Portrait of Jan Sterling

Jan Sterling

Acting

Biography

Jan Sterling (born Jane Sterling Adriance; April 3, 1921 – March 26, 2004) was an American actress. At her most active in films during the 1950s, she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty (1954) as well as an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. Her best performance is often considered to be opposite Kirk Douglas, as the opportunistic wife in Billy Wilder's 1951 Ace in the Hole.

Born: April 3, 1921

Place of Birth: New York City, New York, USA

Filmography

1982
Dangerous Company

as Ray's Mother

1981
First Monday in October

as Christine Snow

1980
My Kidnapper, My Love

as Letty Fairlain

1977
Three's Company

as Judge Sheffield

1976
Having Babies

as Mrs. Fontreil

1972
Kung Fu

as Mary Jenkins

1969
The Minx

as Louise Baxter

1969
Medical Center

as Florence Brent

1968
The Name of the Game

as Elsa Roarke

1968
The Angry Breed

as Gloria Patton

1967
The Incident

as Muriel Purvis

1967
Mannix

as Anne Marion

1965
Run for Your Life

as Clara Mallory

1964
American in Paris

as Gloria Miles

1963
Burke's Law

as Devora Cato

1963
Burke's Law

as Vera Selby

1962
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

as Beatrice Bartel

1962
The Virginian

as Mary Beth Stanton

1961
1959
Adventures in Paradise

as Topaz Harmony

1959
Riverboat

as Lorna Langton

1959
Bonanza

as Dianne Jordan

1958
Naked City

as Myrtle Tiloff

1958
Kathy O'

as Celeste Saunders

1958
High School Confidential!

as Arlene Williams

1958
The Female Animal

as Lily Frayne

1957
Suspicion

as Georgiana

1957
1957
Clipper Ship

as Helen Ott

1956
The Harder They Fall

as Beth Willis

1956
1984

as Julia of the Outer Party

1955
Man with the Gun

as Nelly Bain

1955
1955
1955
Female on the Beach

as Amy Rawlinson

1955
Women's Prison

as Brenda Martin

1954
Climax!

as Dinah Lake

1954
Climax!

as Audrey Caldwell

1954
The Human Jungle

as Mary Abbott

1954
1954
1954
Alaska Seas

as Nicky Jackson

1953
1953
Pony Express

as Denny Russell

1953
The Vanquished

as Rose Slater

1953
Split Second

as Dorothy 'Dottie' Vale

1953
The Oscars

as Self

1953
1952
Sky Full of Moon

as Dixie Delmar

1952
Flesh and Fury

as Sonya Bartow

1951
Rhubarb

as Polly Sickles

1951
Ace in the Hole

as Lorraine

1951
1950
Union Station

as Marge Wrighter

1950
Gunfire

as Flo

1950
The Costume Designer

as Self (archive footage)

1950
Mystery Street

as Vivian Heldon

1950
Caged

as Gita "Smoochie" Kovsky

1948
Johnny Belinda

as Stella McCormick

1947
Tycoon

as Dancer at Fiesta (uncredited)