Trivia

During WWII he served in the US Army as a combat cameraman in the 9th Air Force in Europe.

His first marriage lasted six months. His wife's identity is unknown, as it happened before he became famous.

Heflin died of a heart attack while he was swimming in his pool. He managed to get to the pool's ladder, where he held on until found hours later, unconscious but still alive. He died 17 days later, never having regained consciousness. At his request no funeral was held and his ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

He was the first actor to win an Academy Award for a role in a gangster movie.

His deep, rich speaking voice didn't go unnoticed by radio producers, and in between movie roles early in his career he worked steadily on a variety of radio soap operas, dramas, action shows, etc., eventually turning in more than 2000 performances.

Turned down the role of Elliot Ness on The Untouchables (1959) TV series.

He was director Michael Anderson's choice to play Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in a Columbia epic, "16th of December: The Battle of the Bulge," which had the blessing of Eisenhower and the Defense Department. However, the project was abandoned after Warner Brothers used the title "The Battle of the Bulge" on a generic war film--Battle of the Bulge (1965)--with Henry Fonda.

Appeared in two films nominated for Best Picture Oscar: Shane (1953) and Airport (1970).

His grandfather Alexander A. Heflin (1849-1940) joined Roddey's Escort, Alabama Cavalry, at age 14 or 15 and served in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, along with his brothers James, William C., Hugh, John and Thomas.

On August 20, 2021, he was honored with a day of his filmography during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.

The son of a dentist, Van Heflin was of English, Irish, German, Dutch and French descent.

Attended UCLA film school after achieving fame as an actor, with the intention of learning filmmaking techniques so as to improve his work as an actor. He wrote about the experience in the October 1950 issue of "Theatre Arts" magazine.

Appears in the trailer for Hollywood Mouth 3 (2018) in clips from The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946).

His year of birth is often incorrectly given as 1910. The 1908 year is proven through the Social Security Index. There is however no record of any Emmett Evan Heflin to have been born in Oklahoma in 1910, but there is one found to have been born in 1908.

Daughters: Vana O'Brien and Cathleen (Kate Heflin). Son: Tracy Heflin. Uncle of Marta Heflin, Mady Kaplan and Jonathan Kaplan. Grandfather of Ben O'Brien and Eleanor O'Brien. Brother of Frances Heflin. Brother-in-law of Sol Kaplan.