Acting career Broderick Crawford

1 acting career

1.1 films
1.2 paramount
1.3 universal
1.4 freelance actor
1.5 king s men , stardom
1.6 highway patrol
1.7 europe
1.8 1970s

acting career

wallace ford , broderick crawford (right) in original broadway production of of mice , men (1938)

crawford returned vaudeville , radio, included period marx brothers in radio comedy show flywheel, shyster, , flywheel.

he played first serious character footballer in loves me not @ adelphi theatre, london in 1932. crawford stereotyped fast-talking tough guy in career , played villainous parts.

he gained fame in 1937 lenny in of mice , men on broadway. moved hollywood , began working in films.

early films

crawford made film debut sam goldwyn in woman chases man (1937). in start cheering (1938) @ columbia missed out on reprising stage performance lenny in film version of of mice , men, losing lon chaney jr.

paramount

crawford signed contract paramount. appeared in b s, ambush (1939), sudden money (1939) , undercover doctor (1939). had role in prestigious beau geste.

after appearing in island of lost men (1939), crawford had beau geste style role in real glory (1939). appeared in 2 films walter wanger , tay garnett, eternally yours (1939) , honorable (1939).

universal

crawford moved on universal, given first starring role, in b , can t give love, baby (1940).

he had support parts in when daltons rode (1940); 7 sinners (1940), garnett; , trail of vigilantes (1940). went paramount texas rangers ride again (1940) returned universal black cat (1941), tight shoes (1941), , badlands of dakota (1941).

crawford had 1 of leads in south of tahiti (1941) , north klondike (1941). supported edward g. robinson in larceny, inc. (1942) , george raft in broadway (1942), , co-starred robert stack in men of texas (1942) , constance bennett in sin town (1942).

during world war ii crawford enlisted in united states army air corps. assigned armed forces network, sent britain in 1944 sergeant, served announcer glenn miller american band. 1 of 2 announcers on miller s weekly program sustain wings, prior miller , band being shipped england.

he returned films roles in black angel (1946), film noir , slave girl (1947) yvonne de carlo.

freelance actor

crawford made flame (194) republic, , time of life (1948) james cagney s company. went paramount sealed verdict (1948) , had co-starring role in bad men of tombstone (1949) king brothers.

at warner bros crawford in kiss in dark (1949) , night unto night (1949). in monogram s anna lucasta (1949).

all king s men , stardom

crawford willie stark in king s men

in 1949, crawford reached pinnacle of acting career when cast willie stark, character inspired , closely patterned after life of louisiana politician huey long, in king s men, film based on popular novel robert penn warren. film huge hit, , crawford s performance bullying, blustering, yet insecure governor stark won him academy award best actor.

the film made columbia put crawford under contract. co-starred glenn ford in convicted (1950 film) (1950), starred in hit -list production william holden , judy holliday, born yesterday (1950), directed george cukor.

crawford had star par in mob (1951), crime drama. phil karlson starred in scandal sheet (1952), based on novel sam fuller.

mgm borrowed him play villain in lone star (1952), opposite clark gable , ava gardner. went warners star in comedy, stop, re killing me (1952).

crawford returned columbia star in westerns, last of comanches (1953), , last posse (1954). 20th century fox borrowed him co-star gregory peck in nunnally johnson s night people (1954).

crawford reunited glenn ford in human desire (1954), directed fritz lang. edward small used him in down 3 dark streets (1954) , new york confidential (1955).

in 1955, crawford assumed starring role rollo lamar, violent of convicts in big house, u.s.a.. in film, crawford s character hardened convict violent commands obedience of violent , psychotic prisoners in prison yard, including portrayed such famous tough-guy actors charles bronson, ralph meeker, william talman, , lon chaney, jr..

stanley kramer cast him in support part in not stranger (1955) big hit. received offer in italy star in il bidone (1955), directed federico fellini.

highway patrol

in 1955, television producer frederick ziv of ziv television productions offered crawford lead role dan mathews in police drama highway patrol, dramatized law enforcement activities of california highway patrol (chp). ziv television productions operated on extremely low budget of $25,000 per episode of highway patrol ten percent of gross receipts going crawford per contract. while show s scripts largely fictional, use of realistic dialogue , crawford s convincing portrayal of hard-as-nails police official helped make show instant success. highway patrol remained popular during 4 years (1955–1959) of first-run syndication, , continue in repeat syndication on local stations across united states many years after. of period 1955 until 1965 of crawford s television roles involved ziv television, among relative handful of producers willing accept occasional challenges inherent working hard-living , hard-drinking crawford. years later, frederick ziv admitted in interview, honest, broderick handful!

highway patrol helped revive crawford s career , cement tough guy persona, used in numerous movie , tv roles rest of life.

during series run appeared in fastest gun alive (1956) ford @ mgm, successful western; between heaven , hell (1956) robert wagner @ fox, directed richard fleischer; , decks ran red (1958) james mason andrew l. stone.

fed show s hectic shooting schedule, crawford quit highway patrol @ end of 1959 in order make film in spain, , try drinking under control.

his followup role, diamond industry security man john king in 1961-62 ziv series king of diamonds failure, show lasting 1 season.

europe

crawford relocated europe starred in vittorio cottafavi s la vendetta di ercole (1960), known in u.s. goliath , dragon.

crawford s successful run dan mathews in highway patrol earned him 2 million dollars under contract ziv, paid him in exchange crawford s agreement sign pilot , subsequent production of new ziv production, king of diamonds. europe, , having temporarily stopped drinking, crawford signed play starring role diamond industry security chief john king. king of diamonds picked syndication in 1961, ran 1 season before being cancelled. in 1962, after end of king of diamonds, crawford returned acting in motion pictures: square of violence (1962); convicts 4 (1962); javier setó s castilian (1963); house not home (1964); beach (1965); kid rodelo (1966); oscar (1966); texican (1966) audie murphy; vulture (1967); red tomahawk (1967).

1970s

after 1970, crawford again returned television. 1970–71, played role of dr. peter goldstone in interns.

in 1977, starred j. edgar hoover in tv movie private files of j. edgar hoover. make series of guest appearances on several tv programs, while starring in several made-for-tv movies.

spoofing famous tv role, wore trademark fedora , black suit when made appearance guest host of 1977 episode of nbc s saturday night live included spoof of highway patrol.

in episode of chips crawford appeared himself, recognized after being stopped officer poncherello, presses reluctant crawford give trademark line highway patrol ( twenty-one-fifty headquarters! ). musician webb wilder s instrumental, ruff rider (on album came nashville), dedicated broderick crawford in admiration of highway patrol character s ability solve crime committed in california setting road block. crawford worked in 140 motion pictures , television series during career , remained durable presence in television.

crawford mentioned in 1977 film smokey , bandit in scene patrol officer angrily confronts sheriff buford t. justice (jackie gleason) , damaged vehicle. when justice starts introduce himself, trooper interrupts him , barks, don t care if name broderick crawford!

his last role film producer murdered in 1982 episode of simon , simon television series. actor played part of suspected murderer stuart whitman, had played recurring part of sergeant walters on highway patrol.