Alan Ladd

About Alan Ladd

Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American film actor. He was famous for his emotionless demeanor and small stature. Reports of his height vary from 5'4" to 5'6" (1.63 to 1.68 m), with 5'5" (1.65 m) being the most generally accepted today.

Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas to an American father (Alan Ladd, Sr.) and an English-American mother (Ina Raleigh Ladd). His father died when the boy was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City, where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter. The family moved again, to North Hollywood, California. There Ladd became a high school swimming and diving champion. Burdened with a hated nickname ("Tiny"), the then-5'4" student fell under the spell of high school dramatics and set his mind toward becoming an actor. He opened his own hamburger and malt shop, which he called Tiny's Patio in defiance of the nickname's negative aspect. He worked briefly as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) and for a short time was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. But Universal decided he was too blond and too short and dropped him. Intent on acting, he found work in radio. His rich baritone voice got him increasingly more work.

He appeared in dozens of films in bits and small roles, including Citizen Kane. These barely kept him and his household afloat. (He had married a high-school acquaintance, Midge Harrold, with whom he had a son, Alan Ladd, Jr.) His stepfather died suddenly. Then his mother, who suffered from depression, committed suicide by poison.