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  • ALAN LADD


    Information From IMDb


    Date of Birth
    3 September 1913,
    Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA


    Date of Death
    29 January 1964,
    Palm Springs, California, USA
    (acute overdose of alcohol and sedatives)


    Birth Name
    Alan Walbridge Ladd


    Nickname
    Laddie


    Height
    5' 5" (1.65 m)


    Spouse
    Sue Carol (1942 - 29 January 1964) (his death) children: Alana, David
    Marjorie Jane Harrold (October 1936 - 1941) (divorced) 1 child


    Trivia
    Father of Alan Ladd Jr. with first wife, Marjorie 'Midge' Harrold. Father of Alana Ladd and David Ladd with second wife, Sue Carol. Grandfather of Jordan Ladd.


    Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage.


    Owing to a clerical error, Ladd was inaccurately included in the cast credits for Born to the West (1937) in studio publicity material. In fact, he was never in the film, despite the fact that it often shows up in his credits and even on the video box!.


    In his movies, suffers two cat-o-nine-tails floggings aboard sailing ships: (1) in Two Years Before the Mast (1946), he receives 10 lashes for striking an officer; (2) in Botany Bay (1953), he receives 50 lashes for attempting to escape from a prison transport ship.


    He so badly wanted the title role in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) that he personally pressed his case with director David Lean, but Lean cast Peter O'Toole in the part.


    The prisoner he plays in 1953's Botany Bay (1953) is keelhauled, marking what may be the only time a Hollywood leading man suffers this particular form of punishment.


    In a 1961 interview Ladd was asked, "What would you change about yourself if you could?" He replied tersely: "Everything."


    Father of Alana Ladd and Alan Ladd Jr.


    Son with Sue Carol: David Ladd.


    Ladd portrayed Dan Holiday on Mutual Radio's "Box 13" (1948-1949). This show was also syndicated.


    A photograph of his flogging in Two Years Before the Mast (1946) appears on the cover of the 2004 book: "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies".


    Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 1601 Vine Street.


    He and Veronica Lake made seven movies together: The Blue Dahlia (1946), Duffy's Tavern (1945), The Glass Key (1942), Saigon (1948), Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), This Gun for Hire (1942) and Variety Girl (1947). In Variety Girl (1947), Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) and Duffy's Tavern (1945), they appear as themselves.


    In 1956, Ladd proposed a television series based on his radio series "Box 13". The idea didn't sell. Ladd himself had played his "Box 13" character Dan Holiday in the "Committed" episode of "General Electric Theater" (1953) on television. In 1963, Ladd said he hoped to reunite several of his 1940s era co-stars, including William Bendix and Veronica Lake, for a big screen version of "Box 13".


    His former home in Palm Springs, California, is still on the bus tour of movie stars' homes. An office building also bears his name.


    According to his biography, the end of his love affair with June Allyson, his co-star in The McConnell Story (1955), led to his late-life depression.


    Discovered Rory Calhoun while riding in Griffith Park, a notorious cruising area.


    Turned down James Dean's role in Giant (1956) and Spencer Tracy's role in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955).


    Father of Alan Ladd Jr. with first wife; father of David Ladd with second wife.


    At the time of his death he had expressed an interest in playing Steve McQueen's role in Nevada Smith (1966).


    Personal Quotes
    "Once Ladd had acquired an unsmiling hardness, he was transformed from an extra to a phenomenon. Ladd's calm slender ferocity make it clear that he was the first American actor to show the killer as a cold angel." - David Thomson ("A Biographical Dictionary of Film, " 1975)


    "That the old fashioned motion picture gangster with his ugly face, gaudy cars, and flashy clothes was replaced by a smoother, better looking, and better dressed bad man was largely the work of Mr. Ladd." - "New York Times" obituary (January 30, 1964)


    "Alan is a big star to everyone in the world except Alan. He thinks he's in the business on a raincheck." -- Sue Carol, his wife/manager


    "I have the face of an ageing choirboy and the build of an undernourished featherweight. If you can figure out my success on the screen you're a better man than I."


