Van Heflin
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Dec 13, 1910
- Died
- Jul 23, 1971 (aged 60)
- Place of birth
- Walters, Oklahoma, USA
- Credits
- 80
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.
Known for
Shane
1953Movie
Joe Starrett
Airport
1970Movie
D. O. Guerrero
3:10 to Yuma
1957Movie
Dan Evans
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965Movie
Bar Amand
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1946Movie
Sam Masterson
The Three Musketeers
1948Movie
Athos
Filmography
Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress
2019Movie
Self (archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997Movie
Self (archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
1991Movie
Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
1974Movie
(archive footage) (uncredited)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
1973Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Last Child
1971Movie
Senator Quincy George
Airport
1970Movie
D. O. Guerrero
The Big Bounce
1969Movie
Sam Mirakian
Certain Honorable Men
1968Movie
Champ Donohue
A Case of Libel
1968Movie
Robert Sloane
The Ruthless Four
1968Movie
Sam Cooper
The Man Outside
1967Movie
Bill MacLean
Stagecoach
1966Movie
Marshal Curly Wilcox
The Thin Blue Line
1966Movie
Self - Narrator (voice)
Pro Football: Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon
1965Movie
The Teen-Age Revolution
1965Movie
Narrator/Host
Once a Thief
1965Movie
Inspector Mike Vido
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965Movie
Bar Amand
The Bold Men
1965Movie
Narrator
Cry of Battle
1963Movie
Joe Trent
Ricochet
1961Movie
Sergeant Paul Maxon
The Wastrel
1961Movie
Duncan Bell
Under Ten Flags
1960Movie
Captain Bernhard Rogge
Five Branded Women
1960Movie
Velko
They Came to Cordura
1959Movie
Sgt. John Chawk
Tempest
1958Movie
Emelyan Pugachov
Gunman's Walk
1958Movie
Lee Hackett
The Dark Side of the Earth
1957Movie
Col. Sten
3:10 to Yuma
1957Movie
Dan Evans
Playhouse 90
1956TV
Bill Kilcoyne, Captain
Patterns
1956Movie
Fred Staples
Count Three and Pray
1955Movie
Luke Fargo
Battle Cry
1955Movie
Major Sam Huxley
Black Widow
1954Movie
Peter Denver
Woman's World
1954Movie
Jerry Talbot
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954Movie
Self
The Raid
1954Movie
Maj. Neal Benton
Tanganyika
1954Movie
John Gale
Wings of the Hawk
1953Movie
Irish Gallager
Shane
1953Movie
Joe Starrett
The Oscars
1953TV
Self
South of Algiers
1953Movie
Nicholas Chapman
This Is Your Life
1952TV
Self
My Son John
1952Movie
Stedman
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951TV
Joseph
Week-End with Father
1951Movie
Brad Stubbs
The Prowler
1951Movie
Webb Garwood
Tomahawk
1951Movie
Bridger
What's My Line?
1950TV
Self
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950TV
Dr. Martin Arrowsmith
University U.S.A.
1950Movie
Narrator
East Side, West Side
1949Movie
Mark Dwyer
Madame Bovary
1949Movie
Charles Bovary
Act of Violence
1949Movie
Frank R. Enley
The Secret Land
1948Movie
Narrator
The Three Musketeers
1948Movie
Athos
Tap Roots
1948Movie
Keith Alexander
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948TV
Self
B.F.'s Daughter
1948Movie
Thomas W. 'Tom' Brett
Possessed
1947Movie
David Sutton
Green Dolphin Street
1947Movie
Timothy Haslam
Till the Clouds Roll By
1946Movie
James I. Hessler
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1946Movie
Sam Masterson
Land and Live in the Desert
1945Movie
Narrator (voice)
Land and Live in the Jungle
1944Movie
1st Lieutenant Lynn Harrison
Presenting Lily Mars
1943Movie
John Thornway
Tennessee Johnson
1942Movie
Andrew Johnson
Seven Sweethearts
1942Movie
Henry Taggart
Grand Central Murder
1942Movie
'Rocky' Custer
Kid Glove Killer
1942Movie
Gordon McKay
Johnny Eager
1941Movie
Jeff Hartnett
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941Movie
Bill King
The Feminine Touch
1941Movie
Elliott Morgan
Santa Fe Trail
1940Movie
Rader
Back Door to Heaven
1939Movie
John Shelley
Saturday's Heroes
1937Movie
Val
Annapolis Salute
1937Movie
Clay V. Parker
Flight from Glory
1937Movie
George Wilson
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
1937Movie
Rev. Samuel Woods
A Woman Rebels
1936Movie
Lord Gerald Waring Gaythorne