Biography for
Van Heflin More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

13 December 1910, Walters, Oklahoma, USA

Date of Death

23 July 1971, Hollywood, California, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Emmett Evan Heflin Jr.

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Spouse

Frances E. Neal	(16 May 1942 - 1967) (divorced) 3 children
Esther Ralston	(1934 - October 1936) (divorced)
Eleanor Scherr	(? - ?) (divorced)

Trivia

Uncle of actress Marta Heflin, Mady Kaplan and Jonathan Kaplan.

Turned down the role of Elliot Ness on "The Untouchables" (1959) TV series.

Brother-in-law of Sol Kaplan.

Daughters: actresses Vana O'Brien and Cathleen (Kate Heflin). Son: Tracy Heflin. Grandfather of actor Ben O'Brien and actress Eleanor O'Brien. Brother of actress Frances Heflin. Uncle of actresses Marta Heflin and Mady Kaplan.

Starred as the title character in NBC Radio's "The Adventures of Philip Marlowe" (1947).

The heart attack that killed him happened while he was swimming. He managed to get to the pool's ladder, where he held on until found hours later, unconscious but still alive. He died 17 days later, never having regained consciousness.

During WWII, he served as a combat cameraman in the Ninth Air Force in Europe.

His favorite pastime was sailing.

Of French-Irish descent.

His father was a dentist.

His first marriage lasted six months. His wife's identity is unknown, as it happened before he became famous.

Attended UCLA film school after achieving fame as an actor, with the intention of learning filmmaking techniques so as to improve his work as an actor. He wrote about the experience in the October, 1950, issue of "Theatre Arts" magazine.

Personal Quotes

I just didn't have the looks and if I didn't do a good acting job I looked terrible.

"Louis B. Mayer once looked at me and said, "You will never get the girl at the end". So I worked on my acting.

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