Jeff Chandler (actor)

Infobox actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Jeff Chandler

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imagesize =
caption =
birthname = Ira Grossel
birthdate = birth date|1918|12|15|mf=y
location = Brooklyn, New York, United States
deathdate = death date and age|1961|06|17|1918|12|15|mf=y
deathplace = Culver City, California, United States
height =
othername =
spouse = Marjorie Hoshelle (1946-1954)
yearsactive = 1945-1961
homepage =
notable role =

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

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). [Jeff Wells. Jeff Chandler: Film, Record, Radio, Television and Theater Performances. McFarland, 2005.]

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). [Jeff Wells. Jeff Chandler: Film, Record, Radio, Television and Theater Performances. McFarland, 2005.]

His leading ladies included June Allyson, Joan Crawford, Rhonda Fleming, Maureen O'Hara, Kim Novak, 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.

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 [Davis Jr., Sammy: Yes I Can, The Story of Sammy Davis Jr., New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux (1965) ISBN 0374522685] . Chandler himself had nearly lost an eye and had been visibly scarred in an auto accident years earlier.

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. [Jeff Wells. Jeff Chandler: Film, Record, Radio, Television and Theater Performances. McFarland, 2005.]

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.

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)
* "War Arrow" (1953)
* "Taza, Son of Cochise" (Uncredited, 1954)
* "Yankee Pasha" (1954)
* "Sign of the Pagan" (1954)
* "Foxfire" (1955)
* "Female on the Beach" (1955)
* "The Spoilers" (1955)
* "The Toy Tiger" (1956)
* "Away All Boats" (1956)
* "Pillars of the Sky" (1956)
* "The Tattered Dress" (1957)
* "Jeanne Eagels" (1957)
* "Drango" (1957)
* "Man in the Shadow" (1957)
* "Lion in the Sky" (1958)
* "The Lady Takes a Flyer" (1958)
* "Raw Wind in Eden" (1958)
* "A Stranger in My Arms" (1959)
* "Thunder in the Sun" (1959)
* "Ten Seconds to Hell" (1959)
* "The Jayhawkers!" (1959)
* "The Plunderers" (1960)
* "Return to Peyton Place" (1961)
* "Merrill's Marauders" (1962)

Television

* "A Story of David" (1960)
* "What's My Line?" (1954)

Award nominations

References

*Marilyn Kirk. "Jeff Chandler." 1st Books Library/AuthorHouse, 2003..

External links

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* [http://channel1.radionostalgia.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=119745/ Jeff Chandler as Cochise in Broken Arrow (1951 radio version)]
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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