LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Sterling Hayden
built 665 days ago
Sterling Hayden's was a real life hero in World War II as you probably already know. This man was truely a man's man there was no acting there. He was the real thing.
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A handsome, virile star of the late 1940s and 50s, Sterling Hayden spent several years at sea before signing with Paramount in 1940, appearing in two films with future wife Madeleine Carroll. Variously touted by the studio publicity machine as "The Most Beautiful Man in Movies" or "The Beautiful Blond Viking God", the actor broke his contract in 1941 to join the Marines. During WWII, he assisted the Yugoslavian partisans fight against the Germans and briefly joined the Communist Party in 1946 (resigning after six months) before resuming his acting career the following year. Shortly after his superb performance in "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950), Hayden was gray-listed and was unable to work in Hollywood for six months. He then privately called on the FBI to make a statement concerning his former Communist affiliations, but was subpoenaed by HUAC in 1951 and obliged to testify in public, naming his fellow believers. Hayden was then allowed to continue working, though he expressed his guilt over having "named names" in his 1966 autobiography, "Wanderer".
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Ex-con Johnny Clay (genre mainstay Sterling Hayden) plans one last job before going straight. He is going to steal the takings from the local racetrack. Clay assembles his gang, including hen-pecked track cashier George Peatty (the wonderfully weaselly Elisha Cook Jr.), a psychotic marksman, and a chess playing brawler (the Tor Johnson-esque Kola Kwariani - this man has to be seen and heard to be believed). Every member of the gang has their role to play, at just the right time, for the plan to work. Inevitably, a minor detail goes wrong and it all starts to fall apart - Clay's last job. Period.
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Hayden could never completely settle down mentally or physically. He tried too hard to find meaning in life. Even if it seemed like he was carefree, he was actually unable to just let go and embrace the stupidity of existence. For all Hayden’s talk about doing what you want and experiencing the natural beauty of life, he was ... drunk or stoned much of the time. Hayden was no better than the home guards he criticized, they escaped through domestic security, while he got drunk and fell off barges.
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The Mugar Library at Boston University has Sterling Hayden memorabilia. In 2001 to 2002 there was a three-room exhbit of memorabilia. It was so popular that BU ran it longer than they planned.
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Sterling Hayden