William Broderick Crawford was an American actor.
43 Facts About Broderick Crawford
2.
Broderick Crawford is best known for his portayal of Willie Stark in the film All the King's Men, which earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
3.
Helen Broderick had a career in Hollywood comedies, including memorable appearances in the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Top Hat and Swing Time.
4.
Broderick Crawford returned to vaudeville and radio, which included a period with the Marx Brothers in the radio comedy show Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel.
5.
Broderick Crawford played his first serious character as a footballer in She Loves Me Not at the Adelphi Theatre, London in 1932.
6.
Broderick Crawford was originally stereotyped as a fast-talking tough guy early in his career and often played villainous parts.
7.
Broderick Crawford gained fame in 1937 as Lenny in Of Mice and Men on Broadway.
8.
Broderick Crawford moved to Hollywood and began working in films.
9.
Broderick Crawford made his film debut for Sam Goldwyn in Woman Chases Man.
10.
Broderick Crawford was in Start Cheering at Columbia but missed out on reprising his stage performance as Lenny in the film version of Of Mice and Men, losing it to Lon Chaney Jr.
11.
Broderick Crawford appeared in some "B" films: Ambush, Sudden Money and Undercover Doctor.
12.
Broderick Crawford had a good role in the prestigious Beau Geste with Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy and Susan Hayward and directed by William A Wellman.
13.
Broderick Crawford appeared in two films for Walter Wanger and Tay Garnett, Eternally Yours with David Niven and Loretta Young and Slightly Honorable with Pat O'Brien and Edward Arnold.
14.
Broderick Crawford moved over to Universal, where he was given his first starring role, in the "B" picture I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby.
15.
Broderick Crawford had support parts in When the Daltons Rode ; Seven Sinners, for Garnett; and Trail of the Vigilantes.
16.
Broderick Crawford went back to Paramount for Texas Rangers Ride Again then returned to Universal for The Black Cat, Tight Shoes, and Badlands of Dakota.
17.
Broderick Crawford had one of the leads in South of Tahiti and North to the Klondike.
18.
Broderick Crawford supported Edward G Robinson in Larceny, Inc and George Raft in Broadway, and co-starred with Robert Stack in Men of Texas and Constance Bennett in Sin Town.
19.
Broderick Crawford was one of two announcers on Miller's weekly program I Sustain the Wings, prior to Miller and the band being shipped to England.
20.
Broderick Crawford returned to films with roles in the film noir Black Angel with Dan Duryea and Peter Lorre and Slave Girl with Yvonne de Carlo.
21.
Broderick Crawford made The Flame for Republic, and The Time of Your Life for James Cagney's company.
22.
Broderick Crawford went back to Paramount for Sealed Verdict and had a co-starring role in Bad Men of Tombstone for the King Brothers.
23.
At Warner Bros Broderick Crawford was in A Kiss in the Dark with David Niven and Jane Wyman and Night Unto Night with Ronald Reagan and Viveca Lindfors.
24.
Broderick Crawford was in Monogram's Anna Lucasta with Paulette Goddard.
25.
In 1949, Broderick Crawford reached the pinnacle of his acting career when he was cast as Willie Stark, a character inspired by and closely patterned after the life of Louisiana politician Huey Long, in All the King's Men, a film based on the popular novel by Robert Penn Warren.
26.
Broderick Crawford co-starred with Glenn Ford in Convicted, then starred in another hit 'A'-list production with William Holden and Judy Holliday, Born Yesterday, directed by George Cukor.
27.
Broderick Crawford returned to Columbia to star in some Westerns, Last of the Comanches, and The Last Posse.
28.
Broderick Crawford was reunited with Glenn Ford in Human Desire, directed by Fritz Lang.
29.
In 1955, Broderick Crawford assumed the starring role as Rollo Lamar, the most violent of convicts in Big House, USA.
30.
Broderick Crawford received an offer in Italy to star in Il bidone, directed by Federico Fellini.
31.
Broderick Crawford relocated to Europe where he starred in Vittorio Cottafavi's La vendetta di Ercole, known in the US as Goliath and the Dragon.
32.
Broderick Crawford's successful run as Dan Mathews in Highway Patrol earned him some two million dollars under his contract with ZIV, which eventually paid him in exchange for his agreement to sign for the pilot and subsequent production of a new ZIV production, King of Diamonds.
33.
Recently back from Europe, and having temporarily stopped drinking, Broderick Crawford was signed to play the starring role as diamond industry security chief John King.
34.
In 1962, after the end of King of Diamonds, Broderick Crawford returned to acting in motion pictures: Square of Violence ; Convicts 4 ; Javier Seto's The Castilian ; A House Is Not a Home ; Up from the Beach ; Kid Rodelo ; The Oscar ; The Texican with Audie Murphy; The Vulture ; Red Tomahawk.
35.
Broderick Crawford wore the trademark fedora and black suit when he made an appearance as guest host of a 1977 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live that included a spoof of Highway Patrol.
36.
Broderick Crawford parodied the Dan Matthews character again that year in a commercial for Canada Dry Ginger Ale that featured Aldo Ray and Jack Palance.
37.
Broderick Crawford worked in 140 motion pictures and television series during his career and remained an especially durable presence in television.
38.
In 1979, Broderick Crawford had a cameo as himself in the film A Little Romance in which he referenced his drinking.
39.
Broderick Crawford's drinking increased during the filming of Highway Patrol, eventually resulting in several arrests and stops for driving under the influence of alcohol, which eventually gained him a suspended driving license.
40.
Broderick Crawford would ask Whitman to play his character whenever he was low on cash, so that Whitman would do the dialogue while he was drinking.
41.
Whitman promised the production that Broderick Crawford would stay sober throughout the shoot, and he did.
42.
Broderick Crawford was married three times; he died in 1986 at the age of 74.
43.
Broderick Crawford has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard and another for television at 6734 Hollywood Boulevard.