Sterling Hayden


Actor
Sterling Hayden

About

Also Known As
John Hamilton, Stirling Hayden, Sterling Relyea Walter
Birth Place
Montclair, New Jersey, USA
Born
March 26, 1916
Died
May 23, 1986
Cause of Death
Prostate Cancer

Biography

A handsome, virile star of the late 1940s and 50s, Sterling Hayden spent several years at sea before signing with Paramount in 1940, appearing in two films with future wife Madeleine Carroll. Variously touted by the studio publicity machine as "The Most Beautiful Man in Movies" or "The Beautiful Blond Viking God," the actor broke his contract in 1941 to join the Marines. During WWII, he ...

Photos & Videos

Terror in a Texas Town - Movie Poster
Johnny Guitar - Movie Posters
Zero Hour! - Movie Poster

Family & Companions

Madeleine Carroll
Wife
Actor. Married in 1942; divorced in 1946.
Betty de Noon
Wife
Was married and divorced three times between 1947 and 1958; mother of four of Hayden's children.
Catherine Devine McConnell
Wife
Married from 1960 until his death: mother of Hayden's two younger children.

Bibliography

"Voyage"
Sterling Hayden (1976)
"Wanderer"
Sterling Hayden (1966)

Notes

Hayden was reportedly offered the role of Quint, the sea captain, in "Jaws" but had to decline the role because of a problem with the IRS.

Biography

A handsome, virile star of the late 1940s and 50s, Sterling Hayden spent several years at sea before signing with Paramount in 1940, appearing in two films with future wife Madeleine Carroll. Variously touted by the studio publicity machine as "The Most Beautiful Man in Movies" or "The Beautiful Blond Viking God," the actor broke his contract in 1941 to join the Marines. During WWII, he assisted the Yugoslavian partisans fight against the Germans and briefly joined the Communist Party in 1946 (resigning after six months) before resuming his acting career the following year. Shortly after his superb performance in "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950), Hayden was gray-listed and was unable to work in Hollywood for six months. He then privately called on the FBI to make a statement concerning his former Communist affiliations, but was subpoenaed by HUAC in 1951 and obliged to testify in public, naming his fellow believers. Hayden was then allowed to continue working, though he expressed his guilt over having "named names" in his 1966 autobiography, "Wanderer." Ironically, in Stanley Kubrick's classic comedy "Dr. Strangelove" (1963), Hayden played the deranged General Jack D. Ripper, whose over-zealous desire to stop the "communist threat" sets World War III in motion. Among his other memorable roles were the corrupt police captain in "The Godfather" (1972) and the chairman of the board in the comedy "9 to 5" (1980). He rounded out his career portraying John Brown in the CBS Civil War miniseries "The Blue and the Gray" (1982).

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Leuchtturm des Chaos (1982)
Gas (1981)
Venom (1981)
Howard Anderson
Nine to Five (1980)
Winter Kills (1979)
Z K Dawson
The Outsider (1979)
Grandfather
King Of The Gypsies (1978)
1900 (1977)
Deadly Strangers (1974)
The Last Days of Man on Earth (1973)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Roger Wade
The Godfather (1972)
Capt. McCluskey
Le Grand Depart (1972)
Leader
Le Saut de l'ange (1971)
Custer
Loving (1970)
Lepridon
Hard Contract (1969)
Michael Carlson
Sweet Hunters (1969)
Allan
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Gen. Jack D. Ripper
A Carol for Another Christmas (1964)
Terror in a Texas Town (1958)
George Hansen
Ten Days to Tulara (1958)
Scotty McBride
Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)
Jay Turner, also known as John York
Zero Hour! (1957)
Captain Martin Treleaven
5 Steps to Danger (1957)
John Emmett
Valerie (1957)
John Garth
Crime of Passion (1957)
Bill Doyle
The Iron Sheriff (1957)
Sheriff [Sam] Galt
The Come On (1956)
Dave Arnold
The Killing (1956)
Johnny Clay
Shotgun (1955)
Clay [Hardin]
The Last Command (1955)
James Bowie
The Eternal Sea (1955)
Adm. John Madison Hoskins
Timberjack (1955)
Tim Chipman
Battle Taxi (1955)
Capt. Russ Edwards
Top Gun (1955)
Rick Martin
Prince Valiant (1954)
Sir Gawain
Crime Wave (1954)
Detective Sgt. Sims
Arrow in the Dust (1954)
Bart Laish
Naked Alibi (1954)
Joseph E. Conroy
Suddenly (1954)
Sheriff Tod Shaw
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Johnny Guitar
Take Me to Town (1953)
Will Hall
Kansas Pacific (1953)
Capt. John Nelson
Fighter Attack (1953)
[Major] Steve [Pitt]
So Big (1953)
Pervus DeJong
Flat Top (1952)
Dan Collier
Hellgate (1952)
Gilman S. Hanley
Flaming Feather (1952)
Tex McCloud
The Star (1952)
Jim Johannson
Denver & Rio Grande (1952)
McCabe
The Golden Hawk (1952)
Captain Christopher "Kit" Gerardo
Journey into Light (1951)
John Burrows
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Dix Handley
Manhandled (1949)
Joe Cooper
El Paso (1949)
Bert Donner
Blaze of Noon (1947)
Tad McDonald
Variety Girl (1947)
Bahama Passage (1941)
Adrian [Ainsworth]
Virginia (1941)
Norman Williams

