Diminutive, cool performer with pretty-boy blond good looks who flourished in the 1940s after achieving his breakthrough as the dispassionate, trench-coated killer opposite Veronica Lake in "This Gun For Hire" (1942). Ladd excelled at playing soft-spoken, understated tough guys who would only reluctantly resort to violence. Among his more enjoyable films are "Lucky Jordan" (1942) and "The Blue Dahlia" (1946). His career began to peter out in the early 1950s but enjoyed a notable shot in the arm with one of his biggest hits and best-remembered films, the George Stevens Western "Shane" (1953).
