Jeff Chandler (actor)

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Jeff Chandler

Born Ira Grossel
December 15, 1918(1918-12-15)
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died June 17, 1961 (aged 42)
Culver City, California, United States
Years active 1967-1983
Spouse(s) Marjorie Hoshelle (1946-1954)

Jeff Chandler (December 15, 1918 - June 17, 1961) was a popular American film actor and singer in the 1950s.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, he attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities. Later, he took a drama course and spent two years in stock companies before serving in World War II. After being discharged from the military, he was a busy radio actor both in drama (such as episodes of Escape) and comedy (playing bashful biology teacher Phillip Boynton on Our Miss Brooks). His first film appearance was in Johnny O'Clock (1947).

In the 1950s, Chandler became a star in western and action movies. His first important role was in Sword In the Desert (1948), as an Israeli freedom fighter. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Cochise in Broken Arrow (1950). The first of three screen appearances as the legendary Apache chief, he repeated the role in The Battle Of Apache Pass (1952) and Taza, Son Of Cochise (1954).

During the latter part of the decade and into the early 1960s, Chandler became a top leading man. His sex appeal, prematurely gray hair, and tanned features put him into drama and costume movies. Among the movies of this period are Foxfire (1955), Away All Boats (1956), Toy Tiger (1956), Drango (1957), The Tattered Dress (1957), Man In the Shadow (1957), A Stranger in My Arms (1959), The Jayhawkers! (1959), Thunder in the Sun (1959), and Return to Peyton Place (1961).

His leading ladies included June Allyson, Joan Crawford, Rhonda Fleming, Maureen O'Hara, Jane Russell, Esther Williams, and his Brooklyn friend Susan Hayward.

Chandler had a concurrent career as a singer and recording artist, releasing several albums and playing nightclubs.

[edit] Personal life

Chandler married actress Marjorie Hoshelle in 1946. The couple had two daughters before divorcing in 1954.

When his friend Sammy Davis Jr. lost an eye in an accident and was in danger of losing the other, Chandler offered to give Davis one of his own eyes[1]. Chandler himself had nearly lost an eye and had been visibly scarred in an auto accident years earlier.

[edit] Death

Shortly after completing his role in Merrill's Marauders in 1961, he injured his back while playing baseball with U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers who served as extras in the movie. Chandler entered a Culver City hospital and had surgery for a spinal disc herniation on May 13, 1961. There were severe complications; an artery was damaged and Chandler hemorrhaged. In a seven and a half hour emergency operation over and above the original surgery, he was given 55 pints of blood. Another operation followed, date unknown, where he received an additional 20 pints of blood. He died on June 17, 1961. His death was deemed malpractice and resulted in a large lawsuit and settlement for his children.

Tony Curtis and Gerald Mohr were among the pallbearers at Chandler's funeral. He was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jeff Chandler has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1770 Vine Street.

[edit] Filmography

  • Johnny O'Clock (Uncredited, 1947)
  • The Invisible Wall (1947)
  • Roses Are Red (1947)
  • Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (Uncredited, 1949)
  • Sword in the Desert (1949)
  • Abandoned (1949)
  • Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (Uncredited, Voice, 1950)
  • Broken Arrow (1950)
  • Deported (1950)
  • The Desert Hawk (Uncredited, 1950)
  • Two Flags West (1950)
  • Double Crossbones (Uncredited, 1951)
  • Bird of Paradise (1951)
  • Smuggler's Island (1951)
  • Iron Man (1951)
  • Flame of the Desert (1951)
  • Yankee Pasha (1952)
  • The Battle at Apache Pass (1952)
  • Red Ball Express (1952)
  • Son of Ali Baba (Uncredited, 1952)
  • Because of You (1952)
  • Girls in the Night (Uncredited, Voice, 1952)
  • The Great Sioux Uprising (1953)
  • East of Sumatra (1953)

[edit] Television

  • A Story of David (1960)

[edit] Award nominations

Year Group Award Film Result
1951 Academy Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role Broken Arrow Nominated
1958 Laurel Awards Top Male Star
-
 14th Place
1959 Laurel Awards Top Male Star
-
 15th Place

[edit] References

  1. ^ Davis Jr., Sammy: Yes I Can, The Story of Sammy Davis Jr., New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux (1965) ISBN 0374522685
  • Marilyn Kirk. Jeff Chandler. 1st Books Library/AuthorHouse, 2003.
  • Jeff Wells. Jeff Chandler: Film, Record, Radio, Television and Theater Performances. McFarland, 2005.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Chandler, Jeff
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grossel, Ira
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor, singer
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH June 17, 1961
PLACE OF DEATH Culver City, California, United States