Alan Ladd

After Dick Cavett made a disparaging remark to John Houseman about Ladd's minimal acting abilities, Houseman said, "You get desperate. You go on the set and say, 'Why are we making this film?' Then you go into the rushes and those beautiful eyes would be filled with secret thoughts. A magnificent film actor."

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Alan Ladd was the visual inspiration for the original illustrations of the superhero Green Lantern/Alan Scott (created in 1940). Ladd was 27 years old at that point. Scott's full name is Alan Ladd Wellington Scott.

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In November 1962 he made an unsuccessful suicide attempt and was found unconscious after shooting himself. The incident was covered up by the studio as an accident. Although his death from an overdose in January 1964 was suspected to be suicide, it was officially ruled an accident.

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According to June Allyson's biography, he was afraid of flying. When he had to travel to Europe he went by boat, and he got around by train or car.

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While horseback riding in Griffith Park, a notorious cruising spot, he discovered Rory Calhoun. Impressed by his looks and physique, Ladd invited Calhoun (later Francis McCown) to his home to meet his wife Sue Carol, a talent agent.

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Ladd was a sensitive and troubled man with a history of alcoholism. He was nothing like the tough, cunning supermen he portrayed on screen.

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He and Veronica Lake made seven films together: The Blue Dahlia (1946), Duffy's Tavern (1945), The Glass Key (1942), Saigon (1947), 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.

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In Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Plato (played by Sal Mineo) keeps a photograph of Ladd in his school locker.

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He was buried in the Heritage Temple Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.

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

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Contrary to urban legend, Charlie's Angels (1976) actress Cheryl Ladd is not his daughter. However, since she was previously married to his son David Ladd for seven years, she is his former daughter-in-law.

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Ladd was 5'6" tall. To make him appear the same height as taller actors on screen, crew members placed him on boxes or ramps that were strategically kept out of frame. While filming Boy on a Dolphin (1957) in Greece with 5'8" Sophia Loren, boxes were impossible in the sand. As a result, the crew dug a trench so that he could stand in scenes where he and Loren stood and walked together.

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In 1943, "Modern Screen" magazine published 16 stories about him across its 12 issues that year.

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In 1954, he and Barbara Stanwyck topped the "Modern Screen" magazine Star of Stars Award poll as the most popular actors among fans over the previous decade.

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He was the father of Alan Ladd Jr. and the first husband of Marjorie 'Midge' Harrold. He was the father of Alana Ladd and David Ladd and the second husband of Sue Carol. He was the grandfather of Jordan Ladd.

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

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He was the second actor to portray F. Scott Fitzgerald's character Jay Gatsby in a major motion picture. The other actors were Warner Baxter in The Great Gatsby (1926), Robert Redford in The Great Gatsby (1974) and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby (2013).

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On February 8, 1960, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1601 Vine St.

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In 1945, Alan Ladd placed fourth in Modern Screen magazine's popularity poll among readers.

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In 1956, Alan Ladd proposed a series based on the radio show "Box 13." The idea was not sold. On television, he had played the "Box 13" character Dan Holiday in the General Electric Theatre (1953) episode "Committed." In 1963, he said he hoped to reunite many of his 1940s co-stars for a big-screen version of "Box 13," among them William Bendix and Veronica Lake.

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Alan Ladd was a chain smoker.

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Alan Ladd's father was an accountant who died when Ladd was four years old.

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Alan Ladd was a staunch Republican and campaigned for Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election.

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Alan Ladd was named one of the top ten stars in 1947, '53 and '54.

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Alan Ladd was the son of Selina "Ina" (Raleigh) and Alan Harwood Ladd. His father was born in Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, into a family of Colonial-era American descent (mostly English) with roots in Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts. His mother was from England. Alan's paternal grandmother was born in Canada to an American family.

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The convict Alan Ladd played in Botany Bay (1952) may be the only time a Hollywood leading man was subjected to such a punishment.

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In his films, Alan Ladd is subjected to the cat o' nine tails on sailing ships twice: (1) in Two Years Before the Mast (1946), he receives 10 lashes for striking an officer; (2) in Botany Bay (1952), he is sentenced to 50 lashes for trying to escape from the prison transport ship.

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Alan Ladd studied at the Ben Bard Acting School.

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Mr. Ladd's second wife, Sue Carol, was in fact his agent. She is known for persuading Paramount to cast him in his first leading role, as Raven in This Gun for Hire (1942), a landmark of the film noir canon. The couple remained married until his death and had two children, producer David Ladd and Alana Ladd.

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Alan Ladd's daughter Carol was married to film executive John Veitch.

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