Van Heflin

Birthday: 1908-12-13
Deathday: 1970-11-28
Birthplace: Walters, Oklahoma, USA
Gender: Male
Drafted: 0
Drafted By: Unowned
Owned By: Unowned
Owned Wins: 0
Owned Noms: 0
Win Bonus: 3
Nom Bonus: 0
Total Points: 0

Emmett Evan “Van” Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor whose steady craftsmanship and versatility made him a respected character player and occasional leading man across four decades. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Johnny Eager (1942) and is remembered for strong turns in Westerns and noirs such as Shane (1953), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and Gunman’s Walk (1958). Born in Walters, Oklahoma, Heflin studied at the University of Oklahoma and later earned a master’s degree in theater from Yale, launching his career on Broadway in the late 1920s and 1930s before moving into films. His early stage work and connections (including support from Katharine Hepburn) helped him secure a Hollywood contract and steady screen work beginning in the mid‑1930s. Heflin’s screen persona combined reliability, emotional range, and a rugged everyman quality, which allowed him to move fluidly between supporting character roles and leading parts during the 1940s. After his Oscar win for Johnny Eager, he continued to take memorable roles in both studio pictures and independent productions, earning praise for performances in The Glass Key (1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Battle Cry (1955). In the 1950s and 1960s Heflin expanded into television and later film projects, appearing in anthology series and features; one of his last notable screen appearances was as a disturbed passenger in the disaster film Airport (1970). His career is notable for its longevity and for the way he adapted to changing studio systems while maintaining a reputation for solid, scene‑stealing work. Van Heflin died of a heart attack (myocardial infarction) on July 23, 1971, in Hollywood at age 62. He left behind a body of work that spans stage, radio, film, and television and that continues to be cited by historians as exemplary of mid‑20th‑century American character acting.

Career Statisics

	Season	Age	Movie	Role	Result	Points
	1943	35	Johnny Eager (1942)	Supporting Actor	Win	0
	Career					0

Transaction History

Date	Location	Team	Receives	Team	Receives	Team	Receives

Credits

	Year	Title	Character
	1971-10-05	The Last Child	Senator Quincy George
	1970-03-25	Airport	D. O. Guerrero
	1969-03-05	The Big Bounce	Sam Mirakian
	1968-09-12	Certain Honorable Men	Champ Donohue
	1968-02-11	A Case of Libel	Robert Sloane
	1968-02-09	The Ruthless Four	Sam Cooper
	1967-08-24	The Man Outside	Bill MacLean
	1966-04-21	Stagecoach	Marshal Curly Wilcox
	1965-11-15	Pro Football: Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon
	1965-04-24	Once a Thief	Inspector Mike Vido
	1965-04-09	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Bar Amand
	1963-10-09	Cry of Battle	Joe Trent
	1961-10-03	Ricochet	Sergeant Paul Maxon
	1961-02-24	The Wastrel	Duncan Bell
	1960-09-15	Under Ten Flags	Captain Bernhard Rogge
	1960-03-15	Five Branded Women	Velko
	1959-06-01	They Came to Cordura	Sgt. John Chawk
	1958-12-01	Tempest	Emelyan Pugachov
	1958-07-15	Gunman's Walk	Lee Hackett
	1957-09-19	The Dark Side of the Earth	Col. Sten
	1957-08-07	3:10 to Yuma	Dan Evans
	1956-03-27	Patterns	Fred Staples
	1955-10-01	Count Three and Pray	Luke Fargo
	1955-02-02	Battle Cry	Major Sam Huxley
	1954-10-28	Black Widow	Peter Denver
	1954-09-30	Woman's World	Jerry Talbot
	1954-08-04	The Raid	Maj. Neal Benton
	1954-07-03	Tanganyika	John Gale
	1953-08-26	Wings of the Hawk	Irish Gallager
	1953-04-23	Shane	Joe Starrett
	1953-03-17	South of Algiers	Nicholas Chapman
	1952-04-08	My Son John	Stedman
	1951-12-01	Week-End with Father	Brad Stubbs
	1951-05-25	The Prowler	Webb Garwood
	1951-02-05	Tomahawk	Bridger
	1949-12-22	East Side, West Side	Mark Dwyer
	1949-08-25	Madame Bovary	Charles Bovary
	1949-01-22	Act of Violence	Frank R. Enley
	1948-10-20	The Three Musketeers	Athos
	1948-08-25	Tap Roots	Keith Alexander
	1948-03-24	B.F.'s Daughter	Thomas W. 'Tom' Brett
	1947-05-29	Possessed	David Sutton
	1947-01-15	Green Dolphin Street	Timothy Haslam
	1946-12-05	Till the Clouds Roll By	James I. Hessler
	1946-08-19	The Strange Love of Martha Ivers	Sam Masterson
	1944-03-14	Land and Live in the Jungle	1st Lieutenant Lynn Harrison
	1943-04-29	Presenting Lily Mars	John Thornway
	1942-12-01	Tennessee Johnson	Andrew Johnson
	1942-11-13	Seven Sweethearts	Henry Taggart
	1942-05-01	Grand Central Murder	'Rocky' Custer
	1942-04-17	Kid Glove Killer	Gordon McKay
	1941-12-09	Johnny Eager	Jeff Hartnett
	1941-12-04	H.M. Pulham, Esq.	Bill King
	1941-10-01	The Feminine Touch	Elliott Morgan
	1940-12-20	Santa Fe Trail	Rader
	1939-04-19	Back Door to Heaven	John Shelley
	1937-10-08	Saturday's Heroes	Val
	1937-09-10	Annapolis Salute	Clay V. Parker
	1937-08-20	Flight from Glory	George Wilson
	1937-04-16	The Outcasts of Poker Flat	Rev. Samuel Woods
	1936-11-06	A Woman Rebels	Lord Gerald Waring Gaythorne