John Agar (January 31, 1921 - April 7, 2002) was a successful Hollywood actor born in Chicago, Illinois who ascended to celebrity shortly after World War II. He is perhaps best remembered for starring in the Sands of Iwo Jima and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon alongside John Wayne; however, aficionados of B-movies regard him as a cult icon for the films he produced in that class, such as Tarantula, The Mole People and The Brain from Planet Arous. Agar was educated at Harvard School for Boys and Lake Forest Academy in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Pawling Prep in Pawling, New York, but did not attend college. He and his family moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1942 following his father’s death. During World War II he served in the Army Air Corps, and he was a sergeant at the time he left the army in 1946.
He was Shirley Temple's first husband (1945-1950). His marriage to Temple lasted five years and they had one daughter together, Linda Susan Agar who was later known as Susan Black, taking the surname of her stepfather Charles Alden Black. Following his divorce from Temple, Agar was married in 1951 to model Loretta Barnett Combs (1922-2000). They remained married until her death in 2000. They had two sons: Martin Agar and John G. Agar III.
Agar died on April 7, 2002 at Burbank, California of complications from Emphysema. He was buried beside his wife at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