Writer (Feature Film)

Der Havarist (1984)
Book As Source Material

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

The Blue and the Gray (1982)

Life Events

1940

Signed to a film contract by Paramount Pictures; billed as "The Most Beautiful Man in Movies"

1941

Film acting debut in "Virginia"

1941

Left performing to join the Marines; used pseudonym John Hamilton

1947

Returned to film acting in "Variety Girl" and "Blaze of Noon"

1950

Co-starred in "The Asphalt Jungle"

1954

Acted in "Johnny Guitar"

1956

Co-starred in "The Killing"

1960

Played title role in CBS adaptation of "Ethan Frome"

1964

Cast by Stanley Kubrick as General Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

1972

Portrayed the brutal, corrupt police captain in "The Godfather"

1973

Appeared in "The Long Goodbye"

1976

Co-starred in "1900"

1978

Had featured role as one of the monarchs in "King of the Gypsies"

1980

Played the chairman of the board in a cameo appearance in "9 to 5"

1982

Final film, "Venom"

1982

Last TV acting role as John Brown in the Civil War drama "The Blue and the Gray"

Photo Collections

Terror in a Texas Town - Movie Poster
Terror in a Texas Town - Movie Poster
Johnny Guitar - Movie Posters
Here are a few original-release movie posters from Johnny Guitar (1954), starring Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden and directed by Nicholas Ray.
Zero Hour! - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Paramount's Zero Hour! (1957), starring Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Sterling Hayden. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
The Asphalt Jungle - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are a few photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of The Asphalt Jungle, featuring director John Huston.
Suddenly - Movie Posters
Here are a few original release American movie posters from Suddenly (1954), starring Frank Sinatra.
5 Steps to Danger - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for 5 Steps to Danger (1957), starring Sterling Hayden and Ruth Roman. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Battle Taxi - Title Lobby Card
Here is the Title Lobby Card from Battle Taxi (1955), starring Sterling Hayden. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
The Iron Sheriff - Movie Poster
Here is a Half-Sheet movie poster from The Iron Sheriff (1957), starring Sterling Hayden and Constance Ford.
The Killing - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Videos

