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
10 Facts About Steve Cochran's Life and Family
- #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.
- #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.
- #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.
- #013
After studying for a year at the University of Wyoming, Steve Cochran quit to join the Federal Theatre Project in Detroit.
- #017
Steve Cochran was named after his father, Robert. He was the eldest of two children.
- #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
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