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Steve Cochran

Steve Cochran

Birthday: 1917-05-25 | Place of Birth: Eureka, California

He is perhaps best remembered for his role of Big Ed Somers, the power hungry gangster pal of James Cagney in "White Heat" (1949). Born Robert Alexander Cochran in Eureka, California, he was the son of a California lumberjack, who moved the family to Wyoming in the 1920s, where Cochran grew to adulthood. After graduating from the University of Wyoming in 1939, Cochran began working steadily as a Wyoming cowboy, while developing his acting skills working in summer stock and regional theaters and gradually moving on to Broadway. In 1945, he signed with MGM, and for the next several years, played mostly secondary roles as gangsters or boxers. He made his film debut with "Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion" (1945) and quickly followed with "Wonder Man" (1945). Released from his contract in 1948, he returned to Broadway where he worked with Mae West; the next year he signed on with Warner Brothers, where he earned leading roles in such films as "The Damned Don't Cry" (1950), "Highway 301" (1950) and "Tomorrow is Another Day" (1951). Warner Brothers often had him playing the villain in several of its western films, such as "Dallas" (1950), and "Back to God's Country" (1953). With the end of his contract in 1953, he began his own film company, Robert Alexander Productions, while also freelancing for other studios and moving on to guest star roles on television shows. He would show up in such television shows as Death Valley Days, Burke's Law, The Untouchables, Naked City, The Twilight Zone, Route 66, and The Virginian. A notorious womanizer, Cochran was married and divorced three times, and was often in the Hollywood tabloids reportedly having affairs with such actresses as Mae West, Jayne Mansfield, Joan Crawford, Merle Oberon, Ida Lupino and Mamie Van Doren. Cochran died under mysterious circumstances. In May 1965, Cochran had revived his production company, and together with three women, whom he had hired as his assistants, boarded his 40-foot yacht to travel to Central and South America to look for filming locations. On June 25, 1965, the yacht drifted into Port Champerico, Guatemala, with three alive but very distraught women aboard and the body of Steve Cochran, who had died ten days earlier. The women did not know how to operate the boat, and were dependent upon its drifting to shore after his death. There were numerous rumors of murder and poisoning, and actress / former lover Merle Oberon used her influence to push for further police investigation, but no evidence of foul play was ever determined. The official cause of his death was given as Acute Infectious Edema (lung infection).

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2007
1965
Tell Me In The Sunlight

as    Dave

1964
Mozambique

as    Brad Webster

1963
Of Love and Desire

as    Steve Corey

1962
Il Grido

as    Aldo

1961
The Deadly Companions

as    Billy Keplinger

1959
The Big Operator

as    Bill Gibson

1959
The Beat Generation

as    Dave Culloran

1959
I, Mobster

as    Joe Sante

1957
The Weapon

as    Mark Andrews

1954
Carnival Story

as    Joe Hammond

1954
Private Hell 36

as    Police Sgt. Cal Bruner

1953
The Desert Song

as    Captain Claude Fontaine

1953
Back to God's Country

as    Paul Blake

1953
She's Back on Broadway

as    Rick Sommers

1952
Operation Secret

as    Marcel Brevoort

1951
Tomorrow Is Another Day

as    Bill Clark / Mike Lewis

1951
Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison

as    Chuck Daniels

1951
Raton Pass

as    Cy Van Cleave

1951
The Tanks Are Coming

as    Francis Aloysius 'Sully' Sullivan

1951
Storm Warning

as    Hank Rice

1951
Jim Thorpe – All-American

as    Peter Allendine

1950
Dallas

as    Bryant Marlow

1950
Highway 301

as    George Legenza

1950
The Damned Don't Cry

as    Nick Prenta

1949
White Heat

as    'Big Ed' Somers

1947
Copacabana

as    Steve Hunt

1946
The Chase

as    Eddie Roman

1946
The Kid from Brooklyn

as    Speed McFarlane