ACTOR · BORN 1917 · DIED 1965
Steve Cochran
- Born
- 25 May 1917, Eureka, California
- Died
- 15 June 1965
- Known for
- The Twilight Zone (1959), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), White Heat (1949), Il Grido (1957)
20 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (20)
- #001
Steve Cochran died of an acute lung infection on June 15, 1965, at age 48, aboard his yacht off the coast of Guatemala. His body remained on the boat in terror for 10 days alongside his three surviving but distraught Mexican female assistants (25-year-old seamstress Eva Montero Castellano, 19-year-old laundress Eugenia Bautista Zacarias and 14-year-old Lorenza de la Rosa) until the vessel reached shore and was found by authorities. His death appeared to be a mystery surrounded by various rumors of murder and poisoning. Years earlier, a former lover, Merle Oberon, tried to use her influence to prompt further police investigation but failed.
- #002
Steve Cochran was rejected from military service because of a heart murmur. Instead he staged and directed shows for Army camps along the West Coast.
- #003
Steve Cochran once kept a number of odd animals at his home in Coldwater Canyon, among them a chimpanzee, some goats and a dog said to play the piano, named Paderewski.
- #004
A tabloid "bad boy," Steve Cochran was arrested in August 1964 while shooting Mozambik (1964) in South Africa, on a civil court ruling brought by a local jockey who accused him of adultery with his wife; Cochran was cleared. Three months later he was arrested for beating, tying up and gagging the singer Ronie Rae, whom he had invited to his home to audition for his proposed but never-made film "Captain O'Flynn." He was acquitted of all charges in that case as well.
- #005
Steve Cochran appeared alongside Virginia Mayo in six films; both generally played scheming and unlikable characters.
- #006
Steve Cochran married three times and had a daughter, Xandra, with his first wife, the artist Florence Lockwood. His relationship with his daughter was strained and they eventually lost touch. After a second, brief marriage to Fay McKenzie in the late 1940s, the 44-year-old Cochran married his third wife, 19-year-old Danish immigrant Hedda Jenna Jensen, after a courtship of only three months. They were separated at the time of his death.
- #007
Steve Cochran studied at the University of Wyoming and moved from the basketball team to the theater club. He dropped out of university in 1937 to take a chance on Hollywood.
- #008
Cochran's estranged third wife, Hedda Jonna Jensen, and his mother, Jessie Rose Cochran, fought over control of his estate after his sudden death. At one point both were appointed temporary administrators of the estate, but Jensen was ultimately chosen as sole administrator.
- #009
Steve Cochran moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s but could not get a break, not even an screen test. He pursued theater instead and traveled extensively. While appearing in a small theatrical production of "There's Always Juliet," he adopted the name of one of the play's characters, Steve Cochran, as his stage name.
- #010
Steve Cochran was the grandfather of the five children of his only child, Xandra. One of those grandchildren was film and TV producer Alex Johns (1966-2010), born a year after Cochran's death to Xandra and her husband Wendell Johns. Like his grandfather, Alex died young (at 43) from a sudden illness.
- #011
Steve Cochran was born in Eureka, California, but grew up in Laramie, WY, as the son of a lumberjack. His early jobs included cowboying and working at a train station.
- #012
While touring with the play "Without Love," Steve Cochran caught the attention of producer Samuel Goldwyn, who took an option on him. Goldwyn cast Cochran in his first film, the Danny Kaye vehicle Wonder Man (1945). Cochran would also work on two other Kaye films: The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) and A Song Is Born (1948).
- #013
After studying for a year at the University of Wyoming, Steve Cochran quit to join the Federal Theatre Project in Detroit.
- #014
The successful singer Morrissey (Steven Patrick Morrissey) was named after Steve Cochran.
- #015
Steve Cochran and his daughter Xandra, from his first wife Florence Lockwood, had been living apart for a long time at the time of his death.
- #016
During his high school years, Steve Cochran was kicked off the school basketball team for missing practices.
- #017
Steve Cochran was named after his father, Robert. He was the eldest of two children.
- #018
Later in his career, Steve Cochran appeared in films shot in Europe and worked with names such as the British director Val Guest and the Italian legend Michelangelo Antonioni.
- #019
Steve Cochran was the former brother-in-law of Ida Mae McKenzie and Ella McKenzie.
- #020
Steve Cochran was the former son-in-law of Eva McKenzie and Robert McKenzie.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb
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