Jan Sterling

Jan Sterling Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: April 3, 1921

Death Date: March 26, 2004

Birth Place: New York, New York

Spouses: Paul Douglas, John Merivale

While she hailed from a well-to-do NYC family, actress Jan Sterling carved a niche playing tough-as-nails women in 1950s films noir. While still in her teens, she made her Broadway debut (billed as Jane Sterling) in 1938's "Bachelor Born."

Over the next decade, the actress amassed an impressive resume of parts in drama and musicals, notably supporting Ethel Merman in "Panama Hattie" (1941) and touring as Billie Dawn in "Born Yesterday" in 1947. That same year, Sterling (billed as Jane Adrian) made her feature debut in "Tycoon."

Often a peroxide blonde, the actress went on to essay the wife of a rapist in "Johnny Belinda" (1948) and gave strong performances as a corrupt inmate in "Caged" (1950) and a floozy who meets an untimely end in "Mystery Street" (also 1950). Billy Wilder elicited one of her best screen portrayals as the uncaring spouse of a man (Richard Benedict) trapped in a cave-in in "The Big Carnival/Ace in the Hole" (1951).

Three years later, Sterling garnered her only Oscar nomination as a mail-order bride with a past in "The High and the Mighty."

After traveling to London to undertake the female lead in the 1956 screen adaptation of George Orwell's "1984," Sterling starred in the title role of the syndicated TV series "Publicity Girl."

While she continued to act up to the 1980s, she tended to concentrate more on stage work (i.e., touring as the mother in "Butterflies Are Free"), accepting the occasional film and TV role. In 1967, she was among the ensemble of "The Incident" (1967), about a crime that occurs on a NYC subway, and she was one of the few big name stars to grace the small screen in a regular role on a soap opera when she joined the cast of CBS' "The Guiding Light" in 1969.

Ten years later, she essayed the role of First Lady Lou Hoover in the NBC miniseries "Backstairs at the White House." In 1981, she had her last screen role (to date), playing the wife of a US Supreme Court Justice (played by Walter Matthau) in the comedy "First Monday in October" and the following year, she made her last TV appearance (to date) as the mother of a reformed convict (Beau Bridges) in the CBS drama "Dangerous Company."

Sterling was married twice, first to actor John Merrivale (from 1941 to 1948) and then to actor Paul Douglas (from 1950 until his death in 1959).

Credits

Baby Boom

Guest Star
Barbara
Show
1988

RiptideStream

Actor
Series
1984

Dangerous Company

Actor
Ray's Mother
Movie
1982

First Monday in October

Actor
Christine Snow
Movie
1981

The Incredible HulkStream

Guest Star
Series
1978

Three's CompanyStream

Guest Star
Series
1977

Having Babies

Actor
Mrs. Fontreil
Movie
1976

Sammy Somebody

Actor
Movie
1976

Little House on the PrairieStream

Guest Star
Laura Colby Ingalls
Series
1974

Kung FuStream

Guest Star
Series
1972

The Minx

Actor
Louise Baxter
Movie
1969

The Name of the Game

Guest Star
Series
1968

The Angry Breed

Actor
Gloria Patton
Movie
1968

MannixStream

Guest Star
Anne Marion
Series
1967

The Incident

Actor
Muriel Purvis
Movie
1967

At Your Service

Actor
Gloria Miles
Show
1964

Made in America

Actor
Panelist
Show
1964

Alfred Hitchcock HourStream

Actor
Series
1962

You're in the Picture

Self
Panelist
Show
1961

Love in a Goldfish Bowl

Actor
Sandra Slide
Movie
1961

The Untouchables

Guest Star
Series
1959

BonanzaStream

Guest Star
Dianne Jordan
Series
1959

Kathy O'

Actor
Celeste Saunders
Movie
1958

High School Confidential!

Actor
Arlene Williams
Movie
1958
70%

The Female Animal

Actor
Lily Frayne
Movie
1958

Wagon TrainStream

Guest Star
Series
1957

Clipper Ship

Actor
Helen Ott
Movie
1957

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue

Actor
Madge Pitts
Movie
1957

Publicity Girl

Actor
Publicity girl
Show
1956

The Harder They FallStream

Actor
Beth Willis
Movie
1956
100%

1984

Actor
Julia of the Outer Party
Movie
1956

Alfred Hitchcock PresentsStream

Actor
Wanda Ferlini
Series
1955

Stage 7

Actor
Marge
Show
1955

The Star and the Story

Actor
Show
1955

Cárcel de Mujeres

Actor
Movie
1955

Female on the Beach

Actor
Amy Rawlinson
Movie
1955

Women's Prison

Actor
Brenda Martin
Movie
1955

Man With the GunStream

Actor
Nelly Bain
Movie
1955

Climax!

Actor
Series
1954

The High and the MightyStream

Actor
Sally McKee
Movie
1954
46%

The Human Jungle

Actor
Mary Abbott
Movie
1954

Alaska Seas

Actor
Matt Kelly
Movie
1954

Return From the Sea

Actor
Frieda
Movie
1954

The Vanquished

Actor
Rose Slater
Movie
1953

Split Second

Actor
Dottie Vale
Movie
1953

Pony ExpressStream

Actor
Denny Russell
Movie
1953

Plena Luna

Actor
Movie
1952

Flesh and Fury

Actor
Sonya Bartow
Movie
1952

Sky Full of Moon

Actor
Dixie Delmar
Movie
1952

Appointment With Danger

Actor
Dodie
Movie
1951

Rhubarb

Actor
Polly Sickles
Movie
1951

The Mating Season

Actor
Betsy
Movie
1951

Ace in the HoleStream

Actor
Lorraine Minosa
Movie
1951
93%

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950

Union Station

Actor
Marge Wrighter
Movie
1950

Mystery Street

Actor
Vivian Heldon
Movie
1950

The Skipper Surprised His Wife

Actor
Rita Rossini
Movie
1950

CagedStream

Actor
Smoochie
Movie
1950
50%

Johnny BelindaStream

Actor
Stella McCormick
Movie
1948
91%