John Hodiak
{{short description|American actor (1914–1955)}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2010}}
{{expand lead|date=November 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John Hodiak
| image = John Hodiak in A Lady Without Passport trailer.JPG
| caption = in A Lady Without Passport (1950)
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|4|16|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|10|19|1914|4|16|mf=y}}
| death_place = Tarzana, California, U.S.
| resting_place = Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| resting_place_coordinates =
| years_active = 1939–1955
| spouse = {{marriage|Anne Baxter|1946|1953|end=divorced}}
| children = 1
}}
John Hodiak ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|oʊ|.|d|iː|.|æ|k}} {{respell|HOH|dee|ak}}; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film.
Early life
Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and Polish descent.{{cite news|title=Successor to Gable?|newspaper=Big Spring Daily Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2622669/big_spring_daily_herald/|agency=Big Springs Daily Herald|date=September 30, 1943|page=4|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = June 15, 2015}} {{Open access}} Hodiak grew up in Hamtramck, Michigan.{{Citation needed |date=December 2023}}
Acting career
= 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.Maltin 1994, p. 491.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220424944 |title=From Radio To Screen |newspaper=Voice |volume=20 |issue=2 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=11 January 1947 |access-date=31 October 2017 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Hodiak also had the role of McCullough in the radio soap opera Girl Alone.{{cite journal|last1=Fairfax |first1=Arthur |title=Mr. Fairfax Replies |journal=Movie Radio Guide |date=December 28, 1940 |volume=10 |issue=12 |page=43 |url=http://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Movie%20Radio%20Guide/MRG%20410103.pdf |access-date=19 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119064204/http://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Movie%20Radio%20Guide/MRG%20410103.pdf |archive-date=January 19, 2015 }}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36947808 |title=John Hodiak and his wife |newspaper=Western Mail |volume=62 |issue=3,536 |location=Western Australia |date=3 April 1947 |access-date=31 October 2017 |page=22 (Women's Magazine) |via=National Library of Australia}}
= Hollywood =
Hodiak was cast in a few small parts at MGM, including A Stranger in Town (1943), I Dood It (1943) and Maisie Goes to Reno (1944).{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article135045009 |title=Introducing John Hodiak |newspaper=The North Western Courier |volume=XXVII |issue=57 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 July 1945 |access-date=31 October 2017 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}
= Stardom =
File:Lifeboat (1944) 1.jpg, John Hodiak, Tallulah Bankhead, Henry Hull, William Bendix, Heather Angel, Mary Anderson, Canada Lee, and Hume Cronyn in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944)]]
Hodiak then caught the eye of director Alfred Hitchcock, and on loan to 20th Century Fox, he was featured in Lifeboat (1944) opposite Tallulah Bankhead.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/john-hodiak-p32650|title=John Hodiak | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos|website=AllMovie}}
MGM cast him in the third lead in Song of Russia (1944), supporting Robert Taylor and Susan Peters.{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b66fd2a|title=Song of Russia (1944)|website=BFI|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225083352/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b66fd2a |archive-date=February 25, 2021}} He was Ann Sothern's love interest in Maisie Goes to Reno (1944) and had a role in Marriage Is a Private Affair (1944).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/maisie-goes-to-reno-v100991/cast-crew|title=Maisie Goes to Reno (1944) – Harry Beaumont | Cast and Crew |via=www.allmovie.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/marriage-is-a-private-affair-v101688|title=Marriage Is a Private Affair (1944) – Robert Z. Leonard | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related |via=www.allmovie.com}}
20th Century Fox borrowed Hodiak again to play the title role in Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944), with Anne Baxter, whom he married in real life.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/sunday-dinner-for-a-soldier-v112256|title=Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944) – Lloyd Bacon | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related|via=www.allmovie.com}} Fox kept him on to play Maj. Joppolo in A Bell for Adano (1945) with Gene Tierney.
At MGM, Hodiak had a role as Judy Garland's love interest in The Harvey Girls (1946).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-harvey-girls-v21656/cast-crew|title=The Harvey Girls (1946) – George Sidney | Cast and Crew |via=www.allmovie.com}}
Fox gave him a starring role in Somewhere in the Night (1946), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/somewhere-in-the-night-v110963|title=Somewhere in the Night (1946) – Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related |via=www.allmovie.com}} Hodiak acted with Lucille Ball in MGM's Two Smart People (1946), which lost money,{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/two-smart-people-v114860|title=Two Smart People (1946) – Jules Dassin | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related |via=www.allmovie.com}} as did the film noir The Arnelo Affair (1947).{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6c0374af|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025211615/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6c0374af|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2020|title=The Arnelo Affair (1947)|website=BFI}}
= Supporting actor =
Hodiak went to Paramount for Desert Fury (1947), playing the lead with Lizabeth Scott and Burt Lancaster. 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.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55923929 "Mary Armitage's Film Close-ups."] Sunday Mail (Adelaide) Sunday Magazine Supplement, January 29, 1949, p. 3. Retrieved: May 18, 2013.
