Name
Alan Ladd
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1913-09-03
Deathday
1964-01-29 (51 years old)
Place of Birth
Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA
Biography
Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and producer known for his cool, understated screen presence and his defining roles in 1940s and 1950s film noir and Westerns. Standing 5 ft 6 in (168 cm), Ladd became famous for the contrast between his modest height and his commanding on‑screen persona, a combination studios often enhanced through camera techniques and staging. He was frequently paired with Veronica Lake, one of the few major actresses shorter than he was, and together they became one of Hollywood’s iconic noir duos.
Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Ladd moved to North Hollywood as a child and worked various jobs before entering the film industry. After years of small roles — including an uncredited appearance in Citizen Kane — he achieved stardom with This Gun for Hire (1942). His quiet intensity and stoic charm resonated strongly with wartime audiences, making him one of the decade’s top box‑office draws.
Ladd went on to star in a series of successful films, including The Glass Key (1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946), Whispering Smith (1948), Shane (1953), and The Proud Rebel (1958). Though his popularity declined somewhat in the late 1950s, he continued to work steadily in both film and television and produced several of his later projects.
Ladd died in 1964 at the age of 50 from cerebral edema caused by acute alcohol and barbiturate intoxication, which was ruled an accidental death. Despite his relatively short life, he remains a defining figure of classic Hollywood — a performer whose quiet strength, distinctive presence, and memorable roles continue to influence the Western and noir genres.
Known For
7.971
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward ...
5.6
A girl is desperate to get to Washington D.C. to be with her lonesome brother, a wounded G...
6.722
Clips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsre...
5.98
Story of blood brothers whose bonds are tested when marauding Sioux Indians cross the bord...
6.66
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash ...
5.7
Al Goddard, a detective who works for the United States Postal Inspection Service, is assi...
5.75
Phaedra is a poor sponge diver on the lovely Greek isle of Hydra. While diving, she discov...
6.7
Soon after a veteran returns from war, his cheating wife is found dead. He evades police i...
6
A gambler and his buddy find a wise-guy jockey for their long-shot horse....
- 1999 Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man as Self (archive footage)
- 1953 Shane as Shane
- 1968 The Movie Orgy as Self (archive footage)
- 1941 The Reluctant Dragon as Baby Weems Storyboard Artist
- 1950 Appointment with Danger as Al Goddard
- 1982 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid as (in "This Gun For Hire") (archive footage)
- 1941 Petticoat Politics as Higgins Daughter's Boyfriend
- 1947 Saigon as Major Larry Briggs
- 1946 Calcutta as Neale Gordon
- 1949 Chicago Deadline as Ed Adams
- 1954 The Black Knight as John
- 1941 The Black Cat as Richard Hartley
- 1964 The Carpetbaggers as Nevada Smith
- 1948 Whispering Smith as Whispering Smith
- 1957 Boy on a Dolphin as Dr. James 'Jim' Calder
- 1946 The Blue Dahlia as Johnny Morrison
- 1942 Joan of Paris as "Baby"
- 1942 This Gun for Hire as Philip Raven
- 1959 The Man in the Net as John Hamilton
- 1942 The Glass Key as Ed Beaumont
- 1941 Gangs Inc. as Jimmy Kelly aka Bill Dugan
- 1949 The Great Gatsby as Jay Gatsby
- 1932 Once in a Lifetime as Projectionist (uncredited)
- 1937 Hold 'Em Navy as Chief Quartermaster (uncredited)
- 1947 My Favorite Brunette as Sam McCloud (uncredited)
- 1940 The Green Hornet as Gilpin - Student Pilot (uncredited)
- 1941 Cadet Girl as Harry - Musician (uncredited)
- 1940 Victory as Heyst as an 18-Year-Old (uncredited)
- 1940 The Howards of Virginia as Backwoodsman (uncredited)
- 1936 Pigskin Parade as Student (uncredited)
- 1983 Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1941 Great Guns as Soldier in Photo Shop (uncredited)
- 1937 Souls at Sea as Sailor (uncredited)
- 1940 Blame It on Love as TV Director (uncredited)
- 1938 The Goldwyn Follies as First Auditioning Singer (uncredited)
- 1955 Hell on Frisco Bay as Steve Rollins
- 1953 The Red Beret as Steve 'Canada' McKendrick
- 1958 The Badlanders as Peter Van Hoek (The Dutchman)
- 1946 O.S.S. as John Martin / Lt. (j.g.) Philip Masson, U.S.N.R. / Philippe Martine
- 1939 Petunia Natural Park as Narrator (uncredited)
- 1938 Secrets of a Nurse as Hospital Orderly (uncredited)
- 1934 Murder at the Vanities as Chorus Boy (uncredited)
- 1956 A Cry in the Night as Opening Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
- 1937 All Over Town as Young Man (uncredited)
- 1938 Freshman Year as Student (uncredited)
- 1937 The Last Train from Madrid as Soldier (uncredited)
- 1938 Come On, Leathernecks! as Club Waiter (uncredited)
- 1952 The Iron Mistress as Jim Bowie
- 1958 The Proud Rebel as John Chandler
- 1955 The McConnell Story as Capt. Joseph C. 'Mac' McConnell, Jr.
