Alan Ladd

Actor

Born Alan Walbridge Ladd on Sept. 3, 1913 in Hot Springs, AR

Died Jan. 29, 1964 of drug and alcohol overdose in Palm Springs, CA

Alan Ladd was a velvet-voiced, iron-jawed hero of 150 Hollywood films.

If success in acting depended only on dramatic displays of emotion. Ladd would have been a failure. The role as the hired killer, Raven, in "This Gun for Hire" — with voice low and steady, eyes ever steely and jaw ever firm — set the pattern of his subsequent portrayals, whether villain or hero.

One of his most memorable portrayals was that of the reluctant gun fighter in "Shane." In virtually all of his films, Ladd was the strong, silent man of action who spoke with his fists or six-guns.

— Los Angeles Times Jan. 30, 1964