JAN STERLING BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Jan Sterling was born on April 3rd, 1921 in New York City, New York with the birth name Jane Sterling Adriance in a pretty well to do family. Her parents divorced young and when her mother remarried they relocated to Europe and Jan was schooled by private tutors in London and in Paris, France.
When she was fifteen years old she enrolled in, Fay Compton's dramatic school in London. She had a love for acting and perseverance to want to work on the stage. By the age of seventeen she moved back to New York City and found work on Broadway. She was cast in, "Bachelor Born" portraying a young British lady due to the accent she picked up when living in Europe.
For the next eleven years she took on the stage name, Jane Adrian and worked only on Broadway stage performances. Jan had an uncredited role in "Tycoon" (1947) starring John Wayne, Laraine Day, Cedric Hardwicke, Judith Anderson, Grant Withers, Paul Fix, Anthony Quinn and James Gleason and then iIn 1948, she got her film break debut on, "Johnny Belinda" starring with Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, Agnes Moorehead, Stephen McNally, Monte Blue, Douglas Kennedy and Snub Pollard. After portraying the proper British character for so many years on stage, she was so excited to be working in the film industry portraying a different types of female character, the "wild, naughty schemer bad girl roles".
Some of her films from the 50's with these types of character roles were, "Caged" (1950) co-starring Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, Hope Emerson and Jane Darwell, "Ace in the Hole" (1951) starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall and Ray Teal, "Flesh and Fury" (1952) starring with Tony Curtis, Mona Freeman and Wallace Ford, "The Human Jungle" (1954) with Gary Merrill, Regis Toomey, Chuck Connors, Claude Akins, Chubby Johnson, James Westerfield and Paula Raymond and "Female on the Beach" (1955) starring Jeff Chandler, Joan Crawford, Judith Evelyn, Cecil Kellaway, Natalie Schafer and Charles Drake. Sterling earned an Oscar nomination with her role on, "The High and the Mighty" (1954) starring alongside John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Robert Stack, Phil Harris, Ann Doran, Robert Newton, David Brian, Paul Kelly, Julie Bishop, Sidney Blackmer, John Howard, William Campbell, Paul Fix, George Chandler, Regis Toomey, Douglas Fowley, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer, John Qualen, William Schallert, John Smith, Wally Brown and William Hopper.
As she entered into the 60's she did continue to work but not at such a dramatic rate. Jan focused on a television career and also became very involved with humanitarian causes. In late 1968, she began portraying the role, Miss Foss, on the CBS soap opera, "The Guiding Light".
Several television shows during the 50's and 60's was also part of her career such as "Bonanza", "Climax!", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "The Loretta Young Show", "Burke's Law" and "Wagon Train".
She retired from films completely in 1969 and returned to her love of working on the stage. She did return to television in 1979 to portray, Lou Henry Hoover, in the miniseries, "Backstairs at the White House".
During her lifetime, Sterling married twice. First to John Douglas from May 12th, 1950 through August 26th, 1947. Jan then married her second husband, Paul Douglas from May 12th, 1950 through September 11th, 1959 when he passed away and together, they had one child, Adam Douglas whom passed away in 2003 from heart failure.
Jan Sterling passed away on March 26th, 2004 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California suffering from a series of strokes. In 1968, Sterling was honored with the first annual achievement award of the century club where she was recognized for her service in radio and television programs. She is interred in the Garden of Actors Churchyard Cemetery in London, England.
Filmography
1988 Baby Boom
1985 Riptide
1982 CBS Afternoon Playhouse
1981 First Monday in October
1981 The Incredible Hulk
1980 My Kidnapper, My Love
1980 Three's Company
1979 Backstairs at the White House
1976 Little House on the Prairie
1976 Having Babies
1976 Sammy Somebody
1974 Kung Fu
1971 The Virginian
1971 Medical Center
1970 Bracken's World
1969-1970 Guiding Light
1969 The Minx
1969 The Name of the Game
1968 The Angry Breed
1968 Mannix
1967 The Incident
1967 The Road West
1966 Run for Your Life
1963-1965 Burke's Law
1964 American in Paris
1964 The Doctors and the Nurses
1963 Breaking Point
1961-1963 The Dick Powell Theatre
1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962 Kraft Mystery Theater
1961 Naked City
1961 King of Diamonds
1959-1961 Wagon Train
1961 Love in a Goldfish Bowl
1961 Adventures in Paradise
1958-1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1960 Bonanza
1960 The Untouchables
1960 G.E. True Theater
1960 Alcoa Theatre
1960 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1959 Riverboat
1959 Lux Playhouse
1958 Kathy O'
1958 High School Confidential!
1958 Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre
1958 Kraft Theatre
1958 Suspicion
1958 The Female Animal
1958 Pursuit
1956-1957 Climax!
1957 Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
1957 The Loretta Young Show
1957 Playhouse 90
1955-1957 Lux Video Theatre
1957 The Kaiser Aluminum Hour
1956 Celebrity Playhouse
1956 The Harder They Fall
1956 Front Row Center
1956 1984
1956 Chevron Hall of Stars
1955 Man with the Gun
1955 Female on the Beach
1955 The Star and the Story
1955 Stage 7
1955 Women's Prison
1954 The Ford Television Theatre
1954 The Human Jungle
1954 Return from the Sea
1954 The High and the Mighty
1954 Alaska Seas
1953 Pony Express
1953 I The Vanquished
1953 Split Second
1952 Sky Full of Moon
1952 Flesh and Fury
1951 Rhubarb
1951 Ace in the Hole
1951 Appointment with Danger
1951 Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
1951 The Mating Season
1950 Union Station
1950 Gunfire
1950 Mystery Street
1950 Snow Dog
1950 The Skipper Surprised His Wife
1950 Caged
1950 The Marshal of Gunsight Pass
1948 Johnny Belinda
1947 Tycoon
