Moda Entertainment - Alan Ladd Interview with son David Ladd

Moda Entertainment Present Icons Radio Hour
Listen to the interview on www.iconsradio.com
Hosted by John Mulholland

Alan Ladd's mother immigrated from England age 19. His accountant father died when he was four. At age five he burned his apartment playing with matches, and his mother moved them to Oklahoma City. He was malnourished, undersized, and nicknamed Tiny. His mother married a house painter who moved them to California a la "Grapes of Wrath" when he was eight. He picked fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. In high school he discovered track and swimming. By 1931 he was training for the 1932 Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's Patio, and later worked as a grip at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married friend Midge in 1936 but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937 they shared a friend's apartment. They had a son,Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them, her agonizing suicide from ant poison witnessed a few months later by her son.

His size and coloring were regarded as not right for movies, so he worked hard at radio where talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early in 1939. After shopping him through bit parts he tested for This Gun for Hire (1942) late in 1941. His fourth-billed role as the psychotic killer Raven made him a star. He was drafted in January 1943 and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia.

Throughout the 1940s his tough-guy roles filled theaters and he was one of the very few males whose cover photos sold movie magazines. In the 1950s he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films (an exception being what many regard as his greatest role, "Shane". By the end of the 1950s,liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962 he was found unconscious lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In January 1964 he was found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives.

Listen to Icons Radio Hour this fall every Sunday night at 8PM ET. Join us for this broadcast when John & Meir welcome son David Ladd to explore the career of his father actor Alan Ladd.

www.iconsradio.com

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Moda
• Entertainment
• Allan
• Ladd
• Shane
• Gun
• for
• Hire
• Raven

[mrgbennet]

Shane - the greatest artistic achievement in the history of cinema, imho.

Mr Ladd should take a lot of the credit for that.

[pegcage]

Ladd should have won an Oscar for his performance in this movie. It is one of the classic performances of movie history IMO.

[lilabalz]

God Bless Alan Ladd

[cliffydee]

the eyes and the life face say it all.

nothing could suprise him anymore in life.

he needs peace.

god bless.

alan ladd

[jimidee33]

Great moody magnificent western, The best of all time!

[EsclusiviModaDonna]

VOGUE BOUTIQUE

[Bligh1780]

I think Alan Ladds disarming charm and vulnerability were the ingredients that endeared him to many movie goers. Shane was the perfect fit for Alan as he so expertly conveyed an outdated lost gunslinger, attempting to distance himself from his past. This movie was my all time favorite.

[a354174]

ALAN LADD!!!!!! I buy ALAN LADD movies from lovingtheclassics.

You can find the site since I cannot post a link by googling it.

[mcbainish]

my favorite western