Steve Cochran

Cochran was the grandfather of five by his only child, Xandria. One grandchild was film and TV producer Alex Johns (1966-2010) who was born over a year after Cochran's death to Xandria and husband Wendell Johns. Like his grandfather, Alex died at a young age (43) following a sudden illness.

On June 15, 1965, at the age of 48, Cochran died on his yacht off the coast of Guatemala of an acute lung infection. His body, along with three alive but upset female Mexican assistants (Eva Montero Castellano, 25, a seamstress; Eugenia Bautista Zacarias, 19, a laundress; and 14-year-old Lorenza de la Rosa), remained terrified on board for ten days until the boat drifted to shore and was found by authorities. His death was apparently a mystery, surrounded by various rumors about foul play and poisoning. Merle Oberon, a former paramour a couple of years back, tried to use her influence to push for further police investigations but failed.

A tabloid "bad boy," Cochran was arrested in August 1964 while shooting the film Mozambique (1964) in South Africa, on a civil court order brought about by a local jockey who accused him of adultery with his wife. Cochran was exonerated. Three months later he was arrested for beating, binding and gagging singer Ronie Rae, whom he invited to his home for an audition for his proposed film "Captain O'Flynn," which was never made. He was cleared of all charges in this as well.

From 1949 to 1952, he was signed to Warner Brothers, then started up his own production company.

Born Robert Alexander Cochran, son of a California lumberman, he worked mostly in the theatre before landing a contract with Samuel Goldwyn in 1945.

His debut was Wonder Man (1945) with Virginia Mayo and Danny Kaye.

Married three times and had one daughter, Xandra, by his first wife, artist Florence Lockwood. His relationship with his daughter was strained and eventually they lost touch. Following his second brief marriage to actress Fay McKenzie in the late 1940s, the 44-year-old Cochran married his third wife, 19-year-old Danish émigré Hedda Jenna Jensen, after a mere three-month courtship. They were estranged at the time of his death.

He studied at the University of Wyoming and switched from the basketball team to the drama club. He quit college in 1937 to give Hollywood a go.

Moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s but couldn't get a break or even a screen test. He pursued theatre instead and traveled around extensively. While appearing in a little theatre production of "There's Always Juliet," he adopted the name of one of the play's characters, Steve Cochran, to be his stage moniker.