Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies. Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Margaret and James Nolan, who was a shoe manufacturer of Irish descent. He attended Santa Clara Preparatory School and Stanford University, flunking out of Stanfo...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Los Angeles Plays Itself
2004
as Dr. Vance in Earthquake (archive footage)
From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen ...
Why We Fight: World War II: The Battle of China / War Comes to America
2000
as Narrator
Part of Frank Capra's World War II propaganda series made for the U.S. Armed Forces, this program presents newsreel footage addressing the Battle of C...

Hannah and Her Sisters
1986
as Evan
Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her ...

Prince Jack
1985
as Joe Kennedy
A dramatic look at the inner workings of the Kennedy administration.

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
1984
as Monsignor Donoghue
Retired cop Mike Halligan decides to show his grandson, who has never seen snow before, what a real white Christmas in New York is like. But a sudden ...

Galyon
1980
as Willard Morgan
An oil tycoon hires Galyon, a jungle survival expert and soldier of fortune, to rescue his daughter and her husband from South American terrorists.

Valentine
1979
as Brother Joe
A feisty widow falls in love with a zestful widower in a retirement community, much to the disapproval of her married daughter.

My Boys Are Good Boys
1978
as Dan Montgomery
Teenagers at a correctional facility devise a plan to rob an armored van.

The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover
1977
as Attorney General Harlan Stone
The story of the late J. Edgar Hoover, who was head of the FBI from 1924-1972. The film follows Hoover from his racket-busting days through his reign ...

Fire!
1977
as Doc Bennett
The sheer terror and unearthly beauty of a raging forest fire is breathlessly captured in this compelling Irwin Allen production boasting a big-name c...

Flight to Holocaust
1977
as Wilton Bender
A team of troubleshooters is called to a skyscraper where a plane has crashed into the 20th floor and is stuck in the side of the building.

The November Plan
1977
as Gen. Smedley Butler
A hard-nosed private detective investigates a suspected overthrow of the U.S. government. Loosely based on The Business Plot of 1933.

The Abduction of Saint Anne
1975
as Carl Gentry
A cynical detective and a Roman Catholic bishop team up to investigate the reported miraculous powers of a 17-year-old girl being held captive in the ...

The Sky's the Limit
1975
as Cornwall
A family is thrown into turmoil when a grandson convinces his grandfather to teach him to fly.

Earthquake
1974
as Dr. James Vance
Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.

Isn't It Shocking?
1973
as Jesse Chapin
A small-town sheriff is confronted with the deaths of local senior citizens and strange goings-on in his town.

Airport
1970
as Harry Standish
An airport manager tries to keep his terminals open during a snowstorm, while a suicide bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight.

Ice Station Zebra
1968
as Admiral Garvey
A top-secret Soviet spy satellite -- using stolen Western technology -- malfunctions and then goes into a descent that lands it near an isolated Arcti...

Sergeant Ryker
1968
as Gen. Amos Bailey
During the Korean War Sergeant Paul Ryker is accused of defecting to Communist China and then returning to his unit as a spy. He's court-martialed and...

The Double Man
1967
as Edwards
In a complex piece of espionage the Russian secret service attempts to kidnap a high ranking officer in the CIA and replace him with a one of its own.

Wings of Fire
1967
as Max Clarity
A headstrong aviatrix enters an international air race to save her father's foundering business and to soothe the heart of an old flame who returned h...

An American Dream
1966
as Barney Kelly
Stephen Rojack is a decorated war vet who has now found success as an outspoken television personality. During a vicious argument with his wife, Debor...

Never Too Late
1965
as Mayor Crane
A 60-year-old lumber supply businessman is dismayed to learn his 50-year-old wife is pregnant. A film adaptation of the hit Broadway comedy, with Paul...

Circus World
1964
as Cap Carson
Circus owner Matt Masters is beset by disasters as he attempts a European tour of his circus. At the same time, he is caught in an emotional bind betw...

The Girl Hunters
1963
as Arthur Rickerby
Mickey Spillane plays his own creation, street-thug-turned-PI Mike Hammer, in this 1963 adaptation of his novel. The film opens with Hammer on the dow...

We Joined the Navy
1963
as Vice Admiral Ryan
Lt Commander Badger, RN: an exceptionally likeable fellow, the Artful Bodger has one besetting sin a shining honesty which compels him to say the righ...

Susan Slade
1961
as Roger Slade
A pregnant teen allows her mother to pass her secret baby off as her own.

