the role from January 5, 1970 until her death in June 1994. He was also the uncle of Marta Heflin and Mady Kaplan, both actresses, and director Jonathan Kaplan. Heflin's brother, Martin, a public relations executive, was married to American theatre producer Julia Heflin. Death On June 6, 1971, Heflin had a heart attack while swimming in a pool. Medics took him to a hospital, and though he lived for nearly seven weeks, he apparently never regained consciousness. Van Heflin died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles on July 23, 1971 at 6:43 am, aged 62. He had left instructions forbidding a public funeral. Instead, his cremated remains were scattered in the ocean. Recognition In 1960, Heflin was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his contributions to motion pictures at 6311 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1964. In February 2016, a biography, Van Heflin A Life in Film, by Derek Sculthorpe, was published by McFarland & Co., Inc., of Jefferson, N.C. Filmography Television credits Radio appearances References Further reading Sculthorpe, Derek (2016). Van Heflin: A Life in Film. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. External links Van Heflin A Life in Film Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Heflin, Van Photographs and literature on Van Hefln 1908 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male radio actors American male stage actors Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Classen School of Advanced Studies alumni First Motion Picture Unit personnel Male Spaghetti Western actors Male Western (genre) film actors Male actors from Oklahoma Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players People from Walters, Oklahoma RKO Pictures contract players United States Army Air Forces officers University of Oklahoma alumni