Mr. Marvin has said that Miss Triola was “enjoyable and fun to be with” but that he had never agreed to share his property with her

ARHIVE .
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 — Long lines of people have become a familiar sight outside the Los Angeles Superior Court building where Lee Marvin, the actor, is defending himself against a suit in which the woman he lived with for more than six years is seeking more than $1 million.

Michelle Triola, who legally changed her name to Michelle Marvin shortly before she and the actor separated in 1970. contends that the couple had an oral agreement that he would support her for life if she gave up her singing career to serve as his cook, companion and confidante.

Not since 1970, when California’s pioneering no‐fault divorce act made it unnecessary to disclose the indiscretions of one’s mate, has the zrivate life of a Hollywood personality been discussed in such intimate detail in an open courtroom.

The trial, which resumed today after being in recess yesterday, is being watched closely by hundreds of people who have filed similar suits in New York and 15 other states seeking property rights that are commonly awarded after married couples are divorced.

Mr. Marvin has said that Miss Triola was “enjoyable and fun to be with” but that he had never agreed to share his property with her.

Miss Triola contends that she was Mr. Marvin’s wite in every way except for having a marriage license. She told Judge Arthur K. Marshall that she had become pregnant three times by the actor but had never had a child because Mr. Marvin did not want to become a father.

The actor, who won an Academy Award in 1965 for portraying gunfighter in “Cat Ballou,” testified last week that he might have told the 46-yearold singer that he loved her on a number of occasions but that he had never made an implied contract to share assets. He said statements in love letters he wrote to her while making films in Europe 13 years ago were “sexual promises rather than promises to spend my life with her.”

The actor has corroborated much of the testimony that Miss Triola had given last week. He testified on Friday that he had given her $600 in cash for an abortion, that they had registered as husband and wife at various hotels, and that he had introduced her as Mrs. Marvin to “avoid embarrassment for her, not me.”

Mr. Marvin said he had discouraged her from legally changing her name and had even joked that she should change to Gary Cooper because “if you are going to change it, it should be a big name.”

Mr. Marvin said the couple had maintained joint checking accounts when he was making films in Oregon and Arizona because it was convenient to do so. He also said he had given Miss Triola the responsibility of paying all the bills for household expenses out of his $1,500 weekly allowance while making “Paint Your Wagon.”

The couple met on the set of “Ship of Fools,” a film in which Mr. Marvin had major role and Miss Triola was a dancer. He had separated from his first wife, Betty, after a long marriage. He and Miss Triola began living together in her Hollywood Hills apartment several weeks after they met and moved into a Malibu beach house several months later.

Two and a half years later, he received a divorce that caused his net worth to drop to $19,000 because he had to pay his former wife $5,000 a month in alimony, $1,000 a month in child support for the couple’s four children and half of the residual payments for the television series “M Squad.”

Marvin Mitchelson, Miss Triola’s lawyer, maintains that his client is entitled to half of the approximately $3.6 million the actor earned during their six‐year relationship.

PROC. BY MOVIES