Lillian Martin until his death in 1984. He had two children while married. In 1984, Martin died of a heart attack in Los Angeles at the age of 45.

Black Like Me (1964) was a film based on the popular book by John Howard Griffin, telling of the true experiences of the author when he passed as a black man. John Horton, the main character, travels through the south meeting real African Americans, and being exposed first-hand to the plights and racism on blacks in the South. This film served as a strong civil rights work. Martin played a speaking line extra.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn, was a film that made groundbreaking progress in its positive representation of the controversial subject of interracial marriage, which had been illegal in most of the United States. The film tells the story of Joanna Drayton, a white woman who falls in love with Dr. John Prentice. Martin plays Frankie in the movie.