Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American actor and film and television producer. Ladd found success in film the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in Westerns and film noirs where he was often paired with Veronica Lake, as she was one of the few Hollywood actresses shorter than he. His popularity diminished in the late 1950s, though he continued to appear in popular films until his death from cerebral edema in January 1964. Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but later relocated to North Hollywood, California when his mother re-married. He worked briefly as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) and for a short time was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. Intent on acting, he found work in small theatres. He had short term stints at MGM and RKO, and eventually started getting steady work on radio. Ladd began by appearing in dozens of films in small roles, including Citizen Kane , before reaching recognition for his 1942 appearance in This Gun for Hire, invigorating Hollywood's desire for gangster-crime features. His cool, unsmiling persona proved popular with wartime audiences, and he was quickly established as one of the top box office stars of the decade.
Movie | Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6 | Al - Baby Weems Storyboard Artist (archive footage) | 2004-05-31 |
Movie | Los Angeles Plays Itself | Philip Raven in This Gun For Hire (archive footage) | 2004-07-28 |
Movie | Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man | Self (archive footage) | 1999-03-04 |
Movie | Frantic | Bellboy 3 | 1988-02-19 |
Movie | George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey | 1985-03-03 | |
Movie | Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1983-02-25 |
Movie | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid | (in "This Gun For Hire") (archive footage) | 1982-05-21 |
Movie | The Movie Orgy | Self (archive footage) | 1968-01-01 |
Movie | The Carpetbaggers | Nevada Smith | 1964-04-08 |
Movie | 13 West Street | Walt Sherill | 1962-02-23 |
Movie | Duel of Champions | Horatius | 1961-10-19 |
Movie | Guns of the Timberland | Jim Hadley | 1960-02-01 |
Movie | All the Young Men | Sgt. Kincaid | 1960-08-26 |
Movie | One Foot in Hell | Mitch Barrett | 1960-09-11 |
Movie | The Man in the Net | John Hamilton | 1959-06-10 |
Movie | The Deep Six | Alexander 'Alec' Austen | 1958-01-15 |
Movie | The Badlanders | Peter Van Hoek (The Dutchman) | 1958-09-03 |
Movie | The Proud Rebel | John Chandler | 1958-07-01 |
Movie | The Big Land | Chad Morgan | 1957-03-01 |
Movie | Boy on a Dolphin | Dr. James 'Jim' Calder | 1957-04-19 |
Movie | Santiago | Caleb 'Cash' Adams | 1956-07-13 |
Movie | A Cry in the Night | Opening Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | 1956-08-17 |
Movie | The McConnell Story | Capt. Joseph C. 'Mac' McConnell, Jr. | 1955-09-29 |
Movie | Hell on Frisco Bay | Steve Rollins | 1955-12-31 |
Movie | Hell Below Zero | Duncan Craig | 1954-01-13 |
Movie | Saskatchewan | Thomas O'Rourke | 1954-03-30 |
Movie | The Black Knight | John | 1954-08-26 |
Movie | Drum Beat | Johnny MacKay | 1954-11-10 |
Movie | A Star Is Born World Premiere | Self | 1954-09-28 |
Series | General Electric Theater | Dan Donlan | 1953-02-01 |
Movie | Shane | Shane | 1953-04-23 |
Movie | Desert Legion | Paul Lartal | 1953-05-08 |
Movie | The Red Beret | Steve 'Canada' McKendrick | 1953-08-11 |
Movie | The Iron Mistress | Jim Bowie | 1952-11-19 |
Movie | Botany Bay | Hugh Tallant | 1952-12-26 |
Movie | Thunder in the East | Steve Gibbs | 1952-12-04 |
Movie | Red Mountain | Capt. Brett Sherwood | 1951-11-01 |
Movie | Captain Carey, U.S.A. | Captain Webster Carey | 1950-02-21 |
Movie | Branded | Choya | 1950-11-03 |
Movie | Appointment with Danger | Al Goddard | 1950-03-31 |
Movie | The Great Gatsby | Jay Gatsby | 1949-07-13 |
Movie | Chicago Deadline | Ed Adams | 1949-11-03 |
Series | The Ed Sullivan Show | Self (archive footage) | 1948-06-20 |