Girl of the Night
1960
as Dr. Mitchell
Bobbie is a sensitive, lonely call girl who is manipulated and ultimately used by her madam.

Portrait in Black
1960
as Matthew S. Cabot
A pair of lovers plot to kill the woman's rich husband.

Peyton Place
1957
as Dr. Matthew Swain
In the outwardly respectable New England community of Peyton Place, shopkeeper Constance McKenzie tries to make up for a past indiscretion -- which re...

A Hatful of Rain
1957
as John Pope, Sr
A Korean War veteran's morphine addiction wreaks havoc upon his family.

Abandon Ship
1957
as Frank Kelly
After a massive luxury liner sinks into the ocean, the ship's officer must command a rickety lifeboat, built for only nine, that is stuffed with over ...

Toward the Unknown
1956
as Brig. Gen. Bill Banner
Tortured into a false confession while a POW in Korea, Major Lincoln Bond returns to active service as a test pilot. Determined to clear his name, Bon...

Santiago
1956
as Clay Pike
Two American gun runners at odds with each other and looking to sell guns to the rebels during the Cuban War of Independence navigate a boat to Cuba. ...

The Last Hunt
1956
as Woodfoot
A buffalo hunter has a falling-out with his partner, who kills for fun.
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
1955
When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardizes the ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial...

Crazylegs
1953
as Win Brockmeyer
The story of the life and career of football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch (who plays himself).

Island in the Sky
1953
as Captain Stutz
A C-47 transport plane, named the Corsair, makes a forced landing in the frozen wastelands of Labrador, and the plane's pilot, Captain Dooley, must ke...

The Lemon Drop Kid
1951
as Oxford Charley
When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally cheats gangster Moose Moran out of his track winnings, the Kid promises to repay Moose the money by Christmas. Cr...

Easy Living
1949
as Lenahan
A football halfback has a heart condition, a nagging wife and a team secretary who loves him.

The Sun Comes Up
1949
as Thomas I. Chandler
Set in the rural south of the United States, a bereaved war widow learns to put aside her bitterness and grief as she grows to love a young orphan boy...

Bad Boy
1949
as Marshall Brown
A lawman tries to find the source of a juvenile delinquent's bad behavior.

The Street with No Name
1948
as Inspector George A. Briggs
After two gang-related killings in "Center City," a suspect (who was framed) is arrested, released on bail...and murdered. Inspector Briggs of the FBI...

Green Grass of Wyoming
1948
as Rob McLaughlin
The romance of a rancher's niece and a rival rancher's son parallels that of a stallion and a mare.

Wild Harvest
1947
as Kink
Joe is the head of an itinerant combine crew, working the harvests against rival crew boss Alperson. Joe's buddy Jim joins the crew with startup money...

Lady in the Lake
1946
as Lieutenant DeGarmot
Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fro...

Somewhere in the Night
1946
as Police Lt. Donald Kendall
George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, he tries to track down his old identity, stumbling into a 3-year old murder ca...

Two Smart People
1946
as Bob Simms
Con woman Ricki Woodner and detective Bob Simms follow a prison-bound swindler Ace Connors on his five-day gourmet binge.

The House on 92nd Street
1945
as Agent George A. Briggs
The US Government tries to track down embedded Nazi agents in the States.

Captain Eddie
1945
as Lt. Jim Whitaker
WWI flyer Eddie Rickenbaker remembers his life which brought him from a car salesman, race driver and pilot in WWI, to an important person in the earl...

War Comes to America
1945
as Narrator
The seventh and final film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight World War II propaganda film series. This entry attempts to describe the factors leading up t...

Circumstantial Evidence
1945
as Sam Lord
A man waits on death row while his son and friend try to prove that he did not kill a grocer with an ax.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
1945
as Officer McShane
In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well thro...

Resisting Enemy Interrogation
1944
as USAF Debriefing Officer / Narrator
A downed American bomber crew quickly falls prey to the clever interrogation techniques of the Germans in this dramatic WW2 training film.

Attack! The Battle for New Britain
1944
as Narrator (voice)
Actual footage by the United States Signal Corps of the landing and attack on Arawe Beach, Cape Glouster, New Britain island in 1943 in the South Paci...

Guadalcanal Diary
1943
as Sgt. Hook Malone
Concentrating on the personal lives of those involved, a war correspondent takes us through the preparations, landing and initial campaign on Guadalca...

Don't Be a Sucker!
1943
as Commentator (voice)
Propaganda short film depicting the rise of Nazism in Germany and how political propaganda is similarly used in the United States. The film was made t...

