16 Facts About Hurd Hatfield

William Rukard Hurd Hatfield was an American actor.

Hurd Hatfield is best known for having played characters of handsome, narcissistic young men, most notably Dorian Gray in the film The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Hurd Hatfield was educated at Columbia University, then moved to London, England, where he studied drama and began acting in theatre.

Hurd Hatfield returned to America for his film debut in Dragon Seed, in which he and his co-stars portrayed Chinese peasants, some more convincingly than others.

Hurd Hatfield's follow-up films, The Diary of a Chambermaid, The Beginning or the End, and The Unsuspected, were successful, but Joan of Arc was a critical and financial failure.

Hurd Hatfield appeared frequently on television and received an Emmy Award nomination for the Hallmark Hall of Fame videotaped play The Invincible Mr Disraeli.

Hurd Hatfield appeared as the villain in the second episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, titled "The City Beneath the Sea".

Hurd Hatfield appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Presents in "None Are So Blind", which first aired October 28,1956.

In 1952, Hurd Hatfield appeared as Joseph in Westinghouse Studio One's The Nativity.

Hurd Hatfield purchased the structure to save it from demolition and he spent 24 years restoring and renovating it.

Hurd Hatfield died in his sleep of a heart attack at a friend's home, aged 81, after celebrating Christmas dinner.

Hurd Hatfield maintained the historic Irish country home exactly as it was at the time of Hatfield's death.

At the time of his death, Hurd Hatfield was writing his autobiography.

Hurd Hatfield was a Democrat, supporting Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.

Hurd Hatfield performed several times in the Soviet Union and developed a deep interest in Russian culture and religion.

Hurd Hatfield's interest ran so deep that on his deathbed, a Russian Orthodox priest attended him and officiated at his funeral.