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John Hodiak (/ˈhoʊ.diː.æk/ HOH-dee-ak; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film.

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John Hodiak
in A Lady Without Passport (1950)
Born	(1914-04-16)April 16, 1914 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	October 19, 1955(1955-10-19) (aged 41) Tarzana, California, U.S.
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles, California, U.S. Block 303, Crypt D-1, of the main mausoleum
Years active	1939–1955
Spouse	Anne Baxter ​ ​ (m. 1946; div. 1953)​
Children	1

Early life

Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and Polish descent.[1] Hodiak grew up in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Acting career

Hodiak had his first theatrical experience at age 11, acting in Ukrainian and Russian plays at the Ukrainian Catholic Church. From the moment he first appeared on the stage, he resolved to become an actor. Hodiak was not even swayed when as a third baseman on his local high school baseball team, he was offered a contract with a St. Louis Cardinals farm club. He turned the offer down.^{[citation needed]}

Radio

When Hodiak first tried out for a radio acting job, he was turned down because of his accent. He became a caddie at a Detroit golf course, then worked at a Chevrolet automobile factory – and practised his diction. When he conquered the diction hurdle, he became a radio actor and moved to Chicago. There Hodiak created the role of the comic strip character Li'l Abner on radio.[2][3]

Hodiak also had the role of McCullough in the radio soap opera Girl Alone.[4][5]

Hollywood

Hodiak arrived in Hollywood in 1942 and signed a motion picture contract with MGM. He refused to change his name, saying, "I like my name. It sounds like I look."^{[citation needed]}

Hodiak was cast in a few small parts at MGM, including A Stranger in Town (1943), I Dood It (1943) and Swing Shift Maisie (1943).[6]

Stardom

Hodiak then caught the eye of director Alfred Hitchcock and, on loan to 20th Century Fox, was featured in Lifeboat (1944) opposite Tallulah Bankhead.[7]

MGM cast him in the third lead in Song of Russia (1944) supporting Robert Taylor and Susan Peters.[8] He was Ann Sothern's love interest in Maisie Goes to Reno (1944) and competed with James Craig for Lana Turner in Marriage Is a Private Affair (1944).[9][10]

20th Century Fox borrowed Hodiak again to play the title role in Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944), opposite Anne Baxter, whom he married in real life.[11] Fox kept him on to play Maj. Joppolo in A Bell for Adano (1945) opposite Gene Tierney.[2]

Back at MGM, Hodiak was in The Harvey Girls (1946), second billed as Judy Garland's love interest.[12]

Fox gave him his first proper starring role in Somewhere in the Night (1946), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.[13] Hodiak played opposite Lucille Ball in MGM's Two Smart People (1946), which lost money.[14] So too did the thriller The Arnelo Affair (1947).[15]

Supporting actor

Hodiak went to Paramount for Desert Fury (1947), playing third lead to Burt Lancaster and Lizabeth Scott. He starred in Love from a Stranger (1947) for Eagle Lion, then supported Lana Turner and Clark Gable in Homecoming (1948). He supported Gable again in Command Decision (1948). The two Gable films were hits but Hodiak was voted "box office poison" by exhibitors at the end of 1948.[16]

Hodiak was down the cast list for The Bribe (1949). He was second billed in MGM's war film Battleground (1949) a huge success. Also popular was Malaya (1949) where Hodiak supported James Stewart and Spencer Tracy.

Hodiak was a love rival for Robert Taylor in Ambush (1950), a popular Western. MGM gave him another lead role, co-starring with Hedy Lamarr in A Lady Without Passport (1950), but it lost money. He was third billed in The Miniver Story (1950), the flop sequel to Mrs. Miniver, and fourth lead in Night into Morning (1951), an unsuccessful drama.

Hodiak supported Spencer Tracy in The People Against O'Hara (1951) and Clark Gable in Across the Wide Missouri (1952). He was second billed to Walter Pidgeon in The Sellout (1953).

Broadway and B movies

In 1952, Hodiak went to New York City and made his Broadway debut in The Chase by Horton Foote and directed by José Ferrer.[17] The play was a failure, but its star received positive notices.[18]

Hodiak went to Allied Artists to star in the movie Battle Zone (1952).[19] He starred in two Westerns, Ambush at Tomahawk Gap (1953) and Conquest of Cochise (1953), and then the war movies Mission Over Korea (1953) and Dragonfly Squadron (1954).[20]

He originated the role of Lieutenant Maryk in Paul Gregory's production of the play The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (1954–1955) by Herman Wouk adapted from his novel The Caine Mutiny.[21] The play, starring Henry Fonda and Lloyd Nolan, ran for two years, and Hodiak's portrayal brought him acclaim.

