Tim Strawn

Evil-doer
Full Name	Tim Strawn
Alias	None
Origin	Cat Ballou
Occupation	Gunslinger Murderer Hired Killer Kid Shelleen's evil brother
Powers / Skills	High knowledge of guns Shooting skills Intimidation Threats
Hobby	Threatening and killing people. Striking fear and terror into people. Serving Sir Harry Percival.
Goals	Kill Frankie Ballou. Force the Ballous out of their ranch. (succeeded) Kill Cat Ballou and her gang. (failed)
Crimes	Murder Attempted murder Terror
Type of Villain	Right-Hand

“	Sir Harry wants his money, fast. If you wasn't a girl, I'd split you like a chicken.	„
	~ Tim Strawn warning and threatening Cat Ballou.

“	Tim Strawn: Hello, Kid. Long time. Sit down. Where have you been keepin' yourself? You want a job? Some money? Not money and not a job. What then? Oh, that. Well, there never was any love lost between us. Well? Well? Kid Shelleen: I can't. Tim Strawn: Why not?	„
	~ Tim Strawn's last words to Kid Shelleen before his death.

Tim Strawn is the main antagonist of the 1965 American western comedy film, Cat Ballou. He is a gunslinger and a murderer/killer hired by Sir Harry Percival, the head of Wolf City Development Corporation to force the Ballous out of their ranch and murder Catherine "Cat" Ballou's father, Frankie in cold-blood.

He was portrayed by the late Lee Marvin, who also portrayed Liberty Valance in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Chino in The Wild One.

Personality

Tim Strawn is shown to be mean, cruel, aggressive, ruthless, and merciless. Possessing a certain liking to striking fear and terror into others, threatening, or even killing them mostly renders him more lustful for blood and death up to a point where he proves to be murderous, sociopathic, sadistic, bloodthirsty, senseless, and psychotic.

Biography

Some months prior, Tim Strawn is anonymously hired by someone to threaten or even force Catherine "Cat" Ballou and mainly, her father, Frankie to sell both his ranch and water rights to the scheming Wolf City Development Corporation by any means necessary in order to build factories.

On Catherine's first day back home after returning from finishing school to become an aspiring schoolteacher, Tim Strawn suddenly appears out of nowhere, striking fear into the poor girl with his tin-nosed appearance (having lost his nose in a fight prior to the events of the movie) as he asks about her father until her father casts him off.

A few days later, Tim Strawn returns and murders Frankie in cold blood in front of Catherine's friends: cattle rustlers, Clay Boone and his Uncle Jed and educated Native American ranch hand, Jackson Two-Bears assigned by Cat to protect him since her previous attempt to hire the legendary but drunk gunfighter, Kid Shelleen failed. Tim forces the rest of the men to drop their gun belts before riding away, leaving a distraught Catherine to mourn for her father's death. Later, Catherine rides into town with her friends in pursuit to confront Tim in person, but nobody, not even the corrupt Sheriff Cardigan will do anything to bring the former to justice when they simply deny any of Cat's claims, stating he's been sitting around all day doing nothing. Then, Tim is almost forced to shoot back in self-defense when Catherine tries in vain to fight then shoot him, only to be restrained by her friends in order not to make matters worse for her. Nevertheless, Catherine vows vengeance as she becomes a revenge-seeking outlaw known as Cat Ballou.

As days go by, after Cat and her gang including Kid Shelleen successfully rob a train carrying the Wolf City payroll, Tim Strawn once again suddenly appears out of nowhere in the woods; spooking Cat once again, and threatens her to return the money belonging to Sir Harry Percival, the British head of the Wolf City Development Corporation whom they robbed from, thus, finally revealing that Sir Harry himself was the one responsible for hiring him and ordering her father's death in the first place.

One night, at a brothel, Tim Strawn unexpectedly finds himself confronted by a now-sober, shaped-up Kid Shelleen, motivated by his affection for Cat. At first, Tim offers Kid a job and money, but the latter denies both. When Kid reveals the true reason for his presence, Tim coaxes him into making the first move. Somehow, Kid just can't bring himself to do it and tries to walk away. However, when Tim tries to take advantage of this by making the first move instead, Kid quickly turns around again and shoots him dead.

Eventually, after Kid informs Cat about Tim Strawn's death while bringing back his tin-nose as proof (even using it for a minor prank on Cat), he finally reveals that the latter himself was actually his own brother.

With Tim Strawn dead, Cat tries to force Sir Harry to sign a confession about ordering her father's murder while posing as a prostitute. When that plan backfires after Cat accidentally shoots Sir Harry in a struggle, Cat is later arrested and sentenced to be hanged since the latter's death has led the people of Wolf City completely jobless and futureless, only to be saved in the nick of time by her gang.

Gallery

Tim Strawn meeting Catherine Ballou

Tim Strawn scaring Catherine Ballou

Tim Strawn asking about Catherine Ballou's father, Frankie

Tim Strawn with his gun

Tim Strawn riding away from the Ballou Ranch

"Drop the gun belts."

Tim Strawn confronted by Catherine Ballou

Tim Strawn vs Catherine Ballou

Tim Strawn almost aiming to kill Catherine Ballou

Tim Strawn warned and threatened by Catherine Ballou

Tim Strawn meeting Cat Ballou once again

"Sir Harry wants his money, fast."

"If you wasn't a girl, I'd split you like a chicken."

Tim Strawn confronted by Kid Shelleen

Tim Strawn vs Kid Shelleen

Tim Strawn's apparent death when trying to shoot Kid from the back

All that's left of Tim Strawn; thanks to his brother, Kid

Trivia

• It is unknown how and when Tim Strawn lost his nose in a fight in the first place.
• Though his role in the movie is short and he was merely hired help with only 4 lines, Tim Strawn's unlawful actions render him a great threat to the movie's protagonist within the plot.
• Both Tim Strawn and his brother, Kid Shelleen were portrayed by the late Lee Marvin, which explains their resemblance. However, it is unknown if they were, in fact, twins or whether one of them's name was actually an alias either.
• There are few instances in the movie that nearly point out Kid Shelleen's relationship to Tim Strawn despite their resemblance way before Kid's revelation to Cat Ballou:
  • When Jackson Two-Bears mentions Tim Strawn's name to Kid Shelleen as the man whom Kid is hired to protect the Ballous against, he suddenly appears more shocked than surprised despite being drunk.
  • Tim Strawn mentions that there never was any "love lost" between him and Kid in the past during their final confrontation together.
  • Kid Shelleen hesitates to make the first move with his gun against Tim Strawn.
  • Kid Shelleen tells Cat Ballou that he's known Tim Strawn since childhood after killing the latter.
• It is unknown who served as Lee Marvin's stunt-double to portray Tim Strawn in the villain's final scene before his upcoming demise in the movie, which explains why only the latter's voice was heard and his face was hardly seen in that moment despite having obviously removed his tin-nose prosthetic.
• Lee Marvin unexpectedly catapulted to stardom in 1965 through his two polar-opposite performances in this movie. Plus, his Oscar winning performance in this film was his only Academy Award nomination.
• As this movie runs only ninety-seven minutes and Marvin does not appear in every scene, the actor had roughly a half hour's worth of footage to establish two characters, making his performance one of the Oscar-winning roles in the Best Actor category with the shortest amount of screen time.