🎬Van Heflin

Emmett Evan “Van” Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor whose steady craftsmanship and versatility made him a respected character player and occasional leading man across four decades. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Johnny Eager (1942) and is remembered for strong turns in Westerns and noirs such as Shane (1953), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and Gunman’s Walk (1958). Born in Walters, Oklahoma, Heflin studied at the University of Oklahoma and later earned a master’s degree in theater from Yale, launching his career on Broadway in the late 1920s and 1930s before moving into films. His early stage work and connections (including support from Katharine Hepburn) helped him secure a Hollywood contract and steady screen work beginning in the mid‑1930s. Heflin’s screen persona combined reliability, emotional range, and a rugged everyman quality, which allowed him to move fluidly between supporting character roles and leading parts during the 1940s. After his Oscar win for Johnny Eager, he continued to take memorable roles in both studio pictures and independent productions, earning praise for performances in The Glass Key (1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Battle Cry (1955). In the 1950s and 1960s Heflin expanded into television and later film projects, appearing in anthology series and features; one of his last notable screen appearances was as a disturbed passenger in the disaster film Airport (1970). His career is notable for its longevity and for the way he adapted to changing studio systems while maintaining a reputation for solid, scene‑stealing work. Van Heflin died of a heart attack (myocardial infarction) on July 23, 1971, in Hollywood at age 62. He left behind a body of work that spans stage, radio, film, and television and that continues to be cited by historians as exemplary of mid‑20th‑century American character acting.

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Recent movies

#	Name	Character	Rating
1	That's Entertainment! (1974)	(archive footage) (uncredited)	-	-
2	Airport (1970)	D. O. Guerrero		7
3	Stagecoach (1966)	Marshal Curly Wilcox	-	-
4	The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)	Bar Amand	-	-
5	Gunman's Walk (1958)	Lee Hackett		6
6	3:10 to Yuma (1957)	Dan Evans		7.5
7	Patterns (1956)	Fred Staples		7
8	Count Three and Pray (1955)	Luke Fargo	-	-
9	Black Widow (1954)	Peter Denver		4
10	A Star Is Born World Premiere (1954)	Self	-	-
11	The Raid (1954)	Maj. Neal Benton		6
12	Shane (1953)	Joe Starrett		6.2
13	My Son John (1952)	Stedman		6
14	Act of Violence (1949)	Frank R. Enley		5
15	East Side, West Side (1949)	Mark Dwyer		8
16	The Secret Land (1948)	Narrator		6
17	B.F.'s Daughter (1948)	Thomas W. 'Tom' Brett		3
18	The Three Musketeers (1948)	Athos		6.5
19	Possessed (1947)	David Sutton		6
20	Green Dolphin Street (1947)	Timothy Haslam	-	-
21	Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)	James I. Hessler	-	-
22	The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)	Sam Masterson		8.5
23	Presenting Lily Mars (1943)	John Thornway	-	-
24	Tennessee Johnson (1942)	Andrew Johnson		10
25	Johnny Eager (1941)	Jeff Hartnett		7
26	The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1937)	Rev. Samuel Woods	-	-