The August 8th episode of Philip Marlowe was called “Robin and The Hood.” Jeff Chandler guest-starred playing a dual role.

Born Ira Grossel in Brooklyn, New York on December 15th, 1918, he acted in high school with classmate Susan Hayward. Chandler went to the Feagin School of Dramatic Art and had a stint with a theater troupe. He served in the Pacific, finishing World War II as a Lieutenant.

After being discharged in December of 1945, he moved to Los Angeles. By August of 1947 he was all over radio as one of hollywood's reliable character men. That autumn he was cast as the lead in The New Adventures of Michael Shayne, a syndicated program produced by Bill Rousseau and Don W. Sharpe.

In July of 1948, Chandler was cast opposite Eve Arden in Our Miss Brooks. But on August 8th, 1947, he was featured on The Adventures of Philip Marlowe.

In 1949 Chandler was cast as Israeli leader “Kurta” in the film, Sword in the Desert. He impressed studio executives so much with his work that shortly into filming, Universal signed him to a seven-year contract. The next year, 20th Century Fox borrowed Chandler for the role of Cochise in Broken Arrow. He starred alongside James Stewart.

The performance earned him an Academy Award nomination and established him as an A-list star. Radio suddenly was less of a possibility due to time constraints, but if Chandler was leaving radio, it was against his will. In May of 1951 Chandler told the Chicago Tribune that he didn’t find film acting nearly as gratifying as radio. He wanted to eventually branch off into writing and directing. When Our Miss Brooks moved into TV in 1952, he wasn’t allowed to make the transition with the rest of the cast. Chandler would spend the rest of the decade making films.

On April 15th, 1961, Jeff Chandler was in the Philippines while working on Merrill’s Marauders. While playing a pickup game of basketball with some soldiers he severely injured his back. He was given injections to deaden the pain so he could finish the film. On May 13th, he entered a Culver City hospital to have surgery for a spinal disc herniation. An artery was damaged during surgery and Chandler hemorrhaged.

Four days later, in a seven-and-a-half-hour emergency operation, he was given fifty-five pints of blood. A third operation followed, on May 27th. An infection followed, complicated by pneumonia he caught at the hospital in his weakened state. Jeff Chandler never recovered. He died on June 17th, 1961. He was forty-two.

More than fifteen hundred people attended his funeral. Pallbearers included Tony Curtis and Gerald Mohr. For more information on Jeff Chandler, tune into Breaking Walls episode 90, or episode 106.