Van Heflin

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Van Heflin

from the trailer for
Grand Central Murder (1942)
Born Emmett Evan Heflin Jr.
December 13, 1908(1908-12-13)
Walters, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died July 23, 1971 (aged 62)
Hollywood, California, U.S.

Van Heflin (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an Academy Award-winning American film and theater actor.


Contents

[edit] Early life

Heflin was born Emmett Evan Heflin Jr. in Walters, Oklahoma to Fannie B. and Dr. Emmett E. Heflin, a dentist.[1] He was of Irish and French ancestry.[2] Heflin's sister was Daytime Emmy-nominated actress Frances Heflin. Heflin attended the University of Oklahoma, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

[edit] Career

Heflin began his acting career on Broadway in the early 1930s before being signed to a contract by RKO Radio Pictures. He made his film debut in A Woman Rebels (1936). He was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was initially cast in supporting roles in films such as Santa Fe Trail (1940), and Johnny Eager (1942), winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the latter performance.

MGM began to groom him as a leading man in B movies, and provided him with supporting roles in more prestigious productions. Among his more notable film credits are Presenting Lily Mars (1943), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Possessed (1947), Green Dolphin Street (1947), Act of Violence (1948), The Three Musketeers (1948), The Prowler (1951), Shane (1953), and 3:10 to Yuma (1957). He also performed on stage throughout his acting career. His stage credits include The Philadelphia Story on Broadway opposite Katharine Hepburn and Joseph Cotten, and the Arthur Miller play A Memory of Two Mondays.

Heflin's last major role was in Airport (1970). He played "D. O. Guerrero", a failure who attempts to blow himself up on an airliner so his wife (played by Maureen Stapleton) can collect on a life insurance policy.

He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his contributions to motion pictures at 6309 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard.

[edit] Personal life

On July 6, 1971, Heflin had a heart attack. He lay unconscious for days, apparently never regaining consciousness. Van Heflin died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on July 23, 1971.

He had left instructions forbidding a public funeral. Instead, his cremated remains were scattered on the ocean. (Heflin was a sailor before becoming an actor).

[edit] Filmography

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.okhistory.org/enc/heflin.htm
  2. ^ Van Heflin
Awards
Preceded by
Donald Crisp
for How Green Was My Valley		 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1942
for Johnny Eager		 Succeeded by
Charles Coburn
for The More the Merrier
v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Donald Crisp (1941) · Van Heflin (1942) · Charles Coburn (1943) · Barry Fitzgerald (1944) · James Dunn (1945) · Harold Russell (1946) · Edmund Gwenn (1947) · Walter Huston (1948) · Dean Jagger (1949) George Sanders (1950) · Karl Malden (1951) · Anthony Quinn (1952) · Frank Sinatra (1953) · Edmond O'Brien (1954) · Jack Lemmon (1955) · Anthony Quinn (1956) · Red Buttons (1957) · Burl Ives (1958) · Hugh Griffith (1959) · Peter Ustinov (1960)

Complete list · (1936–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
Persondata
NAME Heflin, Van
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jr., Emmett Evan Heflin
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1908-12-13
PLACE OF BIRTH Walters, Oklahoma, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH 1971-7-23
PLACE OF DEATH Hollywood, California, U.S.