Steve Cochran

""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