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/john-hodiak-45293|title=John Hodiak – Broadway Cast & Staff |website=www.ibdb.com}} The play was a failure, but its star received positive notices.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-chase-2061|title=The Chase – Broadway Play – Original |website=www.ibdb.com}}
Hodiak went to Allied Artists to star in the movie Battle Zone (1952).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/battle-zone-v84510|title=Battle Zone (1952) – Lesley Selander | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related |via=www.allmovie.com}} 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).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/john-hodiak-p32650/filmography|title=John Hodiak | Movies and Filmography|website=AllMovie}}
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-2435|title=The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b8e855e|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120083954/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b8e855e|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 20, 2017|title=Trial (1955)|website=BFI}} When it wrapped, he played Major Ward Thomas in On the Threshold of Space (1956) at 20th Century Fox.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75862023 |title=Hollywood Tragedies, 3 – John Hodiak |newspaper=The Mirror |volume=36 |issue=1811 |location=Western Australia |date=11 February 1956 |access-date=31 October 2017 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}
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.
Death
Hodiak suffered a fatal heart attack in October 1955 at his parents' home in Tarzana, California.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19551020&id=ArEpAAAAIBAJ&pg=880,3119636|title=Actor John Hodiak Dies Of Heart Attack at 41|work=Schenectady Gazette|date=October 20, 1955|page=29}} He was acting in On the Threshold of Space; it was decided that his performance was sufficient to release the movie.{{cite news|title=John Hodiak Dies Suddenly of Heart Attack|work=Los Angeles Times |date=Oct 20, 1955|page=1}} 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.{{cite news|title=John Hodiak Left No Will|work=New York Times|date=Nov 3, 1955|page=37}}
Legacy
Hodiak has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Boulevard, for his work in radio.{{Cite web|url=https://walkoffame.com/john-hodiak/|title=John Hodiak|date=October 25, 2019}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Film ! Role ! Director ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
| rowspan=3 | 1943
| Hart Ridges | John E. Burch (assistant) | |
| I Dood It
| Roy Hartwood | |
| Swing Shift Maisie
| Clerk | uncredited |
| rowspan=5 | 1944
| Lifeboat | John Kovac | |
| Song of Russia
| Boris Bulganov | László Benedek (uncredited) | |
| Maisie Goes to Reno
| Philip Francis "Flip" Hennahan | |
| Marriage Is a Private Affair
| Lieutenant Tom Cochrane West | |
| Sunday Dinner for a Soldier
| Sgt. Eric Moore | |
| 1945
| Maj. Victor P. Joppola | |
| rowspan=3 | 1946
| Ned Trent | |
| Somewhere in the Night
| George W. Taylor | |
| Two Smart People
| Ace Connors | |
| rowspan=3 | 1947
| Tony Arnelo | |
| Desert Fury
| Eddie Bendix | |
| Love from a Stranger
| Manuel Cortez | |
| rowspan=2 | 1948
| Dr. Robert Sunday | |
| Command Decision
| Col. Edward Rayton "Ted" Martin | Sam Wood | |
| rowspan=3 | 1949
| Tugwell 'Tug' Hintten | |
| Battleground
| Pvt. Donald Jarvess | |
| Malaya
| Kellar | |
| rowspan=3 | 1950
| Ambush | Capt. Ben Lorrison | Sam Wood | |
| A Lady Without Passport
| Pete Karczag | |
| The Miniver Story
| Spike Romway | |
| rowspan=3 | 1951
| Tom Lawry | |
| The People Against O'Hara
| Louis Barra | |
| Across the Wide Missouri
| Brecan | |
| rowspan=2 | 1952
| Chick Johnson | Gerald Mayer | |
| Battle Zone
| Danny | |
| rowspan=3 | 1953
| McCord | |
| Mission Over Korea
| Capt. George Slocum | |
| Conquest of Cochise
| Cochise | |
| 1954
| Maj. Matthew Brady | |
| 1955
| Trial | Dist. Atty. John J. Armstrong | |
| 1956
| Maj. Ward Thomas | |
Radio appearances
A few of Hodiak's many radio appearances:
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
= Bibliography =
{{Refbegin}}
- Maltin, Leonard. "John Hodiak". Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Dutton, 1994. {{ISBN|0-525-93635-1}}.
- Tucker, David C. John Hodiak: The Life and Career on Film, Stage and Radio. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2024. {{ISBN|978-1-47669473-3}}.
{{Refend}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{IMDb name|0388303}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{Find a Grave|5148}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodiak, John}}
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male radio actors
Category:American radio personalities
Category:Male actors from Pittsburgh
Category:American people of Polish descent
Category:American people of Ukrainian descent
Category:Donaldson Award winners
Category:People from Hamtramck, Michigan
Category:Male actors from Michigan
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players