Jeff Chandler

His former lover Esther Williams, in her tell-all 1999 autobiography, put Chandler back in the headlines after asserting that he was a cross-dresser. She told him, "Jeff, you're too big for polka dots.".

A liberal Democrat, he was part of the Hollywood contingent that worked for the election of John F. Kennedy as President in 1960.

He was the one who encouraged character actor Jimmy Murphy to go to Hollywood. Murphy appeared with Chandler in Jeanne Eagels (1957).

In November 1956 his public support for Israel's invasion of the Sinai peninsula during the Suez Crisis led to his films being banned in Arab countries.

He would follow this by playing the role of Cochise in two sequels: The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) and Taza, Son of Cochise (1954). While his premature gray hair and tanned features served him well in his westerns and action pictures, the studio would put him into soaps and costume movies. In his films, his leading ladies would include Maureen O'Hara, Rhonda Fleming, Jane Russell, Joan Crawford, and June Allyson.

Jeff was born in Brooklyn and attended Erasmus High School. After high school, he took a drama course and worked in stock companies for two years. His next role would be that of an officer in World War II. After he was discharged from the service, he became busy acting in radio drama's and comedies until he was signed by Universal. It would be in the fifties that Jeff would become a star making westerns and action pictures. He would be nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Cochise in Broken Arrow (1950).

Portrayed Philip Boynton on CBS Radio's "Our Miss Brooks" (1948-1957).

Both daughters, Jamie (1947-2003) and Dana (1948-2002) died of cancer, as did his mother, maternal aunt, uncle and grandfather.