    Mini Biography
    Alan Ladd's mother immigrated from England age 19. His accountant father died when he was four. At age five he burned his apartment playing with matches, and his mother moved them to Oklahoma City. He was malnourished, undersized, and nicknamed Tiny. His mother married a house painter who moved them to California a la "Grapes of Wrath" when he was eight. He picked fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. In high school he discovered track and swimming. By 1931 he was training for the 1932 Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's Patio, and later worked as a grip at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married friend Midge in 1936 but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937 they shared a friend's apartment. They had a son,Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them, her agonizing suicide from ant poison witnessed a few months later by her son.


    His size and coloring were regarded as not right for movies, so he worked hard at radio where talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early in 1939. After shopping him through bit parts he tested for This Gun for Hire (1942) late in 1941. His fourth-billed role as the psychotic killer Raven made him a star. He was drafted in January 1943 and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia.


    Throughout the 1940s his tough-guy roles filled theaters and he was one of the very few males whose cover photos sold movie magazines. In the 1950s he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films (an exception being what many regard as his greatest role, "Shane". By the end of the 1950s,liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962 he was found unconscious lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In January 1964 he was found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives.
    IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan


    Filmography


    Actor
    1. The Carpetbaggers (1964) .... Nevada Smith
    2. 13 West Street (1962) .... Walt Sherill
    3. Orazi e curiazi (1961) .... Horatius
    ... aka Duel of Champions (USA)
    4. One Foot in Hell (1960) .... Mitch Garrett
    ... aka The Last Man
    5. All the Young Men (1960) .... Sgt. Kincaid
    6. Guns of the Timberland (1960) .... Jim Hadley
    7. The Man in the Net (1959) .... John Hamilton
    8. The Badlanders (1958) .... Peter Van Hoek ('The Dutchman')
    9. The Proud Rebel (1958) .... John Chandler
    10. "General Electric Theater" .... Dan Donlan / ... (3 episodes, 1954-1958)
    - Silent Ambush (1958) TV episode .... Dan Donlan
    - Farewell to Kennedy (1955) TV episode .... Joe
    - Committed (1954) TV episode .... Dan Holiday
    11. The Deep Six (1958) .... Alexander 'Alec' Austen
    12. Boy on a Dolphin (1957) .... Dr. James Calder
    13. The Big Land (1957) .... Chad Morgan
    ... aka Stampeded (UK)
    14. A Cry in the Night (1956) (voice) .... Opening off-screen narrator
    15. Santiago (1956) .... Caleb 'Cash' Adams
    ... aka The Gun Runner
    16. Hell on Frisco Bay (1955) .... Steve Rollins
    17. The McConnell Story (1955) .... Capt. Joseph C.'Mac' McConnell, Jr.
    ... aka Tiger in the Sky (UK)
    18. Drum Beat (1954/I) .... Johnny MacKay
    ... aka Delmer Daves' Drum Beat (USA: complete title)
    19. The Black Knight (1954/I) .... John
    20. "The Red Skelton Show" (1 episode, 1954)
    ... aka The Red Skelton Hour (USA: new title)
    - Freddie's Birthday (1954) TV episode
    21. Saskatchewan (1954) .... Thomas O'Rourke
    ... aka O'Rourke of the Royal Mounted (UK)
    22. Hell Below Zero (1954) .... Duncan Craig
    23. The Red Beret (1953) .... Canada
    ... aka Paratrooper (USA)
    24. Shane (1953) .... Shane
    25. Desert Legion (1953) .... Paul Lartal
    26. Botany Bay (1953) .... Hugh Tallant
    27. Thunder in the East (1952) .... Steve Gibbs
    28. The Iron Mistress (1952) .... Jim Bowie
    29. Red Mountain (1951) .... Capt. Brett Sherwood
    30. Appointment with Danger (1951) .... Al Goddard
    31. Branded (1950) .... Choya
    32. Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950) .... Captain Webster Carey
    ... aka After Midnight (UK)
    33. Chicago Deadline (1949) .... Ed Adams
    34. The Great Gatsby (1949) .... Jay Gatsby
    35. Eyes of Hollywood (1949)
