Sterling Hayden
Acting • Born 1916-03-26 – Died 1986-05-23
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."
Filmography
85 credits
The Killing
Movie • 1956
Johnny Clay
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Movie • 1964
Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper
The Long Goodbye
Movie • 1973
Roger Wade
Crime of Passion
Movie • 1956
Lt. William Doyle
1900
Movie • 1976
Leo Dalcò
King of the Gypsies
Movie • 1978
King Zharko Stepanowicz
Venom
Movie • 1981
Howard Anderson
Johnny Guitar
Movie • 1954
Johnny 'Guitar' Logan
The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901–1959
Movie • 2016
Capt. Mark McCluskey
Naked Alibi
Movie • 1954
Joe E. Conroy
Winter Kills
Movie • 1979
Z.K. Dawson
The Final Programme
Movie • 1973
Maj. Wrongway Lindbergh
Manhandled
Movie • 1949
Joe Cooper
The Come On
Movie • 1956
Dave Arnold
The Asphalt Jungle
Movie • 1950
Dix Handley
Prince Valiant
Movie • 1954
Sir Gawain
Terror in a Texas Town
Movie • 1958
George Hansen
Hard Contract
Movie • 1969
Michael Carlson
Kansas Pacific
Movie • 1953
Capt. John Nelson
Suddenly
Movie • 1954
Sheriff Tod Shaw
So Big
Movie • 1953
Pervis De Jong
Nine to Five
Movie • 1980
Russell Tinsworthy
Flat Top
Movie • 1952
Commander Dan Collier
Crime Wave
Movie • 1953
Det. Lt. Sims
Zero Hour!
Movie • 1957
Captain Martin Treleaven
Valerie
Movie • 1957
John Garth
Loving
Movie • 1970
Lepridon
Deadly Strangers
Movie • 1975
Malcolm Robarts
Cry, Onion!
Movie • 1975
Henry 'Jack' Pullitzer
The Outsider
Movie • 1979
Seamus Flaherty
The Star
Movie • 1952
Jim Johannsen aka Barry Lester
The Godfather
Movie • 1972
Captain McCluskey
5 Steps to Danger
Movie • 1956
John Emmett
Carol for Another Christmas
Movie • 1964
Daniel Grudge
Bahama Passage
Movie • 1941
Adrian Ainsworth
Irving Johnson High Seas Adventurer
Movie • 1985
Himself
Angel's Leap
Movie • 1971
Mason / Custer
Variety Girl
Movie • 1947
Sterling Hayden
Take Me to Town
Movie • 1953
Will Hall
Battle Taxi
Movie • 1955
Capt. Russ Edwards
Arrow In The Dust
Movie • 1954
Bart Laish
Ten Days To Tulara
Movie • 1958
Scotty
Denver and Rio Grande
Movie • 1952
McCabe
Shotgun
Movie • 1955
Clay Hardin
The Golden Hawk
Movie • 1952
Kit 'The Hawk' Gerardo
Gun Battle at Monterey
Movie • 1957
Jay Turner / John York
El Paso
Movie • 1949
Bert Donner
Hellgate
Movie • 1952
Lt. Tod Voorhees
Top Gun
Movie • 1955
Rick Martin
Virginia
Movie • 1941
Norman Williams
Blaze of Noon
Movie • 1947
Tad McDonald
The Iron Sheriff
Movie • 1957
Sheriff Samuel Galt
Fighter Attack
Movie • 1953
Steve
The Eternal Sea
Movie • 1955
Rear-Adm. John Madison Hoskins
The Starlost: The Beginning
Movie • 1980
Jeremiah
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
Timberjack
Movie • 1955
Tim Chipman
Rat Pack
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
The Last Command
Movie • 1955
Jim Bowie
Flaming Feather
Movie • 1952
Tex McCloud
Journey Into Light
Movie • 1951
Rev, John Burrows
Old Man
Movie • 1958
Tall Convict
Pharos of Chaos
Movie • 1983
Self - Actor
Sweet Hunters
Movie • 1970
Allan
The Big Departure
Movie • 1972
M. Nature / The Leader
Gas
Movie • 1981
Duke Stuyvesant
The Albatross
Movie • 2016
Glass Man (voice) (archive footage)
The Cinema According to Bertolucci
Movie • 1976
Self
At Anchor / Land Under: A Film With Sterling Hayden
Movie • 1982
Himself
Days of Wine and Roses
Movie • 1958
Self (introduction)
Requiem for a Heavyweight
Movie • 1956
Self (intro/outro)
A Sound of Different Drummers
Movie • 1957
Gordon Miller
Kubrick by Kubrick
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage)
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Joe Turner
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Maj. Jim Curtis
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Link Stevens
Playhouse 90
TV • 1956
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
Banacek
TV • 1972
Tony Fowler
Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television
TV • 1977
Capt. Mark McCluskey
The Blue and the Gray
TV • 1982
John Brown
The Starlost
TV • 1973
Old Jeremiah