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

  • 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

  • Banacek

    Banacek

  • Arrow In The Dust

    Arrow In The Dust

  • The Final Programme

    The Final Programme

  • The Killing

    The Killing

  • Venom

    Venom

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

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

  • Gun Battle at Monterey

    Gun Battle at Monterey

  • Hard Contract

    Hard Contract

  • Crime of Passion

    Crime of Passion

  • Requiem for a Heavyweight

    Requiem for a Heavyweight

  • The Long Goodbye

    The Long Goodbye

  • Loving

    Loving

  • The Big Departure

    The Big Departure

  • Carol for Another Christmas

    Carol for Another Christmas

  • The Golden Hawk

    The Golden Hawk

  • Zero Hour!

    Zero Hour!

  • Cry, Onion!

    Cry, Onion!

  • Johnny Guitar

    Johnny Guitar

  • 1900

    1900

  • The Outsider

    The Outsider

  • Kansas Pacific

    Kansas Pacific

  • Days of Wine and Roses

    Days of Wine and Roses

  • 5 Steps to Danger

    5 Steps to Danger

  • Flaming Feather

    Flaming Feather

  • King of the Gypsies

    King of the Gypsies

  • Suddenly

    Suddenly

  • Winter Kills

    Winter Kills

  • The Asphalt Jungle

    The Asphalt Jungle

  • Top Gun

    Top Gun

  • Terror in a Texas Town

    Terror in a Texas Town

  • The Starlost

    The Starlost

  • The Blue and the Gray

    The Blue and the Gray

  • Crime Wave

    Crime Wave

  • The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–1959

    The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–1959

  • Deadly Strangers

    Deadly Strangers

  • Nine to Five

    Nine to Five

  • The Starlost: The Beginning

    The Starlost: The Beginning

  • Pharos of Chaos

    Pharos of Chaos

  • The Eternal Sea

    The Eternal Sea

  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

  • Shotgun

    Shotgun

  • Rat Pack

    Rat Pack

  • Blaze of Noon

    Blaze of Noon

  • Kubrick by Kubrick

    Kubrick by Kubrick

  • Naked Alibi

    Naked Alibi

  • So Big

    So Big

  • Timberjack

    Timberjack

  • Bahama Passage

    Bahama Passage

  • The Iron Sheriff

    The Iron Sheriff

  • Fighter Attack

    Fighter Attack

  • General Electric Theater

    General Electric Theater

  • The Star

    The Star

  • Valerie

    Valerie

  • El Paso

    El Paso

  • The Come On

    The Come On

  • Variety Girl

    Variety Girl

  • Old Man

    Old Man

  • Denver and Rio Grande

    Denver and Rio Grande

  • Ten Days To Tulara

    Ten Days To Tulara

  • Take Me to Town

    Take Me to Town

  • Angel's Leap

    Angel's Leap

  • Battle Taxi

    Battle Taxi

  • Prince Valiant

    Prince Valiant

  • Flat Top

    Flat Top

  • The Last Command

    The Last Command

  • Sweet Hunters

    Sweet Hunters

  • Irving Johnson High Seas Adventurer

    Irving Johnson High Seas Adventurer

  • Manhandled

    Manhandled

  • Hellgate

    Hellgate

  • Gas

    Gas

  • The Cinema According to Bertolucci

    The Cinema According to Bertolucci

  • A Sound of Different Drummers

    A Sound of Different Drummers

  • Journey Into Light

    Journey Into Light

  • Virginia

    Virginia

  • 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'

  • Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?

    Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?

  • The Albatross

    The Albatross

  • Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other

    Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other

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

    At Anchor / Land Under: A Film With Sterling Hayden