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Jan Sterling
Actor
Died March 26, 2004 (82 years)
Most active in films during the 1950s, Jan Sterling received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty (1954), and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same performance. Her career declined during the 1960s, however she continued to play occasional roles for television and theatre.
Sterling was born Jane Sterling Adriance in New York City, into a well-to-do family. She was educated in private schools before heading to Europe with her family. She was schooled by private tutors in London and Paris, and was enrolled in Fay Compton's dramatic school in London.
As a teenager she returned to Manhattan, and using variations of her given name, such as Jane Adriance and Jane Sterling, began her career by making a Broadway appearance in Bachelor Born, and went on to appear in such major stage works as Panama Hattie, Over 21, and Present Laughter. In 1947, she made her film debut in Tycoon, billed as Jane Darian. Ruth Gordon reportedly insisted she change her stage name and they agreed upon Jan Sterling.
She played a prominent supporting role in Johnny Belinda (1948). Alternating between films and television, Sterling appeared in several television anthology series during the 1950s, and played film roles in Caged (1950), Mystery Street (1950), The Mating Season (1951), Ace in the Hole (1951), Flesh and Fury (1952), The Human Jungle (1954), and Female on the Beach (1955).
Often cast as hard and determined characters, she played a more sympathetic character in Sky Full of Moon (1952). In 1950, she was cast as Ruth in the ABC western series The Marshal of Gunsight Pass. The series was telecast live from a primitive studio lot at the Iverson Ranch at Chatsworth, California.
In 1954 Sterling was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty. Later that year, she travelled to England to play the role of Julia in the first film version of George Orwell's 1984, despite being several months pregnant at the time. During the following years, she appeared regularly in films such as Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Kathy O, and The Female Animal.
In late 1968, she began portraying the role of conniving Miss Foss in the long-running CBS soap opera The Guiding Light. She retired from films in favor of the stage in 1969 and returned to television in 1979 to portray Lou Henry Hoover in the miniseries Backstairs at the White House.
Sterling's marriage to John Merivale ended in divorce, and her career began to decline after the death of her second husband, the actor Paul Douglas, in 1959. In the 1970s, she entered into a long-lasting personal relationship with Sam Wanamaker.
Jan Sterling died in 2004 in Los Angeles, California, aged 82.
Sterling was born Jane Sterling Adriance in New York City, into a well-to-do family. She was educated in private schools before heading to Europe with her family. She was schooled by private tutors in London and Paris, and was enrolled in Fay Compton's dramatic school in London.
As a teenager she returned to Manhattan, and using variations of her given name, such as Jane Adriance and Jane Sterling, began her career by making a Broadway appearance in Bachelor Born, and went on to appear in such major stage works as Panama Hattie, Over 21, and Present Laughter. In 1947, she made her film debut in Tycoon, billed as Jane Darian. Ruth Gordon reportedly insisted she change her stage name and they agreed upon Jan Sterling.
She played a prominent supporting role in Johnny Belinda (1948). Alternating between films and television, Sterling appeared in several television anthology series during the 1950s, and played film roles in Caged (1950), Mystery Street (1950), The Mating Season (1951), Ace in the Hole (1951), Flesh and Fury (1952), The Human Jungle (1954), and Female on the Beach (1955).
Often cast as hard and determined characters, she played a more sympathetic character in Sky Full of Moon (1952). In 1950, she was cast as Ruth in the ABC western series The Marshal of Gunsight Pass. The series was telecast live from a primitive studio lot at the Iverson Ranch at Chatsworth, California.
In 1954 Sterling was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty. Later that year, she travelled to England to play the role of Julia in the first film version of George Orwell's 1984, despite being several months pregnant at the time. During the following years, she appeared regularly in films such as Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Kathy O, and The Female Animal.
In late 1968, she began portraying the role of conniving Miss Foss in the long-running CBS soap opera The Guiding Light. She retired from films in favor of the stage in 1969 and returned to television in 1979 to portray Lou Henry Hoover in the miniseries Backstairs at the White House.
Sterling's marriage to John Merivale ended in divorce, and her career began to decline after the death of her second husband, the actor Paul Douglas, in 1959. In the 1970s, she entered into a long-lasting personal relationship with Sam Wanamaker.
Jan Sterling died in 2004 in Los Angeles, California, aged 82.
