biographyBorn in Pittsburgh on April 16, 1914, actor John Hodiak grew up in Detroit. He was interested in performing arts from an early age, appearing in church plays while a youth in the Motor City. Graduating from high school in the depths of the Great Depression, he worked odd jobs and took diction lessons to rid himself of an accent before finding work as a radio announcer at a Detroit station. As his career advanced, he took a acting job at a radio station in Chicago. Unable to serve in the military during World War II due to high blood pressure, Hodiak gambled on Hollywood and landed a contract at MGM. After a few roles in such films as the comedy/drama A Stranger in Town (1943; with Jean Rogers and Richard Carlson) and the comedy I Dood It (1943; with Red Skelton), he was loaned to Fox and cast in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944; with Tallulah Bankhead). With so many actors in the service during World War II, this film helped Hodiak emerge as a popular leading man in the latter days of the war. On July 7, 1946, Hodiak married actress Anne Baxter. The couple met on the set of the 20th Century Fox drama Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944). By the time their daughter, Katrina, was born in 1951, Hodiak's career was in serious decline, while Baxter's film career had soared, particularly after her Academy Award nomination for All About Eve (1950; with Bette Davis and Gary Merrill). Whereas Hodiak once had been in starring roles in such films as Somewhere in the Night (1946; with Richard Conte) and The Arnelo Affair (1947; with Frances Gifford), by the late 1940s he was relegated to supporting roles in The Bribe (1949; with Robert Taylor) and Across the Wide Missouri (1951; with Clark Gable and Ricardo Montalban). The differences in their careers did the marriage no favors, and the couple divorced in January 1953. |
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the films of jack palanceLifeboat (1944)From Alfred Hitchcock's suspenser Lifeboat, released by 20th Century Fox. Pictured are Hume Cronin, Henry Hull, Tallulah Bankhead, John Hodiak, Mary Anderson, and Canada LeeMaisie Goes to Reno (1944)As Maisie, Ann Sothern tries to save John Hodiak's marriage in the MGM comedy series entry Maisie Goes to RenoMarriage Is a Private Affair (1944)The Harvey Girls (1946)Somewhere in the Night (1946)Two Smart People (1946)LEFT: Hodiak and Lucille Ball are fellow con artists in the MGM crime drama Two Smart People. RIGHT: With Elisha Cook Jr.Desert Fury (1947)LEFT: With Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey in the Paramount film noir thriller Desert Fury. CENTER: With Lizabeth Scott LEFT: With With Lizabeth Scott and Mary AstorThe Arnelo Affair (1947)With Frances Gifford in the MGM crime drama The Arnelo AffairMalaya (1949)Ambush (1950)Night Into Morning (1951)With Ray Milland in the MGM tearjerker Night Into MorningBattle Zone (1952)Trial (1955)With Glenn Ford, Rafael Campos, and Dorothy McGuire in the MGM drama Trial. This was the last film Hodiak completedlater yearsBy the early 1950s, John Hodiak was determined to reinvigorate his career, and he found roles on Broadway in the plays The Chase and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, for which he earned great notices. In addition to his stage work, Hodiak continued to act in such films as the Allied Artists war dramas Battle Zone (1952; with Linda Christian and Martin Milner) and Dragonfly Squadron (1954; with Barbara Britton, Bruce Bennett, Gerald Mohr, Chuck Connors, and John Lupton). In the final stages of completing his role in On the Threshold of Space (1956; with Guy Madison and Virginia Leith), Hodiak died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Tarzana, California, on the morning of October 19, 1955 at age 41. He was survived by his daughter, a sister, and his parents. |
filmographyFILM
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