Bataan
1943
as Cpl. Barney Todd
During Japan's invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Capt. Henry Lassiter, Sgt. Bill Dane and a diverse group of American soldiers are ordered to destr...

Time to Kill
1942
as Michael Shayne
Lloyd Nolan is back as detective Michael Shayne who's in search of a stolen coin.

Manila Calling
1942
as Lucky Matthews
During WWII, a group of brave Americans spy on the Japanese after their invasion of the Philippines and became the first U.S. Guerrilla fighters.

Apache Trail
1942
as Trigger Bill Folliard
The brother of a notorious outlaw is put in a charge of a stagecoach line way station in dangerous Apache territory. A stagecoach arrives at the stati...

Just Off Broadway
1942
as Michael Shayne
Private detective Michael Shayne is on the case again, but this time he's stuck on a jury for a murder trial. So, what does he do? Why, he skips out o...

It Happened in Flatbush
1942
as Frank 'Butterfingers' Maguire
A washed up baseball player returns to Brooklyn to manage his old team but an old sports reporter is eager to prove that he is a loser.

The Man Who Wouldn't Die
1942
as Michael Shayne
A man believed to be dead and buried escapes from his grave and returns to the scene of the crime seeking revenge.

Blue, White, and Perfect
1942
as Michael Shayne
In order to win back his girlfriend, Mike Shayne promises to give up his detective practice and get a job as riveter in an aircraft plant. He quickly ...

Steel Against the Sky
1941
as Rocky Evans
Steel-worker brothers compete for the same woman.

Blues in the Night
1941
as Del Davis
A struggling band find themselves attached to a fugitive and drawn into a series of old feuds and love affairs, as they try to stay together and find ...

Buy Me That Town
1941
as Rickey Deane
A gangster and his mob buy a small-town in this warm comedy. They, tired of trying to make it as big city hoods, buy the town to use as a hideout. The...

Dressed to Kill
1941
as Michael Shayne
A detective's wedding is postponed when gunshots are heard nearby.

Sleepers West
1941
as Michael Shayne
Private eye Mike Shayne encounters a large amount of trouble while attempting to guard a murder witness.

Mr. Dynamite
1941
as Tommy N. Thornton ('Mr. Dynamite')
A ball player takes his girlfriend to a carnival, only to discover a ring of saboteurs.

Behind the News
1940
as Stuart Woodrow
As suggested by its title, Behind the News was a "stop the presses!" yarn set in a big-city newsroom. Lloyd Nolan is top-billed as a cynical reporter ...

Michael Shayne: Private Detective
1940
as Michael Shayne
Millionaire sportsman Hiram Brighton hires gumshoe Michael Shayne to keep his spoiled daughter Phyllis away from racetrack betting windows and roulett...

Charter Pilot
1940
as King Morgan
US-to-Central-America freight service pilot gets engaged to radio broadcaster and promises to take a desk job but the urge for adventure is too strong...

The Golden Fleecing
1940
as Gus Fender
A mild-mannered insurance salesman gets mixed up with gangsters.

The Man I Married
1940
as Kenneth Delane
An American vacations in Europe with her husband and watches him turn into a Nazi.

Pier 13
1940
as Danny Dolan
A policeman makes the startling discovery that his girlfriend is involved in a waterfront smuggling racket.

Gangs of Chicago
1940
as Matthew J. 'Matty' Burns
A criminal uses his knowledge of the law for his not-very-legal purposes, betraying friends along the way.

Johnny Apollo
1940
as Mickey Dwyer
Wall Street broker Robert Cain, Sr., is jailed for embezzling. His college graduate son Bob then turns to crime to raise money for his father's releas...

The House Across the Bay
1940
as Slant Kolma
Nightclub owner Steve Larwitt sees his empire of investments collapse as he faces tax evasion charges and attacks by rivals. Believing Steve will be s...

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1940
as Joe Monday
A man involved in a crime (Nolan) kills his key witness by mistake and resigns himself to death. He changes his name so as not to harm his family. The...

The Magnificent Fraud
1939
as Sam Barr
A Chicago con man pays an actor to pose as a slain South American dictator.

Undercover Doctor
1939
as Robert Anders
Dr. Bartley Morgan covers up his profitable illegalities with the respectable veneer of a posh, highly profitable private practice, he runs with his n...
We're in the Movies, Now!
1939
as Himself
Promotion reel/souvenir of a 1939-40 meeting of the Paramount Studios sales people.