Filmography
| 1988 | Baby Boom (TV Series) · as Barbara |
| 1984 | Riptide (1984) (TV Series) · as Ruth Davis |
| 1982 | Dangerous Company · as Ray's Mother |
| 1981 | First Monday in October · as Christine Snow |
| 1979 | Little House Years · as Laura Colby Ingalls |
| 1979 | Backstairs at the White House (TV Series) · as Lou Hoover |
| 1977 | The Incredible Hulk (TV Series) |
| 1976 | Three's Company (TV Series) · as Judge Sheffield |
| 1976 | Having Babies · as Mrs. Fontreil |
| 1974 | Little House on the Prairie (TV Series) |
| 1972 | The Brian Keith Show/The Little People (TV Series) |
| 1972 | Kung Fu (TV Series) |
| 1971 | |
| 1969 | The Minx · as Louise Baxter |
| 1969 | Bracken's World (TV Series) · as Harriett Moran |
| 1969 | Medical Center (TV Series) · as Florence Brent |
| 1968 | The Name of the Game (TV Series) · as Elsa Roarke |
| 1968 | The Angry Breed · as Gloria Patton |
| 1967 | The Incident · as Muriel Purvis |
| 1967 | Mannix (TV Series) · as Anne Marion |
| 1966 | The Road West (TV Series) · as Sarah Meagen |
| 1965 | Run for Your Life (TV Series) · as Clara Mallory |
| 1963 | Burke's Law (TV Series) · as Devora Cato |
| 1963 | Breaking Point (TV Series) |
| 1963 | Vacation Playhouse (TV Series) |
| 1962 | The Doctors and the Nurses (TV Series) · as Claire Lucas |
| 1962 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series) · as Beatrice Bartel |
| 1962 | The Virginian (TV Series) · as Mary Beth Stanton |
| 1961 | Love in a Goldfish Bowl · as Sandra Slide |
| 1961 | The Dick Powell Show (TV Series) · as Chris |
| 1961 | Kraft Mystery Theatre (TV Series) · as Guest Cast |
| 1959 | Adventures in Paradise (TV Series) · as Topaz Harmony |
| 1959 | Riverboat (TV Series) · as Lorna Langton |
| 1959 | |
| 1959 | The Untouchables (TV Series) · as Francie Mckay |
| 1958 | Pursuit (TV Series) · as Allison Smith |
| 1958 | Naked City (TV Series) · as Myrtle Tiloff |
| 1958 | Kathy O' · as Celeste Saunders |
| 1958 | The Female Animal · as Lily Frayne |
| 1958 | High School Confidential! · as Arlene Williams |
| 1957 | Alcoa Theatre (TV Series) · as Dr. Mary Cartwright |
| 1957 | Goodyear Theatre (TV Series) · as Dr. Mary Cartwright |
| 1957 | Suspicion (TV Series) · as Georgiana |
| 1957 | Wagon Train (TV Series) · as Annie Griffith |
| 1957 | Slaughter on 10th Avenue · as Madge Pitts |
| 1956 | Playhouse 90 (TV Series) · as Helen Ott |
| 1956 | Kaiser Aluminum Hour (TV Series) · as Brenda Stevens |
| 1956 | The Harder They Fall · as Beth Willis |
| 1956 | |
| 1955 | Man with the Gun · as Nelly Bain |
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) · as Fran Holland |
| 1955 | The Jane Wyman Show (TV Series) · as Martha |
| 1955 | Female on the Beach · as Amy Rawlinson |
| 1955 | Women's Prison · as Brenda Martin |
| 1955 | Stage 7 (TV Series) · as Marge |
| 1955 | The Star and the Story (TV Series) · as Marje Fallon |
| 1954 | Climax! (TV Series) · as Audrey Caldwell |
| 1954 | The Human Jungle · as Mary Abbott |
| 1954 | Return from the Sea · as Frieda |
| 1954 | The High and the Mighty · as Sally Mckee |
| 1954 | Alaska Seas · as Nicky Jackson |
| 1953 | The Loretta Young Show (TV Series) · as Lucia |
| 1953 | Pony Express · as Denny Russell |
| 1953 | The Vanquished · as Rose Slater |
| 1953 | Split Second · as Dorothy 'dottie' Vale |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater (TV Series) · as Gloria Miles |
| 1952 | Sky Full of Moon · as Dixie Delmar |
| 1952 | Ford Theatre: All Star Theatre (TV Series) · as Ann |
| 1952 | Flesh and Fury · as Sonya Bartow |
| 1951 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (TV Series) |
| 1951 | Rhubarb · as Polly Sickles |
| 1951 | Ace in the Hole · as Lorraine |
| 1951 | The Mating Season · as Betsy |
| 1950 | The Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Mary Ford |
| 1950 | Union Station · as Marge Wrighter |
| 1950 | Gunfire · as Flo |
| 1950 | Mystery Street · as Vivian Heldon |
| 1950 | The Skipper Surprised His Wife · as Rita Rossini |
| 1950 | |
| 1950 | Appointment with Danger · as Dodie |
| 1948 | Johnny Belinda · as Stella Mccormick |
| 1947 | Tycoon · as Dancer At Fiesta (uncredited) |
| 1947 | Kraft Television Theatre (TV Series) · as Jackie |