Jeff Chandler Western Movies to Watch Free.
Jeff Chandler (December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s, best remembered for playing Cochise in Broken Arrow (1950), and for being one of Universal International’s most popular male stars of the decade.
Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, the only child of Anna (née Herman) and Phillip Grossel. He was raised by his mother after his parents separated when he was a child.
Chandler’s first movie for Universal under his new contract was Abandoned (1949), then he was borrowed by 20th Century Fox to play Cochise in Broken Arrow (1950). This film was a considerable hit, earning Chandler an Oscar nomination and establishing him as a star. He later reprised the role as the legendary Apache chief in The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) and in a cameo in Taza, Son of Cochise (1954). He was the first actor nominated for an Academy Award for portraying an American Indian.
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Chandler’s success in Broken Arrow led to him being cast as a variety of nationalities from different historical periods, such as an Arab chief in Flame of Araby (1951) and a Polynesian in Bird of Paradise (1951). He also played an embittered Union cavalryman in Two Flags West (1950). In 1952 exhibitors voted him the 22nd most popular star in the US and he signed a fresh contract with Universal. 20th Century-Fox was keen to use Chandler again and put forward roles in such films as The Day the Earth Stood Still, Lydia Bailey, Les Miserables and The Secret of Convict Lake. However, Universal had an exclusive contract and they kept him working at the studio.
In 1954 Universal put Chandler on suspension for refusing to play the lead in Six Bridges to Cross.
During the latter part of the decade and into the early 1960s, Chandler became a top leading man. His sex appeal, prematurely gray hair, and ruggedly handsome tanned features put him into drama and costume movies. Among the movies of this period are Female on the Beach (1955), Foxfire (1955), Away All Boats (1956), Toy Tiger (1956), Drango (1957), The Tattered Dress (1957), Man in the Shadow (1957), A Stranger in My Arms (1959), The Jayhawkers! (1959), Thunder in the Sun (1959), and Return to Peyton Place (1961). His leading ladies included June Allyson, Joan Crawford, Rhonda Fleming, Maureen O’Hara, Kim Novak, Jane Russell, Esther Williams, and his Brooklyn friend Susan Hayward. His agent was Doovid Barskin of The Barskin Agency in the late 50s.
In 1957, Chandler left Universal and signed a contract with United Artists. Having long desired to be an executive he formed his own company, Earlmar Productions, with agent Meyer Mishkin. Together they produced the film Drango (1957), which Chandler also directed for a few weeks.
Chandler was due to star in Operation Petticoat (1959) but fell ill and had to pull out. He later formed another production company, August, for which he made The Plunderers, at Allied Artists. Shortly after completing his role in Merrill’s Marauders in 1961, Chandler injured his back while playing baseball with U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers who served as extras in the movie. He entered a Culver City hospital and had surgery for a spinal disc herniation, on May 13, 1961. There were severe complications; an artery was damaged and Chandler hemorrhaged. In a seven-and-a-half-hour emergency operation over-and-above the original surgery, he was given 55 pints of blood. Another operation followed, date unknown, where he received an additional 20 pints of blood. He died on June 17, 1961. His death was deemed malpractice and resulted in a large lawsuit and settlement for his children. Several friends have stated the wrong blood was given to him along with clipping his aorta during the back operation!
Acting credits
1962 Merrill’s Marauders
Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill
1961 Return to Peyton Place
Lewis Jackman
1961 A Story of David: The Hunted
David
1960 The Plunderers
Sam Christy
1959 The Jayhawkers!
Luke Darcy
1959 Ten Seconds to Hell
Karl Wirtz
1959 Thunder in the Sun
Lon Bennett
1959 A Stranger in My Arms
Major Pike Yarnell
1958 Raw Wind in Eden
Mark Moore / Scott Moorehouse
1958 The Lady Takes a Flyer
Mike Dandridge
1957 Jeanne Eagels
Sal Satori
1957/I Man in the Shadow
Ben Sadler
1957 The Tattered Dress
James Gordon Blane
1957 Drango
Major Clint Drango
1956 Pillars of the Sky
First Sgt. Emmett Bell
1956 Away All Boats
Capt. Jebediah S. Hawks
1956 The Toy Tiger
Rick Todd
1955 The Spoilers
Roy Glennister
1955 The Nat ‘King’ Cole Musical Story (Short)
Narrator
1955 Female on the Beach
Drummond Hall
1955 Foxfire
Jonathan Dartland
1954 Sign of the Pagan
Marcian
1954 Yankee Pasha
Jason Starbuck
1954 Taza, Son of Cochise
Cochise (uncredited)
1953 War Arrow
Major Howell Brady
1953 East of Sumatra
Duke Mullane
1953 The Great Sioux Uprising
Jonathan Westgate
1953 Girls in the Night
Narrator (voice, uncredited)
1952 Because of You
Steve Kimberly
1952 Yankee Buccaneer
Cmdr. David Porter
1952 Son of Ali Baba
Opening Narrator (voice, uncredited)
1952 Red Ball Express
Lt. Chick Campbell
1952 The Battle at Apache Pass
Cochise
1951 Flame of Araby
Tamerlane
1951 Meet Danny Wilson
Jeff Chandler – Nightclub Patron (cameo appearance) (uncredited)
1951 Iron Man
Coke Mason
1951 Smuggler’s Island
Steve Kent
1951 Bird of Paradise
Tenga
1951 Double Crossbones
Narrator (voice, uncredited)
1950 Two Flags West
Maj. Henry Kenniston
1950 Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion
Narrator (voice, uncredited)
1950 The Desert Hawk
Opening Off-Screen Narrator (uncredited)
1950 Deported
Vic Smith
1950 Broken Arrow
Cochise
1949 Abandoned
Chief MacRae
1949 Sword in the Desert
Asvan Kurta
1949 Mr. Belvedere Goes to College
Police Officer #66 (uncredited)
1947 Roses Are Red
John Jones aka The Knuckle
1947 The Invisible Wall
Al Conway
1947 Johnny O’Clock
Turk (uncredited)
1945 Thrill of a Romance
Singer (uncredited)