ALAN LADD

Remembering the actor and film producer ALAN LADD born on this day in 1913.

Ladd's performance in THE MIKADO was seen by a talent scout.

In August 1933 Ladd was one of a group of young "discoveries" signed to a long-term contract with Universal Pictures.

Ladd's first notable part under Carol's management was the 1939 film RULERS OF THE SEA.

He also received attention for a small part in HITLER – BEAST OF BERLIN (1939).

He obtained many small roles in films such as the serial THE GREEN HORNET (1940), HER FIRST ROMANCE (1940), THE BLACK CAT (1941), and the Disney film THE RELUCTANT DRAGON (1941).

Ladd's career gained extra momentum when he was cast in a featured role in JOAN OF PARIS (1942), a wartime drama made at RKO.

Paramount had owned the film rights to A GUN FOR SALE, a novel by Graham Greene, since 1936 but waited until 1941 before making a movie out of it, changing the title to THIS GUN FOR HIRE.

Even during the filming of This Gun for Hire, Paramount knew it had a potential star and announced Ladd's next film, an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's story, THE GLASS KEY (1942).

Ladd then appeared in LUCKY JORDAN (1943), a lighter vehicle with Helen Walker, playing a gangster who tries to get out of war service and tangles with Nazis.

When Ladd returned from the army, Paramount announced a series of vehicles for him, including AND NOW TOMORROW and TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST.

Paramount commissioned Raymond Chandler to write an original screenplay for him titled THE BLUE DAHLIA.

Ladd next made CALCUTTA (1947).

Ladd's next film was O.S.S, a wartime thriller, produced by Richard Maibaum.

He was reteamed with Lake for the final time in SAIGON (1948), then made WHISPERING SMITH (1948), his first Western since he became a star (and his first movie in color).

He followed this with BEYOND GLORY (1948).

In 1948, he starred and produced BOX 13, a regular weekly series for syndication, which ran for 52 episodes.

Ladd's next role was a significant change of pace, playing Jay Gatsby in the 1949 version of THE GREAT GATSBY.

His next films were standard fare: CHICAGO DEADLINE, playing a tough reporter; CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A., as a vengeful ex-OSS agent, for Maibaum; and APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER, as a postal inspector.

In 1950, the Hollywood Women's Press Club voted Ladd the easiest male star to deal with in Hollywood.

The following year, a poll from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association listed Ladd as the second most popular male film star in the world, after Gregory Peck.

Ladd's final three movies for Paramount were THUNDER IN THE EAST, SHANE, and BOTANY BAY.

Shane, in which he played a strong, silent, courageous title character, was particularly popular.

His first film for Warner Bros. was THE IRON MISTRESS (1952).

He made DESERT LEGION, a film at Universal Studios (1953), playing a member of the French Foreign Legion.

Ladd signed an arrangement with Warwick Films to make some films in Britain: a wartime saga titled THE RED BERET (1953) and a whaling story titled HELL BELOW ZERO (1954).

Ladd played a mountie in SASKATCHEWAN for Universal in Canada and returned to Britain for his final film with Warwick, THE BLACK KNIGHT (1954).

Ladd's next film as an actor saw him co-star with his son David in THE PROUD REBEL.

For Walter Mirisch at United Artists, Ladd appeared in The MAN IN THE NET.

As an actor, he made ALL THE YOUNG MEN with Sidney Poitier, that was released through Columbia.

ONE FOOT IN HELL (1960), over at 20th Century Fox, had Ladd play an out-and-out villain for the first time, since the beginning of his career, but the result was not popular with audiences.

Ladd also kept acting, following the path of many Hollywood stars made DUEL OF CHAMPIONS (1961), a peplum in Italy. Back in Hollywood, he made 13 WEST STREET, as a star and producer, for Ladd Enterprises.

In 1963, Ladd's career looked set to make a comeback, when he took a supporting role in THE CARPETBAGGERS.

In January 1964, after injuring his knees, Ladd hoped to recuperate at his house in Palm Springs.

On January 29, 1964, his butler said that he saw Ladd on his bed at 10 am; when he returned at 3:30 pm, he found Ladd dead on his bed.

His death, due to cerebral edema caused by an acute overdose of alcohol, a barbiturate, and two tranquilizers containing at least two depressants, was ruled accidental.