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Sterling Hayden

Sterling Hayden

Actor · 1916 – 1986 · Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA

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."

Movies22

  • Movie8.7

    The Godfather

    1972 · 23K votes

  • Movie8.1
  • Movie7.0

    Nine to Five

    1980 · 595 votes

  • Movie7.6

    The Killing

    1956 · 1.8K votes

  • Movie7.4

    The Long Goodbye

    1973 · 810 votes

  • Movie7.8

    Novecento

    1900

    1976 · 698 votes

  • Movie7.4

    Johnny Guitar

    1954 · 490 votes

  • Movie8.9
  • Movie7.5

    The Asphalt Jungle

    1950 · 548 votes

  • Movie5.7

    Venom

    1981 · 93 votes

  • Movie7.3

    Kubrick by Kubrick

    2020 · 52 votes

  • Movie6.4

    Suddenly

    1954 · 123 votes

  • Movie5.9

    King of the Gypsies

    1978 · 24 votes

  • Movie6.7

    The Last Command

    1955 · 10 votes

  • Movie6.1

    Prince Valiant

    1954 · 68 votes

  • Movie7.1

    Crime Wave

    1953 · 84 votes

  • Movie6.6

    5 Steps to Danger

    1956 · 16 votes

  • Movie6.7

    Terror in a Texas Town

    1958 · 48 votes

  • Movie4.6

    Valerie

    1957 · 17 votes

  • Movie5.9
  • Movie6.1

    Naked Alibi

    1954 · 42 votes

  • Movie5.6

    Denver and Rio Grande

    1952 · 16 votes

Series9

  • TV7.5
  • TV6.2
  • TV7.5

    Playhouse 90

    1956 · 10 votes

  • TV8.4

    Banacek

    1972 · 20 votes

  • TV8.6
  • TV7.7

    The Starlost

    1973 · 14 votes

  • TV6.8

    The Blue and the Gray

    1982 · 26 votes

  • TV6.8
  • TV7.2