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Jeff Chandler (December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s. Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna (née Shapiro) and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities. Later, he took a drama course at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art in New York. He worked in radio briefly and spent two years in stock companies. He served in World War II, mostly in the Aleutians. His enlistment record for the Cavalry on November 18, 1941 gave his... MORE

Jeff Chandler (December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s. Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna (née Shapiro) and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities. Later, he took a drama course at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art in New York. He worked in radio briefly and spent two years in stock companies. He served in World War II, mostly in the Aleutians. His enlistment record for the Cavalry on November 18, 1941 gave his height as six foot four inches and his weight as 210 pounds. After being discharged from the military, he was a busy radio actor both in drama (such as episodes of Escape, Academy Award Theater, The Whistler, and the radio detective series Michael Shayne) and comedy (playing bashful biology teacher Phillip Boynton on Our Miss Brooks). His first film appearance was in Johnny O'Clock (1947). In the 1950s, Chandler became a star in western and action movies. His first important role was in Sword In the Desert (1948), as an Israeli freedom fighter. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as LESS