Sterling Hayden

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

85

Gender

Male

Birthday

1916-03-26

Day of death

1986-05-23 (70 years old)

Place of Birth

Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA

Sterling Hayden

Biography

Sterling Walter Hayden, born Sterling Relyea Walter, was an American actor and author. He didn't really harbor any aspirations of being an actor, 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

    The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

  • The Godfather

    The Godfather

  • Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

    Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

  • The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–1959

    The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–1959

  • Banacek

    Banacek

  • Playhouse 90

    Playhouse 90

  • Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

  • Valerie

    Valerie

  • 1900

    1900

  • Bahama Passage

    Bahama Passage

  • Johnny Guitar

    Johnny Guitar

  • So Big

    So Big

  • Hard Contract

    Hard Contract

  • Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television

    Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television

  • Crime Wave

    Crime Wave

  • El Paso

    El Paso

  • Loving

    Loving

  • Prince Valiant

    Prince Valiant

  • Cry, Onion!

    Cry, Onion!

  • Naked Alibi

    Naked Alibi

  • The Star

    The Star

  • Top Gun

    Top Gun

  • Winter Kills

    Winter Kills

  • Venom

    Venom

  • Old Man

    Old Man

  • Suddenly

    Suddenly

  • Flaming Feather

    Flaming Feather

  • Shotgun

    Shotgun

  • Hellgate

    Hellgate

  • The Outsider

    The Outsider

  • Fighter Attack

    Fighter Attack

  • Variety Girl

    Variety Girl

  • Nine to Five

    Nine to Five

  • Rat Pack

    Rat Pack

  • Days of Wine and Roses

    Days of Wine and Roses

  • The Long Goodbye

    The Long Goodbye

  • Timberjack

    Timberjack

  • The Killing

    The Killing

  • Sweet Hunters

    Sweet Hunters

  • Carol for Another Christmas

    Carol for Another Christmas

  • Flat Top

    Flat Top

  • 5 Steps to Danger

    5 Steps to Danger

  • King of the Gypsies

    King of the Gypsies

  • The Blue and the Gray

    The Blue and the Gray

  • The Golden Hawk

    The Golden Hawk

  • The Last Command

    The Last Command

  • Requiem for a Heavyweight

    Requiem for a Heavyweight

  • The Starlost

    The Starlost

  • Kubrick by Kubrick

    Kubrick by Kubrick

  • Arrow In The Dust

    Arrow In The Dust

  • The Final Programme

    The Final Programme

  • The Eternal Sea

    The Eternal Sea

  • Terror in a Texas Town

    Terror in a Texas Town

  • The Asphalt Jungle

    The Asphalt Jungle

  • Crime of Passion

    Crime of Passion

  • Zero Hour!

    Zero Hour!

  • Gun Battle at Monterey

    Gun Battle at Monterey

  • The Iron Sheriff

    The Iron Sheriff

  • Denver and Rio Grande

    Denver and Rio Grande

  • The Starlost: The Beginning

    The Starlost: The Beginning

  • The Come On

    The Come On

  • Kansas Pacific

    Kansas Pacific

  • Pharos of Chaos

    Pharos of Chaos

  • Blaze of Noon

    Blaze of Noon

  • Take Me to Town

    Take Me to Town

  • The Big Departure

    The Big Departure

  • General Electric Theater

    General Electric Theater

  • Gas

    Gas

  • Angel's Leap

    Angel's Leap

  • Ten Days To Tulara

    Ten Days To Tulara

  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

  • Manhandled

    Manhandled

  • Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other

    Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other

  • Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?

    Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?

  • The Albatross

    The Albatross

  • The Cinema According to Bertolucci

    The Cinema According to Bertolucci

  • Deadly Strangers

    Deadly Strangers

  • A Sound of Different Drummers

    A Sound of Different Drummers

  • Irving Johnson High Seas Adventurer

    Irving Johnson High Seas Adventurer

  • Battle Taxi

    Battle Taxi

  • Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'

    Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'

  • Virginia

    Virginia

  • At Anchor / Land Under: A Film With Sterling Hayden

    At Anchor / Land Under: A Film With Sterling Hayden

  • Journey Into Light

    Journey Into Light