[3][4] Eventually, he saved up enough money to take a drama course at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art in New York.

The company toured the Midwest with some success, presenting such plays as The Bad Man, Seventh Heaven, The New Minister, and Pigs.

[10] He went on to appear in episodes of anthology drama series such as Escape and Academy Award Theater, and became well known for playing the lead in Michael Shayne.

He went on to play small roles as gangsters in Roses are Red and The Invisible Wall, and a policeman in Mr Belvedere Goes to College.

Chandler received more attention playing Eve Arden's love interest on radio in Our Miss Brooks, which debuted in July 1948 and became a massive hit.

[14] His performance in Our Miss Brooks brought him to the attention of executives at Universal, who were looking for someone to play an Israeli leader in Sword in the Desert (1949).

The part was proving tricky to cast; in Chandler's words, "Fox was looking for a guy big enough physically to play the role and unfamiliar enough to moviegoers to lend authenticity.

"[6] Chandler's performance as a similar resistance leader-type in Sword of the Desert brought him to the studio's attention, and he was borrowed from Universal for the role in May 1949.

Instead, he took over a role originally meant for Dana Andrews, a Lucky Luciano-style gangster in Deported, for producer Robert Buckner, who cast him in Sword in the Desert.

He went back to Fox for his second film for them, as an embittered Union cavalryman in Two Flags West for director Robert Wise.

[23] He was reunited with Fox and Delmer Daves to play a Polynesian chief in Bird of Paradise (1951), which Chandler admitted was a variation of his performance as Cochise.

He was announced for another film with Buckner, The Wild Bunch,[24] which was not made; instead, he played an Arab chief in Flame of Araby (1951), opposite Maureen O'Hara.

He made a cameo in Meet Danny Wilson[25] and had a change of pace when he supported Loretta Young in Because of You – which a few years later he called his favorite role.

[28] 20th Century-Fox was keen to use Chandler again and offered him roles in The Day the Earth Stood Still, Lydia Bailey, Les Misérables, and The Secret of Convict Lake.

[33] He also missed out on the lead in the remake of Magnificent Obsession, for which he had been mooted; the part was taken by Rock Hudson, who had supported Chandler in Iron Man.

"[37] Chandler appeared in an expensive (for Universal) epic, playing the Emperor Marcian in Sign of the Pagan and co-starred with Jane Russell in Foxfire (1955), which he enjoyed because, "I don't have to be so darned monosyllabic in this one.

When you're trekking the country – as I am now for my Decca records "I Should Care" and "More Than Anyone" and for Universal International, my home studio – every hour of the day, from the morning disc jockeys to the midnight program is filled.

Chandler spoke of making Young Moses and a Western with friends Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, but neither film was made.

[42] Universal cast Chandler in an expensive remake of The Spoilers, then was given the lead in one of the studio's most prestigious films of the year, Away All Boats.

Louella Parsons called Chandler "the busiest actor in town... Jeff is so happy in his private life these days that he's doing everything the studio wants.

[47] In 1956, Universal gave Chandler a leave of absence from his contract with them "for a period of several months" to enable him to make his own movie for Earlmar.

After Drango, Chandler made the final two films owed under his original contract with Universal: The Tattered Dress, playing a lawyer in a melodrama, and Man in the Shadow, co-starring opposite Orson Welles.

He followed this with two films for Universal, The Lady Takes a Flyer with Lana Turner, and Raw Wind in Eden with Esther Williams.

[9][55] Chandler's next two movies were made for a brand new company, Seven Arts: Ten Seconds to Hell, a drama with Jack Palance for director Robert Aldrich, and Thunder in the Sun, a Western with Susan Hayward.

[68] Chandler was a cousin of actor David Roya, who played the young villain Bernard Posner in Billy Jack.

[74] While working on Merrill's Marauders in the Philippines, on April 15, 1961, Chandler injured his back playing baseball with U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers who served as extras in the film.

[79] An investigation into Chandler's death[80] determined it resulted from medical malpractice, and his children sued the hospital and the doctors involved for $1.5 million.

If the movies had not found him the advertising agencies would have done – and in fact, whenever you saw a still of him you looked at his wrist-watch or pipe before realising that he wasn't promoting something.

[4]In a 1960 interview Chandler said his favorite films were Broken Arrow, Battle of Apache Pass, Two Flags West, Because of You ("my first real love story"), Sign of the Pagan, The Toy Tiger ("a change for me"), Drango, Raw Wind in Eden ("beautiful locale"), and The Lady Takes a Flyer ("I had Lana Turner with me").

[86] The famed animated action-adventure series Jonny Quest's handsome, white-haired, veteran special agent bodyguard Race Bannon's design was modeled after Jeff Chandler by show creator Doug Wildey.