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# Sterling Hayden or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Sail
- URL: https://www.sailiconvalley.com/sterling-hayden-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-sail/
- Published: 2026-07-11T18:45:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-17T14:08:11.000Z
- Author: Tony Gilbert
- Tags: Bay

*“Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water? Vodka. That's what they drink, isn't it? Never water… Have you ever heard of a thing called fluoridation? Fluoridation of water?…Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?… I can no longer sit back and allow… the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.”*

And with those fabulous, rambling lines, the paranoid General Jack Ripper instigated a nuclear war in Stanley Kubrick’s [*Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb*](https://youtu.be/J67wKhddWu4?si=tEu-l3TRzA8NO5bd&ref=sailiconvalley.com)*.* 

The man behind the character – actor Sterling Hayden – was in at least 70 films and television shows, including the Godfather (as police Captain McCluskey). But acting was just a way to pay the bills, according to Hayden. How else could he afford to live on a boat in [Sausalito](https://www.sausalitohistoricalsociety.com/2023-columns/2023/5/3/when-hayden-named-names?ref=sailiconvalley.com)? Well, that may be understating it – Hayden’s “boat” was a 99-foot *schooner*. Hayden was so enamored with sailing that he once declared, “I'm no actor! I'm a sailor.” 

The real-life Hayden was far more fascinating than any character he played on screen. He was a spy and operative who smuggled arms through enemy waters, as well as a decorated Marine, awarded the Silver Star (today, he’s even honored on the official [CIA](https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/sterling-hayden-hollywood-star/?ref=sailiconvalley.com) website). Before his first acting role, Sterling Hayden had already earned his Master Mariner license at 21, and commanded a merchant vessel at 22\. Hayden sailed the Eastern Seaboard since he was a kid, and even crewed a circumnavigation voyage on a ship that later graced the [cover](https://ngscollectors.ning.com/photo/yankee-under-sail-and-in-all-her-glory?overrideMobileRedirect=1&ref=sailiconvalley.com) of National Geographic. 

Oh, yeah. And about that “Commie” line from Dr. Strangelove? It hit closer to home than many might assume. Sterling Hayden actually was a “card carrying Communist,” at least for a brief time during his work in Eastern Europe. That was still long enough for him to be targeted by HUAC, the House Un-American Activities Committee (yes, that one, of Joe McCarthy infamy). Hayden later said he regretted the choice, stating it was the “stupidest thing I ever did.” Yeah, maybe that and also the time he [defied a court order](https://www.sausalitohistoricalsociety.com/2019-columns/2019/6/26/sterling-haydens-tahiti-voyage?ref=sailiconvalley.com) and took his kids across the Pacific to Tahiti. Sterling Hayden, the man behind so many great characters, reminds us that truth is stranger than fiction. 

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