Alan Ladd was a performer.
Alan Ladd . Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s , particularly in Westerns such as Shane ( 1953 ) and films noir in which he was often paired with Veronica Lake , such as This Gun for Hire ( 1942 ) , The Glass Key ( 1942 ) and The Blue Dahlia ( 1946 ) . Shane (film) . Shane stars Alan Ladd , Jean Arthur ( in the last feature , and only color , film of her career ) and Van Heflin , and features Brandon deWilde , Jack Palance , Emile Meyer , Elisha Cook Jr. , and Ben Johnson . The Great Gatsby (1949 film) . The film stars Alan Ladd , Betty Field , Macdonald Carey , Ruth Hussey , and Barry Sullivan and features Shelley Winters and Howard Da Silva , the latter of whom would later appear in the 1974 version .