Jeff Chandler 100 remembered

100 years ago Ira Grossel was born, and when he grew up he would become a much needed star at Universal, though it was a loan out that made him a sudden star, playing Cochise in Broken Arrow 1950.



Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. 
He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities, where he acted in school plays; his schoolmates included Susan Hayward. Chandler said he always wanted to act, but courses for commercial art were cheaper, so he studied art for a year and worked as a layout artist for a mail order catalogue at $18 a week.
Eventually he saved up enough money to take a drama course at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art in New York. He worked briefly in radio, then got a job in a stock company on Long Island as an actor and stage manager.
Chandler formed his own company, the Shady Lane Playhouse, in Illinois in the summer of 1941.
When America entered World War Two Chandler enlisted in the army. He served for four years, mostly in the Aleutians, finishing with the rank of lieutenant.

After being discharged from the Army, Chandler moved to Los Angeles in December 1945 with $3,000 he had saved. Shortly after his arrival he was involved in a serious car accident on the way to a screen test, which resulted in a large scar on his forehead.
He initially struggled to find work in Hollywood and had spent all his savings when he got his first job as a radio actor in May 1946. He went on to appear in episodes of anthology drama series such as Escape and Academy Award Theater, and became well known for playing the lead in Michael Shayne.

Chandler's performance in Our Miss Brooks brought him to the attention of executives at Universal, who were looking for someone to play an Israeli leader in Sword in the Desert 1948. He was cast in February 1949. Chandler impressed studio executives so much with his work that shortly into filming Universal signed him to a seven-year contract. His first movie under the arrangement was a supporting role in Abandoned 1949.

Writer-director Delmer Daves was looking for an actor to play Cochise in a Western, Broken Arrow 1950, over at 20th Century Fox. The part was proving tricky to cast; in Chandler's words, "Fox were looking for a guy big enough physically to play the role and unfamiliar enough to moviegoers to lend authenticity". Universal suddenly had a box-office attractive star, and they needed stars, he filled the gap between Abbott & Costello and Audie Murphy.

Most of his movies were rutine action movies, but they made money, lot's pf money that Chandler considered that he saw very little of himself, so after a conflict he started freelancing as an actor around 1957, though still owing Universal two movies.

While working on Merrill's Marauders in the Philippines, on April 15, 1961, Chandler injured his back while playing baseball with U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers who served as extras in the film. He had injections to deaden the pain and enable him to finish the production.
Jeff Chandler left us on June 17, 1961, aged only 42!, a simple operation went wrong. An investigation ensued into Chandler's death. It was deemed malpractice and resulted in his children suing the hospital for $1.5 million.

Besides acting, Jeff also did narration work in movies, and he had a good singing voice that resulted in him making a few albums that sold well.

An uncomplete trip down memory lane:


Sword in the Desert 1949, facing this movie's star Dana Andrews


Looking on behind Gale Storm and Dennis O'Keefe in Abandoned 1949


Broken Arrow 1950, the role of Cochise made him a sudden box-office star, and earned him his only Oscar nomination.


Iron Man 1951


Flame of Araby 1951, with Maureen O'Hara


The Battle at Apache Pass 1952, once again playing Cochise.


Red Ball Express 1952


Yankee Buccaneer 1952, with Scott Brady


The Great Sioux Uprising 1953, with Peter Whitney


East of Sumatra 1953 lobby card.


Yankee Pasha 1954 lobby card


Celebrity guest on the popular What's My Line? TV-series 1954


Sign of the Pagan 1954, with Rita Gam


Foxfire 1955 publicity pic, with Jane Russell


Female on the Beach 1955, with Joan Crawford


The Spoilers 1955, with Rory Calhoun


The Toy Tiger 1956 publicity pic, with Laraine Day and Tim Hovey


Pillars of the Sky 1956


The Tattered Dress 1957 poster


Man in the Shadow 1957, with Orson Welles


Jeanne Eagels 1957, with Kim Novak


The Lady Takes a Flyer 1958 publicity pic, with Lana Turner


A Stranger in My Arms 1959, with June Allyson


Ten Seconds to Hell 1959


A Story of David 1960. Started as a TV production but ended up as a cinema movie instead.


Return to Peyton Place 1961, with Carol Lynley


Merrill's Marauders 1962, with Ty Hardin. This became Jeff Chandler's screen farewell.


Published in 2003



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