Sterling Hayden

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

The Godfather

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

Playhouse 90

Banacek

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

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

The Killing

All Movies (75)

• Rat Pack2022 · as Self (archive footage)
• Kubrick by Kubrick2020 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Albatross2016 · as Glass Man (voice) (archive footage)
• Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'2016 · as Self (archive footage)
• Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other2016 · as Self (archive footage)
• Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?2016 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–19592016 · as Capt. Mark McCluskey
• Irving Johnson High Seas Adventurer1985 · as Himself
• Pharos of Chaos1983 · as Self - Actor
• At Anchor / Land Under: A Film With Sterling Hayden1982 · as Himself
• Venom1981 · as Howard Anderson
• Gas1981 · as Duke Stuyvesant
• Nine to Five1980 · as Russell Tinsworthy
• The Starlost: The Beginning1980 · as Jeremiah
• The Outsider1979 · as Seamus Flaherty
• Winter Kills1979 · as Z.K. Dawson
• King of the Gypsies1978 · as King Zharko Stepanowicz
• 19001976 · as Leo Dalcò
• The Cinema According to Bertolucci1976 · as Self
• Cry, Onion!1975 · as Henry 'Jack' Pullitzer
• Deadly Strangers1975 · as Malcolm Robarts
• The Final Programme1973 · as Maj. Wrongway Lindbergh
• The Long Goodbye1973 · as Roger Wade
• The Big Departure1972 · as M. Nature / The Leader
• The Godfather1972 · as Captain McCluskey
• Angel's Leap1971 · as Mason / Custer
• Sweet Hunters1970 · as Allan
• Loving1970 · as Lepridon
• Hard Contract1969 · as Michael Carlson
• Carol for Another Christmas1964 · as Daniel Grudge
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb1964 · as Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper
• Old Man1958 · as Tall Convict
• Ten Days To Tulara1958 · as Scotty
• Days of Wine and Roses1958 · as Self (introduction)
• Terror in a Texas Town1958 · as George Hansen
• Zero Hour!1957 · as Captain Martin Treleaven
• Gun Battle at Monterey1957 · as Jay Turner / John York
• A Sound of Different Drummers1957 · as Gordon Miller
• Valerie1957 · as John Garth
• The Iron Sheriff1957 · as Sheriff Samuel Galt
• Crime of Passion1956 · as Lt. William Doyle
• 5 Steps to Danger1956 · as John Emmett
• Requiem for a Heavyweight1956 · as Self (intro/outro)
• The Killing1956 · as Johnny Clay
• The Come On1956 · as Dave Arnold
• Top Gun1955 · as Rick Martin
• The Last Command1955 · as Jim Bowie
• Shotgun1955 · as Clay Hardin
• The Eternal Sea1955 · as Rear-Adm. John Madison Hoskins
• Timberjack1955 · as Tim Chipman
• Battle Taxi1955 · as Capt. Russ Edwards
• Naked Alibi1954 · as Joe E. Conroy
• Suddenly1954 · as Sheriff Tod Shaw
• Johnny Guitar1954 · as Johnny 'Guitar' Logan
• Arrow In The Dust1954 · as Bart Laish
• Prince Valiant1954 · as Sir Gawain
• Fighter Attack1953 · as Steve
• So Big1953 · as Pervis De Jong
• Crime Wave1953 · as Det. Lt. Sims
• Take Me to Town1953 · as Will Hall
• Kansas Pacific1953 · as Capt. John Nelson
• The Star1952 · as Jim Johannsen aka Barry Lester
• Flat Top1952 · as Commander Dan Collier
• The Golden Hawk1952 · as Kit 'The Hawk' Gerardo
• Hellgate1952 · as Lt. Tod Voorhees
• Denver and Rio Grande1952 · as McCabe
• Flaming Feather1952 · as Tex McCloud
• Journey Into Light1951 · as Rev, John Burrows
• The Asphalt Jungle1950 · as Dix Handley
• Manhandled1949 · as Joe Cooper
• El Paso1949 · as Bert Donner
• Variety Girl1947 · as Sterling Hayden
• Blaze of Noon1947 · as Tad McDonald
• Bahama Passage1941 · as Adrian Ainsworth
• Virginia1941 · as Norman Williams

All TV Shows (10)

• The Blue and the Gray1982 · as John Brown
• Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television1977 · as Capt. Mark McCluskey
• The Starlost1973 · as Old Jeremiah
• Banacek1972 · as Tony Fowler
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson1962 · as Self
• Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre1956 · as Link Stevens
• Playhouse 901956
• General Electric Theater1953 · as Joe Turner
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars1951 · as Maj. Jim Curtis
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars1951