    36. Whispering Smith (1948) .... Luke 'Whispering' Smith
    37. Beyond Glory (1948) .... Capt. Rockwell 'Rocky' Gilman
    38. Saigon (1948) .... Maj. Larry Briggs
    39. Wild Harvest (1947) .... Joe Madigan
    40. Calcutta (1947) .... Neale Gordon
    41. My Favorite Brunette (1947) (uncredited) .... Sam McCloud
    42. O.S.S. (1946) .... Philip Masson/John Martin
    43. The Blue Dahlia (1946) .... Johnny Morrison - Lt.Cmdr., ret.
    44. Two Years Before the Mast (1946) .... Charles Stewart
    45. Duffy's Tavern (1945) .... Alan Ladd
    46. Salty O'Rourke (1945) .... Salty O'Rourke
    47. And Now Tomorrow (1944) .... Doctor Merek Vance
    48. Skirmish on the Home Front (1944) .... Harry W. Average
    49. China (1943) .... David Jones
    50. Letter from a Friend (1943)
    51. Lucky Jordan (1942) .... Lucky Jordan
    52. The Glass Key (1942) .... Ed Beaumont
    53. This Gun for Hire (1942) .... Philip Raven
    54. Joan of Paris (1942) .... Baby
    55. Military Training (1941) (uncredited) .... Lieutenant, Platoon Leader, County Fair
    ... aka Training Film No. A-3
    56. Cadet Girl (1941) (uncredited) .... Cadet
    57. Great Guns (1941) (uncredited) .... Soldier in Photo Shop
    58. They Met in Bombay (1941) (uncredited) .... British Soldier
    59. The Reluctant Dragon (1941) .... Al, Baby Weems storyboard artist
    ... aka A Day at Disneys (USA: TV title)
    ... aka Behind the Scenes at Walt Disney Studio
    60. Paper Bullets (1941) .... Jimmy Kelly aka Bill Dugan
    ... aka Crime, Inc.
    ... aka Gang War (USA: reissue title)
    ... aka Gangs, Inc. (USA: reissue title)
    61. The Black Cat (1941) .... Richard Hartley
    62. Citizen Kane (1941) (uncredited) .... Reporter smoking pipe at end
    63. Petticoat Politics (1941) .... Higgins Daughter's Boyfriend
    64. I Look at You (1941)
    ... aka Soundie #1125
    65. Her First Romance (1940) .... John Gilman
    ... aka The Right Man (USA: reissue title)
    66. Victory (1940) (uncredited) .... Heyst as an 18-year-old
    67. Meet the Missus (1940) .... John Williams, Betty's boyfriend
    68. The Howards of Virginia (1940) (uncredited) .... Neighbor
    ... aka The Tree of Liberty (UK)
    69. Captain Caution (1940) .... Newton - Mutinous Sailor
    70. Those Were the Days! (1940) .... Keg Rearick
    ... aka At Good Old Siwash
    ... aka Good Old Schooldays (UK)
    71. Cross-Country Romance (1940) (uncredited) .... Mr. Williams (ship's First Mate)
    72. Gangs of Chicago (1940) (uncredited)
    73. The Light of Western Stars (1940) .... Danny - Stillwell Ranch Hand
    ... aka Border Renegade (USA)
    74. In Old Missouri (1940) .... Landlord's Son
    75. Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) (uncredited) .... Cadet in Trouble
    ... aka Baby Be Good (UK)
    76. The Green Hornet (1940) (uncredited) .... Gilpin, student pilot [Ch. 3]
    77. American Portrait (1940) .... Young man/Old man
    78. Blame It on Love (1940)
    79. Unfinished Rainbows (1940) .... Charles Martin Hall
    ... aka More Worlds to Conquer (USA: new title)
    80. Meat and Romance (1940) .... Bill Allen
    81. Rulers of the Sea (1939) .... Colin Farrell
    82. Hitler - Beast of Berlin (1939) (as Allan Ladd) .... Karl Bach
    83. The Mysterious Miss X (1939) (uncredited) .... Henchman
    84. Freshman Year (1938) (uncredited) .... Student
    85. Come On, Leathernecks! (1938) (uncredited) .... Club Waiter
    86. The Goldwyn Follies (1938) (uncredited) .... First Auditioning Singer
    87. Hold 'Em Navy (1937) (uncredited) .... Chief Quartermaster
    ... aka That Navy Spirit (UK)
    88. All Over Town (1937) (uncredited) .... Young Man
    89. Souls at Sea (1937) (uncredited) .... Sailor
    90. The Last Train from Madrid (1937) (uncredited) .... Soldier
    91. Pigskin Parade (1936) (uncredited) .... Student
    ... aka Harmony Parade (UK)
    92. Saturday's Millions (1933) (uncredited) .... Student
    93. Island of Lost Souls (1932) (uncredited) (unconfirmed) .... Beast
    94. Once in a Lifetime (1932) (uncredited) .... Projectionist
    95. Tom Brown of Culver (1932) (uncredited)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 7 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Never sure about Alan Ladd, but he made some good westerns,
    and undeliably his greatest was the classic Shane.


