Sterling Hayden
Known For
Acting
Born
1916-03-26 in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA
Died
1986-05-23
Biography
Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor and author. He dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and hired on as mate on a schooner. He was a ship's captain at 22, and in need of cash to buy his own boat, established himself as a model in New York, discovered by Paramount Studios talent scouts and offered a contract. Sterling Hayden, the handsome tall blond actor who played wholesome leading-man movie roles in the 1940's and 1950's and later weathered into a rough-hewn solid character actor in films such as "Dr. Strangelove", "The Godfather," "Nine to Five" and "King of the Gypsies". He appeared in 71 feature films and tv-productions from the debut in "Virginia" 1941 to the tv mini-series "The Blue and the Gray" in 1982. He wrote of his obsessive fascination with the sea in a 1963 autobiography, "Wanderer," and in 1970 his 700-page epic novel of the sea, "Voyage," was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. Sterling Hayden appeared in the German documentary, "Pharos of Chaos," (1983) filmed aboard his barge in Europe, and seemed to be in an alcoholic stupor much of the time, supplementing his wine intake with hashish. On camera he said: "What confuses me is I ain't all that unhappy. So why do I drink, I don't know."
Most Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
The Godfather
as Captain McCluskey
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Link Stevens
Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television
as Capt. Mark McCluskey
Banacek
as Tony Fowler
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
as Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper
Playhouse 90
The Starlost
as Old Jeremiah
Naked Alibi
as Joe E. Conroy
Valerie
as John Garth
Nine to Five
as Russell Tinsworthy
1900
as Leo Dalcò
The Killing
as Johnny Clay
Flat Top
as Commander Dan Collier
Sweet Hunters
as Allan
The Long Goodbye
as Roger Wade
Johnny Guitar
as Johnny 'Guitar' Logan
The Blue and the Gray
as John Brown
The Asphalt Jungle
as Dix Handley
Prince Valiant
as Sir Gawain