Biografie

On 15 June 1965, at the age of 48, he died on his yacht off the coast of Guatemala of an acute lung infection. His body, along with three alive but upset female Mexican assistants (Eva Montero Castellano, 25, a seamstress; Eugenia Bautista Zacarias, 19, a laundress; and 14-year-old Lorenza de la Rosa), remained terrified on board for 10 days until the boat drifted to shore and was found by authorities. His death was apparently a mystery, surrounded by various rumors about foul play and poisoning. Merle Oberon, a former paramour a couple of years back, tried to use her influence to push for further police investigations but failed.

Was not accepted into the service because of a heart murmur. Instead he organized and directed shows for Army camps on the West coast.

A tabloid "bad boy," he was arrested in August 1964 while shooting Blonde Fracht für Sansibar (1964) in South Africa on a civil court order brought about by a local jockey who accused him of adultery with his wife. Cochran was exonerated. Three months later, he was arrested for beating, binding, and gagging singer Ronie Rae, whom he invited to his home for an audition for his proposed film "Captain O'Flynn," which was never made. He was cleared of all charges in this as well.

At one time housed some strange animals at his Coldwater Canyon home, including a chimpanzee, some goats, and Paderewski, allegedly a piano-playing dog.

Appeared opposite Virginia Mayo in six films, both of them often playing scheming, unsavory types.