Born 1921 in New York City, American actress Jan Sterling made her film debut in Tycoon (1947), and played a prominent supporting role in Johnny Belinda (1948). Alternating between films and television, she appeared in several television anthology series during the 1950s, and played film roles in Caged (1950), Mystery Street (1950), Union Station (1950), The Mating Season (1951), Ace in the Hole (1951), Flesh and Fury (1952), The High and the Mighty (1954), Female on the Beach (1955), and High School Confidential (1958).
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. Her best performance is often considered to be opposite Kirk Douglas, as the opportunistic wife in Billy Wilder’s 1951 Ace in the Hole.
Although her career declined during the 1960s, Sterling continued to play occasional television and theatre roles. Her later life was marked by illness and injury that included diabetes, a broken hip and a series of strokes. She died in 2004, in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles.
Take a look at these fabulous photos to see the beauty of young Jan Sterling in the 1940s and 1950s.
