Steve Cochran (1917–1965) was Hollywood’s ultimate contradiction—an intense, rugged leading man with a con man’s charm, a craftsman’s discipline, and a wild streak that made him both irresistible and dangerous. In Steve Cochran: Bad Boy of Hollywood, author Michelangelo Capua paints a richly detailed portrait of a man who was more than just a Hollywood rogue. Drawing from rare sources and packed with revealing anecdotes, this volume reclaims Cochran’s rightful place in film history.
With breakout roles in White Heat, The Damned Don’t Cry, and Dallas, Cochran quickly earned a reputation as the quintessential "virile villain"—often cast as a gangster, a racist, or a ruthless playboy. Yet behind the screen persona was a surprisingly nuanced actor, whose greatest performance came in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Il Grido. Though he never quite reached marquee-name status, Cochran worked with such legends as Joan Crawford, James Cagney, Ginger Rogers, Doris Day, Burt Lancaster, and Rock Hudson, under the direction of some of the industry’s finest filmmakers.
Off-screen, Cochran lived as boldly as he acted. He built a rustic retreat in the Hollywood Hills and filled it with animals, raced planes and cars, and romanced countless women. His personal life, often tabloid fodder, included three marriages, brushes with the law, and an obsession with freedom that culminated in his mysterious and still-unresolved death at age forty-eight when his body was found aboard his schooner adrift in the Pacific.
A compelling blend of Hollywood scandal, cinematic insight, and cultural history, this biography is an essential read and a long-overdue examination of one of classic cinema’s most charismatic and controversial figures.
Table of Contents:
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. Beginnings
Chapter 2. New York, New York
Chapter 3. Hooray for Hollywood!
Chapter 4. Climbing the Hollywood Ladder
Chapter 5. Meeting Mae West
Chapter 6. Rugged Roles
Chapter 7. The Warner Years
Chapter 8. It’s the Beast in Me
Chapter 9. Bye Bye Warner
Chapter 10. Welcome to Europe
Chapter 11. Independent Days
Chapter 12. Swinging London
Chapter 13. Antonioni
Chapter 14. Guns and Dolls
Chapter 15. TV Time
Chapter 16. End of the Rogue
Chapter 17. Post Mortem
Filmography
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Michelangelo Capua is author of several acclaimed biographies of Hollywood filmmakers and stars, including Vivien Leigh, Yul Brynner, John Derek, and William Holden. He is also author of Jean Peters: Hollywood’s Mystery Girl, published by University Press of Mississippi. He lives in London.
Review :
"Steve Cochran was a complex and morally ambiguous man, both on screen and off, especially when it came to his countless affairs with women and his untimely and mysterious death at sea at the age of forty-eight. Capua handles his subject with respect, but without blinkers to Cochran’s flaws, and presents an engaging and informative biography on the often overlooked but talented actor." - Gillian Kelly, author of Ray Milland: Identity, Stardom, and the Long Climb to "The Lost Weekend" and Robert Taylor: Male Beauty, Masculinity, and Stardom in Hollywood
"Handsomely virile Steve Cochran was perhaps one of Hollywood’s sexiest, most masculine actors of all time. Though he never achieved screen immortality with a classic Gone with the Wind as did Clark Gable, nor High Noon as did Gary Cooper with whom he worked, off-screen, Steve Cochran nevertheless was one of filmland’s greatest cocksmen. But should he be remembered for his intense off- and on-screen sensuality alone? As an accomplished actor, his premature demise at the age of forty-eight perhaps deprived us of ever really knowing. His death truly tarnished his work, and now some sixty years later, he is largely forgotten. Now, thankfully with the comprehensively detailed and magnificently researched Steve Cochran: Bad Boy of Hollywood, the actor and his legend live again. And author Michelangelo Capua has truly done his job. As in his other fascinating biographies on such Hollywood luminaries as Jean Peters, William Holden, and Debrah Kerr, Capua delivers a fresh telling of a life and career and includes a comprehensive career appendix which captures the scope of Cochran’s film legacy. Michelangelo Capua’s brilliant biography of Steve Cochran is a gem." - Stephen Michael Shearer, author of Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life, Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr, Gloria Swanson: The Ultimate Star, and Glamour and Style: The Beauty of Hedy Lamarr
