© Copyright Harutyunyan 2024

sunfilm-logo
Home/Hurd Hatfield
Hurd Hatfield‌

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1917-12-07

Popularity

star7.7

Hurd Hatfield

New York City, New York, USA

Hurd Hatfield

New York City, New York, USA

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1917-12-07

Popularity

star7.7

Biography

William Rukard Hurd Hatfield was an American actor, best known for often playing characters of handsome, narcissistic young men, most notably Dorian Gray in the film The Picture of Dorian Gray. Hatfield was born in New York City to William Henry Hatfield, who died in 1954, an attorney who served as deputy attorney general for New York, and his wife, Adele (née McGuire). Hurd was educated at Columbia University, then moved to London, England where he studied drama and began acting in theatre. He returned to America for his film debut in Dragon Seed, in which he and his co-stars (Katharine Hepburn, Akim Tamiroff, Aline MacMahon, Turhan Bey) portrayed Chinese peasants, some more convincingly than others. Hatfield's second film, The Picture of Dorian Gray, made him a star. As Oscar Wilde's ageless anti-hero, Hatfield received widespread acclaim for his dark good looks as much as for his acting ability. However, the actor was ambivalent about the role and his performance. "The film didn't make me popular in Hollywood," he commented later. "It was too odd, too avant-garde, too ahead of its time. The decadence, the hints of bisexuality and so on, made me a leper! Nobody knew I had a sense of humor, and people wouldn't even have lunch with me." His follow-up films, The Diary of a Chambermaid, The Beginning or the End, and The Unsuspected), were successful, but Joan of Arc was a critical and financial failure. Hatfield's film career began to lose momentum very quickly in the 1950s, and he returned to the stage. Subsequent movies included supporting roles in The Left Handed Gun, King of Kings (as Pontius Pilate), El Cid, Harlow (as Paul Bern), and The Boston Strangler. He cut back on performing in the 1970s. His later movies included King David and Her Alibi. He appeared frequently on television and received an Emmy Award nomination for the Hallmark Hall of Fame videotaped play The Invincible Mr. Disraeli). In 1957, he appeared in Beyond This Place, directed by Sidney Lumet. Other television credits include three guest appearances on Murder She Wrote, opposite his Picture of Dorian Gray costar Angela Lansbury, who had become a lifelong friend. He also appeared as the villain in the second episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Presents in "None Are So Blind". In 1952, Hatfield appeared as Joseph in Westinghouse Studio One's The Nativity. This was a rare commercial network staging of a 14th-century mystery play, adapted from the York and Chester plays. According to the magazine Films in Review, Hatfield was ambivalent about having played Dorian Gray, feeling that it had typecast him. "You know, I was never a great beauty in Gray...and I never understood why I got the part and have spent my career regretting it", he is reported to have said. He died in his sleep of a heart attack at a friend's home, aged 81, after celebrating Christmas dinner. Description above from the Wikipedia article Hurd Hatfield, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movie Credits

