Sterling Hayden
Acting
Born: 1916-03-26 in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA
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."
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Godfather
Captain McCluskey
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Link Stevens
Playhouse 90
Nine to Five
Russell Tinsworthy
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper
Banacek
Tony Fowler
Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television
Capt. Mark McCluskey
The Killing
Johnny Clay
The Starlost
Old Jeremiah
The Long Goodbye
Roger Wade
1900
Leo Dalcò
Johnny Guitar
Johnny 'Guitar' Logan
General Electric Theater
Joe Turner
The Asphalt Jungle
Dix Handley
The Blue and the Gray
John Brown
Sweet Hunters
Allan
Rat Pack
Self (archive footage)
The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–1959
Capt. Mark McCluskey
Kubrick by Kubrick
Self (archive footage)
Suddenly
Sheriff Tod Shaw
The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980
Captain Mark McCluskey
The Last Command
Jim Bowie
Naked Alibi
Joe E. Conroy
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
Self (archive footage)
Prince Valiant
Sir Gawain
The Albatross
Glass Man (voice) (archive footage)
Venom
Howard Anderson
Cry, Onion!
Henry 'Jack' Pullitzer
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Maj. Jim Curtis
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Valerie
John Garth
Crime Wave
Det. Lt. Sims
Shotgun
Clay Hardin
Winter Kills
Z.K. Dawson
Flat Top
Commander Dan Collier
The Cinema According to Bertolucci
Self
Crime of Passion
Lt. William Doyle
Carol for Another Christmas
Daniel Grudge
Variety Girl
Sterling Hayden