Alan Walbridge Ladd

 Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964)

Ladd found success in film the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in Westerns such as Shane (1953) and film noirs where he was often paired with Veronica Lake, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942) and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Other notable credits include Two Years Before the Mast (1946), Whispering Smith (1949) and The Great Gatsby (1949). Ladd had a brief timeout for military service in the United States Army Air Forces First Motion Picture Unit. Ladd was initially classified 4-F unfit for military service because of stomach problems, but began his military service in January 1943. He was posted to the Walla Walla Army Air Base at Walla Walla, Washington, attaining the rank of Corporal. Despite his stardom in the 1940's, Ladd's popularity decreased in the late 1950's. He turned down the chance to play the role of Jett Rink in the 1956 film, Giant (a role subsequently played by James Dean), which became one of the biggest hits of the decade. "I'd like to retire from acting," he said in 1960. "I'd produce." Ladd kept busy developing projects, some of which were vehicles for his son, David.

On November 2, 1962, Ladd was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart, in what might have been an unsuccessful suicide attempt. The bullet penetrated Ladd's chest around the third and fourth rib, through the lungs and bounced off the rib cage. At the time, Ladd said he thought he heard a prowler, grabbed a gun, and tripped over, accidentally shooting himself. On January 29, 1964, his butler said he saw Ladd seemingly asleep on his bed at 10am; when he returned at 3:30pm Ladd was still there, dead. His death, due to cerebral edema caused by an acute overdose of "alcohol and three other drugs", was ruled accidental. Ladd suffered from chronic insomnia and regularly used sleeping pills and alcohol to induce sleep. While he had not taken a lethal amount of any one drug, the combination apparently caused a synergistic reaction that proved fatal. Suicide was ruled out. Alan Ladd is interred at Forest Lawn in Glendale, inside the Freedom Mausoleum. Ladd's son David, who co-starred with his father as a child in The Proud Rebel, was married to Charlie's Angels star Cheryl Ladd, and their daughter is actress Jordan Ladd.