In the 1950 western Broken Arrow, Chandler appeared opposite James Stewart as Cochise. He was widely liked and admired . If he had guy pals who shared his fetish, obviously they wouldn't be coming forth to verify Esther's story. "It's no Indian story," said Chandler, "let Cochise rest in peace. Her line of Esther Williams Swimsuits was very successful, and she was dubbed by Life Magazine as the 'Mermaid Tycoon'. In his films, his leading ladies included Maureen O'Hara, Rhonda Fleming, Jane Russell, Joan Crawford, and June Allyson. "Jolson to appear on C. B. S. radio, TV: Network Secures Entertainer's Services for 3-Year Period - Randolph in New Show", "MBS Stations Book Russell For Interview: The Radio Dialer and TV Guide". Jeff Chandler was born on the 15th of December, 1918. His uber thick cock is the reason Esther Williams married him. I knew the MGM ladies, the musical men, and the biggies like Bogie, Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy, etc. "[71], He was also linked with Ann Sheridan. It was no secret that Jeff's real name was Ira Gosselman. The actor is only a small part of the performance. That would be sheer gossip.. [56] In Ten Seconds to Hell and The Jayhawkers! No one said he was a convincing cross dresser. She revealed this in her 1999 autobiography. And regardless who we think is believable, it's both curious and telling that literally no one else confirms her story. Chandler initially struggled to find work in Hollywood, and had spent all his savings when he got his first job as a radio actor in May 1946. Her single mom Anna was the local tramp until she married a deliveryman named Harry Hough. "Drama: Henry Fonda to Have Lee Cobb as Costar". by Anonymous: reply 26: January 29, 2012 4:00 PM: EXCEPT, R26, Esther never married Jeff. He tore out ev ery picture of my first husband, of Ben, of Jeff, of anybody that was in my life. I think Esther Williams later admitted she made it up to sell copies of her autobiography. [66] Their divorce was granted in June 1959, with Chandler giving his wife $100,000 and over $2,166 per month in alimony plus $500 per month in child support. Esther's recollection of Joan is even crueler than her recollection of Jeff. She's a wonderfully vital woman.". American Actor Jeff Chandler was born Ira Grossel on 15th December, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York, USA and passed away on 17th Jun 1961 Culver City, CA aged 42. [75], On May 13, 1961, he entered a hospital in Culver City, California, and had surgery for a spinal disc herniation. Outraged friends and colleagues are rallying to the defense of late 50s screen hunk Jeff Chandler to offset damage done to his reputation by Esther Williams racy bestselling autobiography, The Million Dollar Mermaid.. Above all, he was impossibly handsome. It's somewhat of an odd pose, as Esther spent most of her film career in a swim suit, and Jeff liked to crossdress. "[21] The movie was shot on location in Italy, although Chandler's radio commitments meant some of it had to be filmed in Hollywood. "Jeff Chandler Among Movie Visitors Here", Tinee, Mae. He was 42. . Jane Russell commented, "I've never heard of such a thing. That has been pretty much debunked. Jeff's daughters were asked by Peter Graves about it during Jeff's "Biography" episode. Williams' revelations about Chandler angered many readers. Her son was 15 and she would drive over every night and make sure he ate and then she would go home to Lamas. Hello. She met her first husband, Leonard Kovner, while attending Los Angeles City College. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities, where he acted in school plays; his schoolmates included Susan Hayward. In July 1952, Chandler signed a fresh contract with Universal that doubled his salary. Williams' revelations about Chandler angered many readers. Mary! The cause was a blood infection complicated by pneumonia. He was romantically linked with Esther Williams, who claimed in her 1999 autobiography Chandler was a cross dresser and she broke off the relationship. For a number of years, film exhibitors voted Chandler among the top stars at the box office. The book isn't being released tomorrow. Login SO WHAT if Esther Williams said Jeff Chandler was a cross dresser? Chandler married actress Marjorie Hoshelle (1918-1989) in 1946. I've only recently found out who Jeff Chandler was (his What's My Line? Hopper, Hedda, "Jeff Chandler Aims to Do 'Young Moses'", "ALLIED ARTISTS SIGNS PRODUCER: John Huston to Make 3 Films Wyler and Wilder Also Completing Similar Deals" by THOMAS M. PRYOR, "NADER TO REPLACE CHANDLER 2D TIME: Actor Will Be Co-Star With Maureen O'Hara in 'Lady Godiva' Film at U.-I." Council Opens Campaign to Halt Cheaper Production Abroad by U. S. Studios". r68, just because you remember him doesn't mean 99% of the population does, so why don't you check the facts before you stupidly label other people as dumb? Rose Marie wrote that Jeff Chandler was a great guy, but he was no singer. Career And Professional Highlights Best Known For. One can sue if they think their dead famous relative was libeled, but they cannot win, the case would be thrown out of court. I can't go anywhere unnoticed. Excerpts from her 1999 autobiography in major American magazines revealed that her one-time lover, actor Jeff Chandler, was obsessed about dressing in women's clothing. . None of this evidence, however, has ever come to light about Jeff Chandler R48, Dan Dailey's cross-dressing was reportedly witnessed by a long-dead colleague of mine (who could easily have read about it in Kenneth Anger's work). [10][12] It was the last film he made outside Universal for a number of years. Instead, he took over a role originally meant for Dana Andrews, a Lucky Luciano-style gangster in Deported, for producer Robert Buckner, who cast him in Sword in the Desert. "Jeff Chandler Wills $600,000 to Daughters". It was in the fifties that Jeff would become a star, making westerns and action pictures. "Looking at Hollywood: Ann Sheridan, Jeff Chandler to Star in 'Vermilion O'Toole'", Hedda Hopper's Staff. Jeff Chandler was recognizeable to everyone during his time. In 1957, Jeff Chandler was dating Esther Williams. Cross-dressing is the last thing