Broderick Crawford was an American film, stage, TV, and radio actor, best known for his performance in the film ‘All the King's Men’
Broderick Crawford
@Film & Theater Personalities, Timeline and Childhood
Dec 9, 1911
Biography
Personal Details
- Birthday: December 9, 1911
- Died on: April 26, 1986
- Nationality: American
- Famous: Harvard University, Film & Theater Personalities, Actors
- Spouses: Joan Tabor, Kay Griffith, Mary Alice Moore
- Known as: William Broderick Crawford, Brod
- Childrens: Kelly G. Crawford, Kim Crawford, Lorella De Luca
Broderick Crawford born at
Philadelphia
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Birth Place
For the most part of his adult life, Crawford suffered from alcoholism and gluttony. This led to serious weight gain during the 1950s and consequently numerous injuries on the set of ‘Highway Patrol’.
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Personal Life
He married thrice; first he married Kay Griffith on 20 November 1940 and divorced her on 19 August 1958. The couple had two children together.
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Personal Life
Next he married Joan Tabor on 4 January 1962 and got divorced on 26 April 1967.
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Personal Life
He was born William Broderick Crawford on 9 December1911 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Lester Crawford and Helen Broderick. Helen was a Broadway and film actress while Lester was a popular vaudeville performer.
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Childhood & Early Life
As a child, he often went along with his parents on vaudeville tours. Sometimes he even played small roles in their comedy satires.
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Childhood & Early Life
He studied at the Dean Academy in Franklin, Massachusetts, and did extremely well in athletics, football, baseball, and swimming. Later, he enrolled at Harvard University at his parents’ insistence. Within three weeks at Harvard, he dropped out to work as a stevedore on the New York docks.
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Childhood & Early Life
Thereafter, he engaged in various jobs like professional boxing, being a fit seaman aboard tankers, etc. In due course, he returned to acting through the radio.
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Childhood & Early Life
Broderick Crawford returned to acting via radio, following which he made his Broadway debut in ‘She Loves Me Not’ (1934) at the Adelphi Theatre, London. With his heavily built looks, he quickly gained fame as an actor in John Steinbeck's Broadway production - ‘Of Mice and Men’ (1937).
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Career
Next, he moved to Hollywood and in 1939, played a supporting role in the production of ‘Beau Geste’. This was followed by another important supporting role in the 1942 gangster comedy spoof, ‘Larceny, Inc.’
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Career
His career, till then, was largely restricted to ‘B films’ in supporting roles as he did not fit the archetypal description of a handsome leading man. Nevertheless, he excelled in playing villains.
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Career
During World War II, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps. In 1944, he travelled to Britain as a sergeant and served as a radio announcer for the Armed Forces Network. In his show, he introduced live musical performances of artists like Glenn Miller.
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Career
In 1949, he played the role of Willie Stark, in ‘All the King's Men’. The film was a huge hit and his performance won him an Oscar award. In 1950, he starred in another blockbuster A-list production, ‘Born Yesterday’.
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Career
Broderick Crawford is best remembered for his Oscar-winning performance as Willie Stark in ‘All the King's Men’ (1949). The character was inspired by the life of Louisiana politician Huey Long and was based on the popular novel by Robert Penn Warren.
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Major Works
He is also remembered as Chief Dan Matthews from the television series ‘Highway Patrol’ (1955) and as Judy Holliday's lively boyfriend in ‘Born Yesterday’ (1950).
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Major Works