Movie | Beyond Glory | Capt. Rockwell 'Rocky' Gilman | 1948-08-03 |
Movie | Whispering Smith | Whispering Smith | 1948-12-09 |
Movie | My Favorite Brunette | Sam McCloud (uncredited) | 1947-03-19 |
Movie | Variety Girl | Alan Ladd | 1947-08-29 |
Movie | Wild Harvest | Joe Madigan | 1947-09-26 |
Movie | Saigon | Major Larry Briggs | 1947-12-05 |
Movie | O.S.S. | John Martin / Lt. (j.g.) Philip Masson, U.S.N.R. / Philippe Martine | 1946-05-26 |
Movie | The Blue Dahlia | Johnny Morrison | 1946-04-16 |
Movie | Two Years Before the Mast | Charles Stewart | 1946-11-22 |
Movie | Calcutta | Neale Gordon | 1946-12-20 |
Movie | Salty O'Rourke | Salty O'Rourke | 1945-03-22 |
Movie | Hollywood Victory Caravan | Alan Ladd | 1945-09-30 |
Movie | Duffy's Tavern | Alan Ladd | 1945-09-28 |
Movie | Skirmish on the Home Front | Harry W. Average | 1944-05-11 |
Movie | And Now Tomorrow | Doctor Merek Vance | 1944-11-22 |
Movie | Photographic Intelligence for Bombardment Aviation | Capt. Smith | 1943-01-25 |
Movie | China | David Jones | 1943-04-21 |
Movie | Joan of Paris | "Baby" | 1942-01-20 |
Movie | Star Spangled Rhythm | Alan Ladd | 1942-03-05 |
Movie | The Glass Key | Ed Beaumont | 1942-09-08 |
Movie | This Gun for Hire | Philip Raven | 1942-04-24 |
Movie | Lucky Jordan | Lucky Jordan | 1942-11-16 |
Movie | Citizen Kane | Reporter Smoking Pipe at End (uncredited) | 1941-04-17 |
Movie | I Look at You | Himself | 1941-02-20 |
Movie | The Black Cat | Richard Hartley | 1941-05-02 |
Movie | The Reluctant Dragon | Baby Weems Storyboard Artist | 1941-06-19 |
Movie | Cadet Girl | Harry - Musician (uncredited) | 1941-11-28 |
Movie | Great Guns | Soldier in Photo Shop (uncredited) | 1941-10-10 |
Movie | Gangs Inc. | Jimmy Kelly aka Bill Dugan | 1941-06-13 |
Movie | Gangs of Chicago | (uncredited) | 1940-05-18 |
Movie | Cross-Country Romance | Mr. Williams | 1940-07-12 |
Movie | Light of Western Stars | Danny | 1940-04-17 |
Movie | Blame It on Love | TV Director (uncredited) | 1940-06-18 |
Movie | Sauce for the Gander | Man on the Spot Reporter | 1940-02-10 |
Movie | The Green Hornet | Gilpin - Student Pilot (uncredited) | 1940-01-08 |
Movie | Brother Rat and a Baby | Cadet in Trouble | 1940-01-13 |
Movie | In Old Missouri | John Pittman Jr. | 1940-04-17 |
Movie | Those Were the Days! | Keg Rearick | 1940-07-14 |
Movie | Ellery Queen, Master Detective | Elevator Passenger (uncredited) (unconfirmed) | 1940-11-30 |
Movie | Her First Romance | John Gilman | 1940-12-25 |
Movie | American Portrait | Young man / Old man | 1940-07-31 |
Movie | Meet the Missus | John Williams | 1940-11-29 |
Movie | Victory | Heyst as an 18-Year-Old (uncredited) | 1940-12-21 |
Movie | Meat and Romance | Bill Allen | 1940-10-29 |
Movie | The Howards of Virginia | Backwoodsman (uncredited) | 1940-09-19 |
Movie | Captain Caution | Newton | 1940-08-09 |
Movie | Petunia Natural Park | Narrator (uncredited) | 1939-01-03 |
Movie | The Mysterious Miss X | Henchman | 1939-01-10 |
Movie | Hitler: Beast of Berlin | Karl Bach | 1939-10-07 |
Movie | Rulers of the Sea | Colin Farrell | 1939-11-08 |
Movie | The Goldwyn Follies | First Auditioning Singer (uncredited) | 1938-02-04 |
Movie | Come On, Leathernecks! | Club Waiter (uncredited) | 1938-08-08 |
Movie | Secrets of a Nurse | Hospital Orderly (uncredited) | 1938-12-02 |
Movie | Freshman Year | Student (uncredited) | 1938-09-02 |
Movie | The Last Train from Madrid | Unknown | 1937-06-11 |
Movie | All Over Town | Young Man (uncredited) | 1937-08-09 |
Movie | Souls at Sea | Sailor (uncredited) | 1937-09-03 |
Movie | Hold 'Em Navy | Chief Quartermaster (uncredited) | 1937-11-04 |
Movie | Pigskin Parade | Student (uncredited) | 1936-10-23 |
Movie | Murder at the Vanities | Chorus Boy (uncredited) | 1934-05-18 |
Movie | Saturday's Millions | Student | 1933-09-30 |
Movie | Tom Brown of Culver | Cadet | 1932-06-30 |
Movie | Island of Lost Souls | Beast (uncredited) (unconfirmed) | 1932-12-24 |
Movie | Once in a Lifetime | Projectionist (uncredited) | 1932-10-02 |