Mickey One

Mickey One‌
star5.7
calendar 1965

The Boston Strangler

The Boston Strangler‌
star6.8
calendar 1968

The Unsuspected

The Unsuspected‌
star6.6
calendar 1947

Destination Murder

Destination Murder‌
star5.1
calendar 1950

King of Kings

King of Kings‌
star7.1
calendar 1961

The Left Handed Gun

The Left Handed Gun‌
star6.0
calendar 1958

The Play of the Nativity of the Child Jesus

The Play of the Nativity of the Child Jesus‌
star4.0
calendar 1952

The Diary of a Chambermaid

The Diary of a Chambermaid‌
star6.3
calendar 1946

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray‌
star7.1
calendar 1945

Chinatown at Midnight

Chinatown at Midnight‌
star5.6
calendar 1949

Her Alibi

Her Alibi‌
star5.4
calendar 1989

The Beginning or the End

The Beginning or the End‌
star6.5
calendar 1947

Dragon Seed

Dragon Seed‌
star6.4
calendar 1944

You Can't Go Home Again

You Can't Go Home Again‌
star1.0
calendar 1979

The Double-Barrelled Detective Story

The Double-Barrelled Detective Story‌
star0.0
calendar 1965

Tarzan and the Slave Girl

Tarzan and the Slave Girl‌
star5.2
calendar 1950

Mellow Moon

Mellow Moon‌
star0.0
calendar 1985

The Checkered Coat

The Checkered Coat‌
star6.5
calendar 1948

The House and the Brain

The House and the Brain‌
star7.0
calendar 1973

The Norliss Tapes

The Norliss Tapes‌
star6.0
calendar 1973

Thief

Thief‌
star7.0
calendar 1971

Montserrat

Montserrat‌
star0.0
calendar 1971

King David

King David‌
star5.5
calendar 1985

Lies of the Twins

Lies of the Twins‌
star4.3
calendar 1991

Harlow

Harlow‌
star4.5
calendar 1965

The Invincible Mr. Disraeli

The Invincible Mr. Disraeli‌
star7.0
calendar 1963

A Cry of Angels

A Cry of Angels‌
star0.0
calendar 1963

El Cid

El Cid‌
star6.8
calendar 1961

Crimes of the Heart

Crimes of the Heart‌
star6.1
calendar 1986

Ten Blocks on the Camino Real

Ten Blocks on the Camino Real‌
star0.0
calendar 1966

Von Richthofen and Brown

Von Richthofen and Brown‌
star6.2
calendar 1971

Héroes de blanco

Héroes de blanco‌
star0.0
calendar 1962

Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc‌
star6.0
calendar 1948

Tv Credits

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote‌
star7.5
calendar 1984

The F.B.I.

The F.B.I.‌
star5.6
calendar 1965

Knight Rider

Knight Rider‌
star7.5
calendar 1982

Kojak

Kojak‌
star7.0
calendar 1973

Studio One

Studio One‌
star4.7
calendar 1948

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show‌
star6.6
calendar 1948

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Hallmark Hall of Fame‌
star8.7
calendar 1951

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Alfred Hitchcock Presents‌
star7.7
calendar 1955

The Wild Wild West

The Wild Wild West‌
star7.6
calendar 1965

The Millionaire

The Millionaire‌
star5.0
calendar 1955

Lux Video Theatre

Lux Video Theatre‌
star6.0
calendar 1950

Search

Search‌
star6.9
calendar 1972

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars‌
star7.0
calendar 1951

Lime Street

Lime Street‌
star5.5
calendar 1985

Climax!

Climax!‌
star3.0
calendar 1954

Suspense

Suspense‌
star4.6
calendar 1949

Robert Montgomery Presents

Robert Montgomery Presents‌
star5.2
calendar 1950

Blacke's Magic

Blacke's Magic‌
star5.5
calendar 1986

Lights Out

Lights Out‌
star5.3
calendar 1949

Amazing Stories

Amazing Stories‌
star7.5
calendar 1985

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote‌
star7.5
calendar 1984

The Word

The Word‌
star5.0
calendar 1978

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Alfred Hitchcock Presents‌
star7.7
calendar 1955

Studio One

Studio One‌
star4.7
calendar 1948

Studio One

Studio One‌
star4.7
calendar 1948

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Hallmark Hall of Fame‌
star8.7
calendar 1951

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Hallmark Hall of Fame‌
star8.7
calendar 1951

Climax!

Climax!‌
star3.0
calendar 1954

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre‌
star5.5
calendar 1963

DuPont Show of the Month

DuPont Show of the Month‌
star6.7
calendar 1957

DuPont Show of the Month

DuPont Show of the Month‌
star6.7
calendar 1957

Climax!

Climax!‌
star3.0
calendar 1954

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote‌
star7.5
calendar 1984

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea‌
star7.8
calendar 1964

Omnibus

Omnibus‌
star6.0
calendar 1952