From his birthplace in South Africa, Louis Charles Hayward was brought to England and was educated there and on the Continent. He spent a short time managing a London nightclub, displayed some acting talent and decided on acting, and was quickly tapped by playwright 'Noël Coward' . He bowed out of acting in the mid 1970s, not the screen legend that he had hoped to be, but wiser and certainly comfortable. On February 21, 1985, Louis Hayward died at age 75 of lung cancer in his home in Palm Springs, California.
In 1938, he became the first of many actors to portray the character of Simon Templar, the Saint.
While a Captain in the Marine Corps (of the photographic section), he and his unit filmed the Battle of Tarawa. It was the first time in the history of amphibious warfare that photographers had landed to take a beachhead with the initial assault waves. The battle was one of the bloodiest in Marine history - - three days of fighting cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties. Over 4,500 Japanese were killed. The carnage Captain Hayward saw would lead to depression and a complete physical collapse.
One son, Dana, with third wife, June Hanson. Dana died in January 2007.
He was romantically involved with English playwright Nol Coward , as recorded in Cowards diaries.
Gave up his 80-a-day cigarette habit in 1980.
Became a US citizen on 6 December 1941.
[After being diagnosed with lung cancer] I got precisely what I deserved,after a four-pack-a-day habit for fifty years. .
