Van Heflin

VAN HEFLIN d1971. American film and theatre actor who played mostly character parts over the course of his career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. He won the Academy Award for best supporting actor in Johnny Eager (1942). He is however probably best remembered for the classic 1953 western "Shane". During World War II, he served as a combat cameraman in the Ninth Air Force in Europe. On July 6th 1971, he had a heart attack while swimming in his pool. He reached the ladder (which he managed to hang onto unconscious for hours) until he was found. He then lay unconscious for days, apparently never regaining consciousness. Van Heflin died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on July 23rd 1971 aged 60. He left instructions forbidding a public funeral ; instead his cremated remains were scattered in the ocean.