Steve Cochran

Bad Boy of Hollywood

Michelangelo Capua

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781496863379
• Subtopic: Film & Video

Steve Cochran (1917–1965) was Hollywood's ultimate contradiction—an intense, rugged leading man with a con man's charm, a craftsman's discipline, and a wild streak that made him both irresistible and dangerous. In Steve Cochran: Bad Boy of Hollywood, author Michelangelo Capua paints a richly detailed portrait of a man who was more than just a Hollywood rogue. Drawing from rare sources and packed with revealing anecdotes, this volume reclaims Cochran's rightful place in film history.

With breakout roles in White Heat, The Damned Don't Cry, and Dallas, Cochran quickly earned a reputation as the quintessential "virile villain"—often cast as a gangster, a racist, or a ruthless playboy. Yet behind the screen persona was a surprisingly nuanced actor, whose greatest performance came in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il Grido. Though he never quite reached marquee-name status, Cochran worked with such legends as Joan Crawford, James Cagney, Ginger Rogers, Doris Day, Burt Lancaster, and Rock Hudson, under the direction of some of the industry's finest filmmakers.

Off-screen, Cochran lived as boldly as he acted. He built a rustic retreat in the Hollywood Hills and filled it with animals, raced planes and cars, and romanced countless women. His personal life, often tabloid fodder, included three marriages, brushes with the law, and an obsession with freedom that culminated in his mysterious and still-unresolved death at age forty-eight when his body was found aboard his schooner adrift in the Pacific.

A compelling blend of Hollywood scandal, cinematic insight, and cultural history, this biography is an essential read and a long-overdue examination of one of classic cinema's most charismatic and controversial figures.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Beginnings
• Chapter 2. New York, New York
• Chapter 3. Hooray for hollywood!
• Chapter 4. Climbing The Hollywood Ladder
• Chapter 5. Meeting Mae West
• Chapter 6. Rugged Roles
• Chapter 7. The Warner Years
• Chapter 8. It’s The Beast In Me
• Chapter 9. Bye Bye Warner
• Chapter 10. Welcome To Europe
• Chapter 11. Independent Days
• Chapter 12. Swinging London
• Chapter 13. Antonioni
• Chapter 14. Guns And Dolls
• Chapter 15. Tv Time
• Chapter 16. End of the Rogue
• Chapter 17. Post Mortem
• Filmography
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• About The Author