Alan Ladd

Acting

Alan Ladd

Born 1913-09-03 · Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA

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.

Acting credits

Citizen Kane poster
8.0

Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.

Citizen Kane

1941

Shane poster
7.3

A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.

Shane

1953

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid poster
6.6

Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

1982

The Movie Orgy poster
6.8

Clips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsreels, bloopers, satirical short films and promotional and government films of the 1950s and 1960s are intercut together to tell a single story of various creatures and societal ills attacking American cities.

The Movie Orgy

1968

The Black Cat poster
6.4

Greedy heirs wait in a mansion for a rich cat lover to die, only to learn her cats come first.

The Black Cat

1941

The Reluctant Dragon poster
6.6

Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.

The Reluctant Dragon

1941

The Glass Key poster
6.6

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

The Glass Key

1942

Boy on a Dolphin poster
5.8

Phaedra is a poor sponge diver on the lovely Greek isle of Hydra. While diving, she discovers an ancient brass and gold statue of a boy riding a dolphin, which is said to have the magical power to grant wishes. Her shiftless boyfriend wants to sell it to an unscrupulous art collector, but Phaedra wants to give it to anthropologist Jim Calder, who would return it to the Greek government.

Boy on a Dolphin

1957

Santiago poster
5.8

Two American gun runners at odds with each other and looking to sell guns to the rebels during the Cuban War of Independence navigate a boat to Cuba. Along for the ride is a beautiful Cuban rebel in who both men are interested.

Santiago

1956

Wild Harvest poster
7.0

Joe is the head of an itinerant combine crew, working the harvests against rival crew boss Alperson. Joe's buddy Jim joins the crew with startup money. Farmer's niece Fay falls for Joe. He puts her off. To get back she marries Jim whom she prods into high-grading the grain (skimming off some for private sale). The last payment on Joe's machinery is due just as he discover's what his buddy has been doing.

Wild Harvest

1947

Hell on Frisco Bay poster
5.3

A cop framed for a murder he did not commit hunts the San Francisco waterfront for the Mob racketeers who are responsible.

Hell on Frisco Bay

1955

Saskatchewan poster
6.0

Story of blood brothers whose bonds are tested when marauding Sioux Indians cross the border to enlist the peaceful Cree in a battle against the Great White Father.

Saskatchewan

1954

The Blue Dahlia poster
6.7

Soon after a veteran returns from war, his cheating wife is found dead. He evades police in an attempt to find the real murderer.

The Blue Dahlia

1946

This Gun for Hire poster
7.0

Sadistic killer-for-hire Philip Raven becomes enraged when his latest job is paid off in marked bills. Vowing to track down his double-crossing boss, nightclub executive Gates, Raven sits beside Gates' lovely new employee, Ellen, on a train out of town. Although Ellen is engaged to marry the police lieutenant who's hunting down Raven, she decides to try and set the misguided hit man straight as he hides from the cops and plots his revenge.

This Gun for Hire

1942

The Proud Rebel poster
6.0

Searching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a word since he saw his mother die in the fire that burned down the family home--a Confederate veteran finds himself facing a 30-day jail sentence when he's unfairly accused of starting a brawl in a small town. A local woman pays his fine, providing that he works it off on her ranch. He soon finds himself involved in the woman's struggle to keep her ranch from a local landowner who wants it--and whose sons were responsible for the man being framed for the fight.

The Proud Rebel

1958

Great Guns poster
5.9

Laurel and Hardy join the army. They are hardly soldiers, but they believe their employer, (Dick Nelson) will need them now he's drafted.

Great Guns

1941

My Favorite Brunette poster
6.7

Ronnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.

My Favorite Brunette

1947

The Great Gatsby poster
5.4

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifetyle of his landlord, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.

The Great Gatsby

1949

The Badlanders poster
6.2

Two men are released from the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma in 1898. One, The Dutchman, is out to get both gold and revenge from certain people in a small mining town who had him imprisoned unjustly. The other, McBain, is just trying to go straight, but that is easier said than done once The Dutchman involves him in his gold theft scheme. Based on the 1949 novel The Asphalt Jungle by W. R. Burnett, the story is given an 1898 setting. It is the second film adaptation of the novel following 1950's noir classic The Asphalt Jungle.

The Badlanders

1958

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6 poster
8.8

Two classic animated shorts from the Disney studios. In 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1941), a young boy and a famous dragon fighter team up to teach a docile dragon the art of being a force to be reckoned with. In 'Mickey and the Beanstalk' (1947), Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck confront the fearsome Willie the Giant to try to retrieve the magical singing harp to Happy Valley.

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6

2004

Drum Beat poster
6.1

President Grant orders Indian fighter MacKay to negotiate with the Modocs of northern California and southern Oregon. On the way he must escort Nancy Meek to the home of her aunt and uncle. After Modoc renegade Captain Jack engages in ambush and other atrocities, MacKay must fight him one-on-one with guns, knives and fists.

Drum Beat

1954

The Black Knight poster
6.4

John, a blacksmith and swordsmith, is tutored at Camelot. As a commoner, he can't hope to win the hand of Lady Linet, daughter of the Earl of Yeoniland, so he creates a secret alternate identity as the Black Knight. In this new role, he is now able to help King Arthur when Saracens and Cornish men—disguised as Vikings -- plot to take over the country.

The Black Knight

1954

The Carpetbaggers poster
5.9

Jonas Cord is a disagreeable young tycoon who's building planes, directing films, and catting around on the corporate make in 1930s Hollywood.

The Carpetbaggers

1964

Brother Rat and a Baby poster
6.1

Three comrades graduate from Viriginia Military Institute. Bing has a chance to return to VMI as a football coach.

Brother Rat and a Baby

1940

Behind the camera