Van Heflin was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Johnny Eager (1942).

Heflin, born Emmett Evan Heflin, Jr., began his acting career on Broadway in the early 1930s before being signed to a contract by RKO Radio Pictures. He made his film debut in A Woman Rebels (1936). He was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and his greatest roles on Broadway were playing Macaulay Connor in The Philadelphia Story, which ran for 417 performances from 1939-1940, and the Arthur Miller plays A Memory of Two Mondays (as Larry) and A View From the Bridge (as Eddie). His best-known film became the 1953 classic western Shane, among his other notable film credits are Presenting Lily Mars (1943), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Possessed (1947), Green Dolphin Street (1947), Act of Violence (1948), The Three Musketeers (1948), Madame Bovary (1949), The Prowler (1951) and 3:10 to Yuma (1957).

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe was a radio detective drama that aired from June 17, 1947, through September 15, 1951, first heard on NBC in the summer of 1947 starring Van Heflin. He also acted on the Lux Radio Theatre, Suspense, Cavalcade of America and many more radio programs.

In 1960, Heflin was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his contributions to motion pictures at 6311 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1964.