Film & TV
John Hodiak
1914–1955 · actor
Hollywood leading man of the 1940s, of Ukrainian and Polish descent, who grew up in Hamtramck and started out in radio before starring in Hitchcock's Lifeboat.
- Born
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- Died
Tarzana, Los Angeles, California
aged 41- Detroit years
- 1920s–1930s
- Field
- Film & TV
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh to Walter and Anna Hodiak, of Ukrainian and Polish descent, and after his first eight years the family moved to Hamtramck, the working-class immigrant city inside Detroit, where he grew up. He set his sights on acting early and broke into radio after working hard to overcome a strong accent that had first kept him off the air; he became known for playing Li'l Abner on the radio before heading to Hollywood. His breakthrough came in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), opposite Tallulah Bankhead, followed by A Bell for Adano (1945) with Gene Tierney and The Harvey Girls (1946) with Judy Garland. He married Anne Baxter in 1946; they had a daughter and divorced in 1953. Hodiak died of a heart attack in 1955 at 41. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his radio work.
Highlights
- Grew up in Hamtramck in an immigrant family
- Radio's Li'l Abner before going to Hollywood
- Starred in Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944)
- A Bell for Adano (1945) and The Harvey Girls (1946)
- Hollywood Walk of Fame star for radio