When the show closed after its U.S. tour, Hodiak began work on Trial (1955) at MGM, billed fourth as the prosecuting attorney.[22] When it wrapped, he played Major Ward Thomas in On the Threshold of Space (1956) at 20th Century Fox.[23]

Personal life

Hodiak and actress Anne Baxter (whom he met while they were starring in Sunday Dinner for a Soldier) married on July 7, 1946, and divorced on January 27, 1953. They had one daughter, Katrina Hodiak, who became an actress.[2]

Death

At age 41, Hodiak suffered a fatal heart attack at his parents' home in Tarzana, California.[24] He was acting in On the Threshold of Space; it was decided that his performance was sufficient to release the movie.[25] He is interred in Block 303, Crypt D-1 of the main mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles. He left an estate of $25,000.[26]

Legacy

Hodiak has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Boulevard, for his work in radio.[27]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Director	Notes
1943	A Stranger in Town	Hart Ridges	John E. Burch (assistant)
1943	I Dood It	Roy Hartwood	Vincente Minnelli
1943	Swing Shift Maisie	Clerk	Norman Z. McLeod	uncredited
1944	Lifeboat	John Kovac	Alfred Hitchcock
1944	Song of Russia	Boris Bulganov	László Benedek (uncredited)
1944	Maisie Goes to Reno	Philip Francis "Flip" Hennahan	Harry Beaumont
1944	Marriage Is a Private Affair	Lieutenant Tom Cochrane West	Robert Z. Leonard
1944	Sunday Dinner for a Soldier	Sgt. Eric Moore	Lloyd Bacon
1945	A Bell For Adano	Maj. Victor P. Joppola	Henry King
1946	The Harvey Girls	Ned Trent	Robert Alton
1946	Somewhere in the Night	George W. Taylor	Joseph L. Mankiewicz
1946	Two Smart People	Ace Connors	Jules Dassin
1947	The Arnelo Affair	Tony Arnelo	Arch Oboler
1947	Desert Fury	Eddie Bendix	Lewis Allen
1947	Love from a Stranger	Manuel Cortez	Richard Whorf
1948	Homecoming	Dr. Robert Sunday	Mervyn LeRoy
1948	Command Decision	Col. Edward Rayton "Ted" Martin	Sam Wood
1949	The Bribe	Tugwell 'Tug' Hintten	Robert Z. Leonard
1949	Battleground	Pvt. Donald Jarvess	William A. Wellman
1949	Malaya	Kellar	Richard Thorpe
1950	Ambush	Capt. Ben Lorrison	Sam Wood
1950	A Lady Without Passport	Pete Karczag	Joseph H. Lewis
1950	The Miniver Story	Spike Romway	H.C. Potter
1951	Night Into Morning	Tom Lawry	Fletcher Markle
1951	The People Against O'Hara	Louis Barra	John Sturges
1951	Across the Wide Missouri	Brecan	William A. Wellman
1952	The Sellout	Chick Johnson	Gerald Mayer
1952	Battle Zone	Danny	Lesley Selander
1953	Ambush at Tomahawk Gap	McCord	Fred F. Sears
1953	Mission Over Korea	Capt. George Slocum	Fred F. Sears
1953	Conquest of Cochise	Cochise	William Castle
1954	Dragonfly Squadron	Maj. Matthew Brady	Lesley Selander
1955	Trial	Dist. Atty. John J. Armstrong	Mark Robson
1956	On the Threshold of Space	Maj. Ward Thomas	Robert D. Webb

Radio appearances

A few of Hodiak's many radio appearances:

Year	Program	Episode/source
1948	Hallmark Playhouse	"The Desert Shall Rejoice"[28][29]
1952	Suspense	"The Big Heist"[30]
1953	Suspense	"Gold of the Adomar"[31]
1953	Suspense	"The Mountain"[32]

References

Bibliography

External links

• John Hodiak at IMDb
• John Hodiak at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Hodiak at Find a Grave

На других языках

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- [en] John Hodiak

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[es] John Hodiak

John Hodiak (16 de abril de 1914-19 de octubre de 1955) fue un actor teatral, radiofónico, cinematográfico y televisivo de nacionalidad estadounidense.

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[ru] Ходяк, Джон

Джон Ходяк (англ. John Hodiak; 16 апреля 1914, Питтсбург, Пенсильвания — 19 октября 1955, Лос-Анджелес, Калифорния) — американский киноактёр украинского и польского происхождения. С 1942 года работал на киностудии «Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer».

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