May 14, 2012

In 1913, Alan Ladd was born in Hot Springs (Garland County); he spent the first four years of his life in the spa city. Though standing only 5’6″ tall, Ladd excelled in an acting career, starring in forty-seven films in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. Stories abound of how, in many films, he stood on a prop to make himself taller than his female co-star. He is perhaps best known for his starring role in the 1953 classic film Shane. He is shown here with Brenda Marshall in the 1948 film Whispering Smith.