I would expect of Jeff. An executive is a guy who thinks things up and has other people execute them. "Fernando dragged her down. Jeff dated a number of actresses while he was still married, and Jeff and Dane got divorced in 1959. Actor. "Now Jeff has gone, I feel like one of my band of brothers has left this world, and I'm going to dearly miss him," he wrote. Chandler was the first actor to portray Chad Remington in Frontier Town. I mentioned Esther Williams to a wife of a crossdresser not long ago and she looked at me blankly - silly me, assuming everyone knows the story of the million-dollar mermaid and her crossdressing movie star boyfriend. He was reunited with Fox and Delmer Daves to play a Polynesian chief in Bird of Paradise (1951), which Chandler admitted was a variation of his performance as Cochise. [3] Universal refused to lend him, though, as he was now one of their biggest stars. Ten years younger, he is a large, friendly man who indulges his wife and seems amused by her candor. ", "I said, 'What did you do to my life's memories?' Jeff just seemed like such an innocent guileless soulit doesn't seem fair to besmirch his reputation, true or not. He followed this by playing the role of Cochise in two sequels: The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) and Taza, Son of Cochise (1954). But Jeff Chandler saw himself as a woman. Sheila Mac Rae confronts Esther Williams; bravo, Jim Carrey; conservative women get a reality check; Orson Welles's daughter sets the record straight; readers give socialites the cold shoulder. R26, any evidence of your fantasy "massive moster cock?" They dated for 9 months Marilyn Maxwell and Jeff Chandler had a relationship Connect any celebrity with Jeff Chandler to see how closely they are linked romantically! he had an affair with Esther . According to Williams, who began a love affair with Chandler during the shooting of Raw Wind in Eden in 1956, Chandler was happy and secure only in womens clothing. Cross-dressing, she writes, gave the actor a sexual thrill. our privacy/terms or if you just want to see the damn His features were rugged and masculine. Not only did she not recant, she continues to insist the story is true, even when confronted by others who say she's a liar. . [73], He represented the Screen Actors Guild during talks throughout the 1960 actors' strike. How could a strong, accomplished woman -- a national swimming champion and box-office star -- submit to a bully and allow her children to suffer her absence? Chandler spoke of making Young Moses and a Western with friends Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, but neither film was made. Jeff Chandler was a 6'4" gorgeous hunk of beefcake with thick curly silvery hair and he was often photographed to show off his massive hairy chest. Because some stars, like Elvis and the Three Stooges have fame long after they died, and their relatives still cash in on it. Or everyone else is dead but Esther. When she defended Jeff, she had spent decades on film sets with all sorts of mengay, straight, effeminate, macho, etc. She claims in her autobiography that . Chandler, known for his rich baritone voice and prematurely gray hair, died in 1961 as the result of a botched operation for chronic back pain. She was romantically linked with Jeff Chandler. If it were true, there should have been rumors long before Esther's book. Bret says Hough had a lust for very young girls and attempted to rape his stepdaughter. Genealogy for Esther Jane Williams (1921 - 2013) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Why would she make up a story about Jeff Chandler to sell books? I read this on some obscure blog but haven't heard anything official. On May 17, in a seven-and-a-half-hour emergency operation following the original surgery, he was given 55 pints of blood. [44], He made a Western, Pillars of the Sky, then had a change of pace with the comedy The Toy Tiger, the fourth movie he made that year. I want to eventually branch off into writing and directing. He then went on to make a war film, Red Ball Express, and a swashbuckler, Yankee Buccaneer. Me? I'd quit work immediately if I had the money, and travel for a while. Tbla. Lamas was controlling and abusive. And there's never been another person to verify Esther's lie. The company toured the Midwest with some success, presenting such plays as The Bad Man, Seventh Heaven, The New Minister, and Pigs. I know plenty of film buffs who have never heard of him or seen his movies (most of which aren't very good). [69] Chandler had nearly lost an eye and had been visibly scarred in an auto accident years earlier. The Chandler chapter is getting all the attention, but Williams devotes far more space in her book to Lamas, the Argentine actor who insisted that she bag her career and devote herself entirely to him before he would commit. "When he asked me that," Williams recalls, "I said, 'I could (retire) if you'd stop fooling around.' She was known for fucking extremely macho men like Fernando Lamas and Victor Mature. Chandler married actress Marjorie Hoshelle, and the couple had two daughters, both born in the late 1940s. Mrta Torn . "Well, Jeff's been gone a long time," she says softly. None of it helped, and everybody raved about Jeff's singing, but let's face it: He really didn't sing very well. Everyone knows, the three films every film buff must see are Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and Female on the Beach! The actor also had affairs with actresses Gloria De Haven and Ann Sheridan. [4], In a 1960 interview Chandler said his favorite films were Broken Arrow, Battle of Apache Pass, Two Flags West, Because of You ("my first real love story"), Sign of the Pagan, The Toy Tiger ("a change for me"), Drango, Raw Wind in Eden ("beautiful locale"), and The Lady Takes a Flyer ("I had Lana Turner with me").[85]. If there was anything going on [with cross-dressing], she would have told me then. 'S never been another person to verify Esther 's lie found out Jeff. Thick cock is the reason Esther Williams married him is believable, it 's both curious and that! Says Hough had a lust for very Young girls and attempted to his. 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