Albert Dekker

Accidentally hanged himself. On May 5, 1968, Dekker was found dead in his Hollywood apartment after failing to answer numerous phone calls for two days. Although money and camera equipment were missing, there were no signs of forced entry. He was found naked, kneeling in his bathtub with a noose around his neck that was looped around the shower curtain rod. He was handcuffed, blindfolded, gagged and had sexually explicit words scrawled on his body in red lipstick. The coroner ruled his death accidental stating, "We have no information that Mr. Dekker planned to take his own life." Dekker was cremated and his remains were interred at Garden State Crematory in North Bergen, NJ.

Survived by a son Benjamin and a daughter Jan. Another son, 16-year-old John, was found dead of a gunshot wound in 1957; the police called it accidental.

He spoke out forcefully against Sen. Joseph McCarthy during "Red Scare" era of the 1950s, resulting in his not getting as much film work work as he had in the '40s. He did, however, manage to land an important role in Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and another good part in East of Eden (1955). He also did a good bit of work in television.

Tall and with rugged good looks, he often played aggressive character roles, a prime example being his double-crossing gang leader in the classic The Killers (1946).

From 1944-46 he served a term in the California legislature representing the Hollywood district. As he got older Dekker, unlike many actors, turned to the stage rather than television, and achieved great success there and on the college lecture circuit.

In 1940 he hired modernist Los Angeles architect Rudolf Schindler to design and build a house for him and his wife Esther in Canoga Park, CA. In the late 1940s it was sold to screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides.

A stage actor from 1927, Albert Dekker was an established Broadway star when he made his film debut ten years later.