Jan Sterling was an American actress.

Most active in films during the 1950s, Sterling received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture

The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....

 for her performance in The High and the Mighty

The High and the Mighty (film)

The High and the Mighty is a 1954 American "disaster" film directed by William A. Wellman and written by Ernest K. Gann who also wrote the novel on which his screenplay was based. The film's cast was headlined by John Wayne, who was also the project's co-producer...

(1954), and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 for the same performance. Her best performance is often recognized as the "sluttish, opportunistic wife" opposite Kirk Douglas in Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...

's 1951 Ace in the Hole

Ace in the Hole (1951 film)

Ace in the Hole is a 1951 American drama film starring Kirk Douglas as a cynical, disgraced reporter who stops at nothing to try to regain a job on a major newspaper....

. Her career declined during the 1960s, however she continued to play occasional roles for television and theatre.
Sterling was born Jane Sterling Adriance in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, into a well-to-do family.