    Quote

    Owing to a clerical error, Ladd was inaccurately included in the cast credits for Born to the West (1937) in studio publicity material. In fact, he was never in the film, despite the fact that it often shows up in his credits and even on the video box!.


    Duke's Hondo, was released the same year as Shane,
    however the latter was a massive box office hit.
    It was a more typical western, with Shane a softer,
    character than Duke's Hondo.
    Who can ever forget, right at the end,
    Brandon De Wilde's 'Joeys' imortal words,


    "Come back, Shane, Come back"


    YUK!!!

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • I was wondering why, poor old Alan Ladd,
    had not received a single reply.
    I thought, well, was he that bad???
    I just realised, the thread was closed.
    Sorry folks, must have been an error,
    so please all rush, to make any comments
    about Mr. Ladd

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • Ladd was a good actor but, he always seemed to play the same type of character, quiet, reserved, soft spoken but, deadly when necessary. I've always identified him with Shane but, he was outstanding in his breakout role in This Gun For Hire. Another good western he made was Whispering Smith and one of his best movies was The McConnell Story, where he played a famous Air Force pilot and hero.

  • Growing up early 60's Shane was the movie any kid would remember. The movie Ladd did that's my favorite is The Black Knight. I can not locate that in DVD or VHS anywhere here in the states. I may get one from Ebay.co.uk, a seller has 4 of them. DVD I believe is the same format internationally.

  • DVD I believe is the same format internationally.



    Negative on that, Jeff. There are 5 different "regions" for DVD releases, none of which are compatible. The US is Region 1 and the UK is Region 2. Unless you have a DVD player that accepts all regions for play, you won't be able to play a Region 2 disc on your Region 1 player.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • Hi


    I liked Alan Ladds films he was often over here making the Black Knight and The Red Berets.

    On the bad side I believe he was handy with his fists especially with women, and got into trouble once over beating up a prostitute, but that may have been a rumour. If it happened t would have shown up on IMDB.


    Regards

    Arthur

    Walk Tall - Talk Low

  • Thanks Stumpy. Better to know now before doing a foolish purchase. Maybe one will turn up, it doesn't hurt to hope.:teeth_smile:



    I was wrong about one thing, Jeff. According to this site, there are 6 regions instead of 5.

    As with most things, it's all about money.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • Alan Ladd did a Film in Sedona, Arizona and Said it was done in 1954 "Drum Beat" but some of the Scenes were from the Film "Broken Arrow" back in the late 1940s, as the same Director Delmer Daves did Both Films !
    :wink_smile:
    Alan Ladd was 5' 4" and when He was to do a Love Scene they had to have Him Stand On A Milk Box to make Him Look Taller !!!
    :twitchsmile:
    Chilibill
    :cowboy:

  • I love Alan Ladd. Good man. Great actor. I honestly think he should have won the Best Actor Oscar for "Shane".

  • Ladd was wonderful in Shane. Love his fight with Ben Johnson (look close and you can see the special flooring built up for Ladd in some of the scenes).

  • SHANE is without a doubt a great western.
    My only problem and I,am nick-picking, is the shootout in the saloon when Ladd shoots the hired gun in the balcony his gun fires while pointing to the floor.

    ''baby sister i was born game and intend to go out that way.''

  • Growing up early 60's Shane was the movie any kid would remember. The movie Ladd did that's my favorite is The Black Knight. I can not locate that in DVD or VHS anywhere here in the states. I may get one from Ebay.co.uk, a seller has 4 of them. DVD I believe is the same format internationally.


    I was finally able to get this movie from Amazon Digital for $9.99. Downloaded the DVD in about 20 mins.