Born in Pitsburgh. He managed to get into the film industry during WWII when all the handsome leading men were away fighting. Excused service on medical grounds, suffering from hypertension. His career spanned the forties and fifties, but after the war he was reduced to leads in minor films, and moved on to Broadway where he received good reviews. Married to Anne Baxter in 1946, they divorced in 1953. He died in 1955 at the age of 41 from a heart attack.
He is said to haunt his former home which he shared with Anne Baxter. A resident who lived in the house during the 1970’s, and knew John Hodiak quite well, had many experiences which was put down to the actor, including a telephone call which manged to whisper hello. A guest at the house saw a figure outside a second-story window evidently floating in the air. She later identified the ghost as being Hodiak after seeing one of his films.
