Harry Dean Stanton

He died a natural death on September 15, 2017, aged 91, at the ‘Cedars–Sinai Medical Center’ in Los Angeles, California.

He was born on July 14, 1926, in West Irvine, Kentucky, US, to Sheridan Harry Stanton, a farmer and barber, and Ersel (née Moberly), a cook.

His parents parted ways when he was in high school. He had two younger brothers, Ralph and Archie, and a half-brother, Stan, who was also younger to him.

He studied at one of the largest high schools in Kentucky, known as the ‘Lafayette Senior High School.’ Thereafter, he attended the ‘University of Kentucky’ in Lexington, where he studied journalism and radio arts. During his university days, he performed at the ‘Guignol Theatre,’ where he had the opportunity to work with British theater director Wallace Briggs.

It was Briggs who motivated Stanton to quit university and venture into acting when Harry was still undecided between singing and acting. He then joined classes at the ‘Pasadena Playhouse’ in Pasadena, California, where he had Tyler MacDuff and Dana Andrews as his classmates.

Meanwhile, he served in the ‘US Navy’ during the Second World War. His tenure saw him work as a cook aboard the tank landing ship ‘USS LST-970,’ during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.

After honing his acting skills at the ‘Pasadena Playhouse,’ Stanton toured across the US with a men’s choir. He also had a stint at a children’s theater before returning to California.

He made his TV debut with the 1954 ‘NBC’ anthology series ‘Inner Sanctum.’ He appeared in the episode ‘Hour of Darkness.’

He featured in uncredited roles in the films ‘Revolt at Fort Laramie’ (1956) and ‘The Wrong Man’ (1956), before playing the role of ‘Private Miller’ in the 1957 Western film ‘Tomahawk Trail,’ where he was credited as “Dean Stanton.” He used this screen name in some of his initial films to prevent people from mistaking him for another actor named Harry Stanton.

In the ensuing years, he performed in several character and supporting roles in films such as ‘Cool Hand Luke’ (1967), ‘Kelly's Heroes’ (1970) and ‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974), before starring in films such as ‘Straight Time’ (1978), ‘Alien’ (1979), ‘Christine’ (1983) and ‘Repo Man’ (1984).

With time, he became a favorite of notable directors, such as Monte Hellman, David Lynch, Sam Peckinpah, and John Milius. He also developed close ties with American actor and filmmaker Jack Nicholson and American filmmaker, screenwriter, and film composer Francis Ford Coppola. He was the “best man” in Nicholson’s wedding in 1962.