Movie Clip

Dr. Strangelove (1964) -- (Movie Clip) It Is My Clear Duty Director Stanley Kubrick executes this exchange mostly in one take, Lieutenant Mandrake (Peter Sellers) confronting General Ripper (Sterling Hayden) about clear evidence that there's not a war on, in Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, 1964.
Long Goodbye, The (1973) -- (Movie Clip) You Don't Look Like A Secretary Elliott Gould as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe at the Malibu Colony, summoned by Eileen Wade (Nina Van Pallandt, her first scene) who's both covering and looking for her wayward writer husband, the camera never still, in Robert Altman's updated version of The Long Goodbye, 1973.
Long Goodbye, The (1973) -- (Movie Clip) You Got Your Friend Marlboro Marlowe (Elliott Gould) on his second visit to the Burbank detox joint where Doc Verringer (Henry Gibson) is squeezing boozy author patient Wade (Sterling Hayden, his first scene), and their return to his Malibu home and wife (Nina Van Pallandt), in Robert Altmans's The Long Goodbye, 1973.
Loving (1970) -- (Movie Clip) Opening, Brooks Absorbing opening from director Irvin Kershner, introducing without dialogue George Segal as commercial artist Brooks, and Janis Young, whom we’ll learn is his mistress, with cinematographer Gordon Willis, in only his third feature, exhibiting some of his well-known ability to capture Manhattan, in Loving, 1970, co-starring Eva Marie Saint.
Loving (1970) -- (Movie Clip) Artists Are Sort Of Effeminate Scrambling with ad-agency pal Skip (Roy Scheider) to catch Midwestern trucking firm mogul Lepridon (Sterling Hayden) at the Manhattan building site for his new headquarters, commercial artist Brooks (George Segal) comes up with a new angle to land a big contract, Irvin Kershner directing from the novel by J.M. Ryan, in Loving, 1970.
Suddenly (1954) -- (Movie Clip) She Doesn't Like Guns Opening scene, Sterling Hayden is Tod, the sheriff, Pidge (Kim Charney) the son of widowed Ellen (Nancy Gates) of whom, we learn, the sheriff is enamored, in a small California town for which the movie is named, Suddenly, the 1954 assassination drama co-starring Frank Sinatra.
Asphalt Jungle, The (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Occupation, None Opening shot in Cincinnati, (the ending was shot on the same production trip, in Kentucky) introducing Dix (Sterling Hayden), Gus (James Whitmore) at the diner, Barry Kelley the cop at the line-up (featuing Strother Martin), Frank Cady the witness, in John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle, 1950.
Asphalt Jungle, The (1950) -- (Movie Clip) You Gotta Learn To Carry Matches Stick-up man Dix (Sterling Hayden), laying low after beating a legitimate arrest, greets anxious Doll (Jean Hagen), whom he doesn’t know well, except that the clip-joint where she worked got raided, early in John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle, 1950, from the W.R. Burnett novel.
Asphalt Jungle, The -- (Movie Clip) Opening, Dix Opening title sequence from John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle, 1950, sees thug Dix (Sterling Hayden) finding shelter in the diner run by pal Gus (James Whitmore) before the cops arrive.
Zero Hour! (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Picked The Wrong Week No mention of sniffing glue but Treleaven (Sterling Hayden), summoned from a Vancouver night club 45 minutes into the picture, makes his feelings known to flight controller Burdick (Charles Quinlivan) in the airliner-crisis drama Zero Hour!, spoofed in Airplane, 1980.
Zero Hour! (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Put Stryker On! Sterling Hayden (as "Treleaven") and Dana Andrews (as "Ted Stryker") are giving Lloyd Bridges and Robert Hays (in Airplane, 1980) plenty to work with in the airliner-crisis thriller Zero Hour!, 1957.
Kansas Pacific (1953) -- (Movie Clip) Just An Ordinary Fight Kansas, 1860, Sterling Hayden as undercover U.S. Army officer Nelson has just arrived to oversee railroad construction when he meets Reed Hadley as Quantrill (About twice the age the historic figure lived to become), who in fact is an agent for the incipient Confederacy, joining in fisticuffs as civic duty, his new associate Barton MacLane arriving, Harry Shannon, Eve Miller and Irving Bacon in support, in Allied Artists’ Kansas Pacific, 1953.

Trailer

Promo

Family

George Walter
Father
Died in 1925.
Frances Walter
Mother
James Hayden
Step-Father
Adopted Sterling.
Christian Winslow Hayden
Son
Born in August 1948; mother Betty de Noon.
Dana Morgan Hayden
Son
Born in June 1949; mother, Betty de Noon.
Gretchen Belle Hayden
Daughter
Born in September 1950; mother, Betty de Noon.
Matthew Grant Hayden
Son
Born in July 1952; mother, Betty de Noon.
Andrew Hayden
Son
Born in February 1961; mother, Catherine D McConnell.
David Hayden
Son
Born in September 1962; 1961; mother, Catherine D McConnell.

Companions

Madeleine Carroll
Wife
Actor. Married in 1942; divorced in 1946.
Betty de Noon
Wife
Was married and divorced three times between 1947 and 1958; mother of four of Hayden's children.
Catherine Devine McConnell
Wife
Married from 1960 until his death: mother of Hayden's two younger children.

Bibliography

"Voyage"
Sterling Hayden (1976)
"Wanderer"
Sterling Hayden (1966)

Notes

Hayden was reportedly offered the role of Quint, the sea captain, in "Jaws" but had to decline the role because of a problem with the IRS.