St. Louis Blues
1939
as Dave Geurney
A Broadway musical comedy star tires of the same old grind and flees the city. She runs into the skipper of a showboat who befriends her, and they mak...

Ambush
1939
as Tony Andrews
Four bandits swoop down on a California bank and flee with $98,000, leaving a truck as the only clue to their identity. Jane Hartman, bank secretary, ...

King of Alcatraz
1938
as Raymond Grayson
A convict who has just escaped from Alcatraz Prison takes over a passenger ship. Two of the ship's crew hatch a plot to overpower him and rescue the s...

Prison Farm
1938
as Larry Harrison
Shirley Ross plays an innocent young girl convicted for complicity in a crime committed by her boy friend (Lloyd Nolan). The male crook is sentence to...

Hunted Men
1938
as Joe Albany
Notorious racketeer Joe Albany kills James Flowers when he discovers he is embezzling from the club they own. Joe escapes through a window and hails a...

Tip-Off Girls
1938
as Bob Anders
A federal agent goes after a hijacking ring that uses beautiful women to help it hijack the rigs of unsuspecting truckers.

Dangerous to Know
1938
as Inspector Brandon
Racketeer Steve Recka, art patron and political power-maker, rules his town and Madame Lan Ying, his beautiful friend and hostess (read:mistress), wit...

Wells Fargo
1937
as Dal Slade
In the 1840s, Ramsey MacKay, the driver for the struggling Wells Fargo mail and freight company, will secure an important contract if he delivers fres...

Every Day's a Holiday
1937
as John Quade
When a turn-of-century confidence trickster poses as a famous French chanteuse to avoid arrest, she manages to expose the crooked police chief and smo...

Ebb Tide
1937
as Attwater
In 1890, two British expatriates, Robert Herrick and Huish, and German Captain Jakob Thorbecke, are commissioned to sail a Yankee schooner called The ...

Exclusive
1937
as Charles Gillette
When Mountain City racketeer Charles Gillette is acquitted, he arrives at the Mountain City World newsroom and vows revenge on the Better Government C...

King of Gamblers
1937
as Jim Adams
Working for a slick restaurateur who has fallen for her, a down-on-life songstress falls instead for a crusading crime reporter, unaware that her empl...

Internes Can't Take Money
1937
as Hanlon
Dr. Kildare treats and falls for impoverished ex-con Janet Haley, widow of a bank robber, who can't find her baby. Later she helps Kildare sew up gang...

15 Maiden Lane
1936
as Det. Sgt. Walsh
Insurance investigator Trevor pretends to be a thief to enter a gang of jewel thieves.

The Texas Rangers
1936
as Sam 'Polka Dot' McGee
Two down-on-their-luck former outlaws volunteer to be Texas Rangers and find themselves assigned to bring in an old friend, now a notorious outlaw.

Counterfeit
1936
as Capper Stevens
A cop goes undercover to infiltrate and break up a counterfeiting ring.

Devil's Squadron
1936
as Dana Kirk
In this action film, a courageous test pilot works with experimental aircraft for the US Armed Forces. When an important airplane manufacturer dies, h...

Big Brown Eyes
1936
as Russ Cortig
Sassy manicurist Eve Fallon is recruited as an even more brassy reporter and she helps police detective boyfriend Danny Barr break a jewel theft ring ...

Lady of Secrets
1936
as Michael Harvey
Because of a very unhappy affair she had earlier in her life, a woman shuts herself off from the rest of the world.

You May Be Next!
1936
as Neil Bennett
Gangster tries to censor a crusading radio station by jamming its signal.

One Way Ticket
1935
as Jerry
A convict marries the warder's daughter after his escape and she eventually persuades him to finish his sentence.

She Couldn't Take It
1935
as Tex
The wealthy Van Dyke family are constantly in the media for outrageous behavior, much to the frustration of the patriarch, Dan Van Dyke. His self-cent...

Atlantic Adventure
1935
as Dan Miller
When reporter Dan Miller is once again late to meet his girl friend, Helen Murdock, because he is working on a story, Helen breaks up with him. Later,...

'G' Men
1935
as Hugh Farrell
James “Brick” Davis, a struggling attorney, owes his education to a mobster, but always has refused to get involved with the underworld. When a friend...

Stolen Harmony
1935
as Chesty Burrage
Band leader Jack Conrad is impressed by prison inmate Ray Ferrera on saxophone. Conrad hires Ray to join his band and tour upon his release. Ray hooks...