- 1958 The Deep Six as Alexander 'Alec' Austen
- 1942 Star Spangled Rhythm as Alan Ladd
- 1948 Beyond Glory as Capt. Rockwell 'Rocky' Gilman
- 1954 Hell Below Zero as Duncan Craig
- 1945 Salty O'Rourke as Salty O'Rourke
- 1954 Drum Beat as Johnny MacKay
- 1940 Ellery Queen, Master Detective as Elevator Passenger (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
- 1957 The Big Land as Chad Morgan
- 1947 Variety Girl as Alan Ladd
- 1950 Captain Carey, U.S.A. as Captain Webster Carey
- 1944 And Now Tomorrow as Doctor Merek Vance
- 1951 Red Mountain as Capt. Brett Sherwood
- 1954 Saskatchewan as Thomas O'Rourke
- 1960 All the Young Men as Sgt. Kincaid
- 1960 One Foot in Hell as Mitch Barrett
- 1962 13 West Street as Walt Sherill
- 1942 Lucky Jordan as Lucky Jordan
- 1943 China as David Jones
- 1950 Branded as Choya
- 1952 Botany Bay as Hugh Tallant
- 1952 Thunder in the East as Steve Gibbs
- 1961 Duel of Champions as Horatius
- 1956 Santiago as Caleb 'Cash' Adams
- 1953 Desert Legion as Paul Lartal
- 1960 Guns of the Timberland as Jim Hadley
- 1946 Two Years Before the Mast as Charles Stewart
- 1944 Skirmish on the Home Front as Harry W. Average
- 2022 Rat Pack as Self (archive footage)
- 1941 Citizen Kane as Reporter Smoking Pipe at End (uncredited)
- 1940 Those Were the Days! as Keg Rearick
- 1939 The Mysterious Miss X as Henchman
- 1940 American Portrait as Young man / Old man
- 1940 Her First Romance as John Gilman
- 1945 Duffy's Tavern as Alan Ladd
- 1940 Brother Rat and a Baby as Cadet in Trouble
- 1940 In Old Missouri as John Pittman Jr.
- 1940 Captain Caution as Newton
- 1939 Hitler: Beast of Berlin as Karl Bach
- 1932 Tom Brown of Culver as Cadet
- 1940 The Light of Western Stars as Danny
- 1940 Cross-Country Romance as Mr. Williams
- 1947 Wild Harvest as Joe Madigan
- 1941 I Look at You as Himself
- 1945 Hollywood Victory Caravan as Alan Ladd
- 1940 Meat and Romance as Bill Allen
- 1940 Meet the Missus as John Williams
- 1933 Saturday's Millions as Student
- 1954 A Star Is Born World Premiere as Self
- 1940 Sauce for the Gander as Man on the Spot Reporter
- 1943 Photographic Intelligence for Bombardment Aviation as Capt. Smith
- 2004 Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6 as Al - Baby Weems Storyboard Artist (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1939 Rulers of the Sea as Colin Farrell
- 1941 Military Training as Lieutenant, Platoon Leader, County Fair
- 1941 Unfinished Rainbows as Charles Martin Hall
- 1940 Wildcat Bus as (uncredited)
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Dan Holiday
- 1955 The Bob Cummings Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Joe
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Dan Donlan
