Cast & creator
Van Heflin
Best known for What's My Line?, Robert Montgomery Presents, The Ed Sullivan Show
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.
Also known as: Emmett Evan Heflin Jr., ون هفلین
73
film credits
8
television credits
81
1936–2019 · acting roles
6.7
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (81)
Showing 81 of 81 credits
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Robert Montgomery Presents
Dr. Martin Arrowsmith
1950
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
The Oscars
Self
1953
This Is Your Life
Self
1952
Playhouse 90
Bill Kilcoyne
1956Playhouse 90
Captain
1956
Shane
Joe Starrett
1953
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Joseph
1951
3:10 to Yuma
Dan Evans
1957
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Bar Amand
1965
The Three Musketeers
Athos
1948
Airport
D. O. Guerrero
1970
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Sam Masterson
1946
Gunman's Walk
Lee Hackett
1958
Madame Bovary
Charles Bovary
1949
Tap Roots
Keith Alexander
1948
Stagecoach
Marshal Curly Wilcox
1966
Till the Clouds Roll By
James I. Hessler
1946
East Side, West Side
Mark Dwyer
1949
Black Widow
Peter Denver
1954
Once a Thief
Inspector Mike Vido
1965
The Ruthless Four
Sam Cooper
1968
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
Self (archive footage)
1973
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
1974
Battle Cry
Major Sam Huxley
1955
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Self (archive footage)
1991
Count Three and Pray
Luke Fargo
1955
They Came to Cordura
Sgt. John Chawk
1959
The Raid
Maj. Neal Benton
1954
Santa Fe Trail
Rader
1940
The Prowler
Webb Garwood
1951
Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress
Self (archive footage)
2019
Johnny Eager
Jeff Hartnett
1941
B.F.'s Daughter
Thomas W. 'Tom' Brett
1948
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Bill King
1941
Annapolis Salute
Clay V. Parker
1937
Act of Violence
Frank R. Enley
1949
Green Dolphin Street
Timothy Haslam
1947
Wings of the Hawk
Irish Gallager
1953
Tomahawk
Bridger
1951
Week-End with Father
Brad Stubbs
1951A Case of Libel
Robert Sloane
1968
A Woman Rebels
Lord Gerald Waring Gaythorne
1936
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Self (archive footage)
1997
Possessed
David Sutton
1947
Tennessee Johnson
Andrew Johnson
1942
The Wastrel
Duncan Bell
1961
Kid Glove Killer
Gordon McKay
1942
Patterns
Fred Staples
1956
The Last Child
Senator Quincy George
1971
The Dark Side of the Earth
Col. Sten
1957
Five Branded Women
Velko
1960
Tempest
Emelyan Pugachov
1958
Presenting Lily Mars
John Thornway
1943
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Rev. Samuel Woods
1937
Cry of Battle
Joe Trent
1963
Woman's World
Jerry Talbot
1954
Land and Live in the Desert
Narrator (voice)
1945
Back Door to Heaven
John Shelley
1939
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Self
1954
Seven Sweethearts
Henry Taggart
1942
Under Ten Flags
Captain Bernhard Rogge
1960
The Big Bounce
Sam Mirakian
1969
The Secret Land
Narrator
1948
Grand Central Murder
'Rocky' Custer
1942
My Son John
Stedman
1952
The Feminine Touch
Elliott Morgan
1941The Teen-Age Revolution
Narrator/Host
1965
Tanganyika
John Gale
1954
Land and Live in the Jungle
1st Lieutenant Lynn Harrison
1944
Certain Honorable Men
Champ Donohue
1968
South of Algiers
Nicholas Chapman
1953
The Man Outside
Bill MacLean
1967
The Thin Blue Line
Self - Narrator (voice)
1966
Flight from Glory
George Wilson
1937
Ricochet
Sergeant Paul Maxon
1961
Saturday's Heroes
Val
1937University U.S.A.
Narrator
1950
Pro Football: Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon
1965
The Bold Men
Narrator
1965