William Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Willie Stark in the film All the King's Men (1949), which earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Often cast in tough-guy roles, he later achieved recognition for his starring role as Dan Mathews in the crime television series Highway Patrol (1955–1959).
Crawford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Lester Crawford (né Lester Crawford Pendergast) and Helen Broderick, who were both vaudeville performers, as his grandparents had been.[1] Lester appeared in films in the 1920s and 1930s. Helen Broderick had a career in Hollywood comedies, including memorable appearances in the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Top Hat and Swing Time.
Young William joined his parents on the stage, working for producer Max Gordon. After graduating from preparatory high school Dean Academy (now Dean College) in Franklin, Massachusetts, Crawford was accepted by Harvard College where he enrolled. However, after only three weeks at Harvard he dropped out to work as a stevedore on the New York docks.[1]
He played his first serious character as a footballer in She Loves Me Not at the Adelphi Theatre, London in 1932. Crawford was originally stereotyped as a fast-talking tough guy early in his career and often played villainous parts.
He gained fame in 1937 as Lenny in Of Mice and Men on Broadway. He moved to Hollywood and began working in films.
In 1949, 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. The film was a huge hit, and Crawford's performance as the bullying, blustering, yet insecure Governor Stark won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.
In 1955, Crawford assumed the starring role as Rollo Lamar, the most violent of convicts in Big House, U.S.A.. In the film, Crawford's character is a hardened convict so violent he commands the obedience of even the most violent and psychotic prisoners in the prison yard, including those portrayed by such famous tough-guy actors as Charles Bronson, Ralph Meeker, William Talman, and Lon Chaney Jr.
In 1955, television producer Frederick Ziv of ZIV Television Productions offered Crawford the lead role as "Dan Mathews" in the police drama Highway Patrol, which dramatized law enforcement activities of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). ZIV Television Productions operated on an extremely low budget of $25,000 per episode of Highway Patrol with ten percent of gross receipts going to Crawford as per his contract. While the show's scripts were largely fictional, the use of realistic, rapid-fire dialogue, stark film noir styled feel and Crawford's convincing portrayal of a hard-as-nails police official helped make the show an instant success. Highway Patrol remained popular during its four years (1955–1959) of first-run syndication, and would continue in repeat syndication on local stations across the United States for many years after. For much of the period from 1955 until 1965 most of Crawford's television roles involved ZIV Television, which was among the relative handful of producers willing to accept the frequent challenges inherent with working with the hard-living and alcoholic Crawford. Years later, Frederick Ziv admitted in an interview, "To be honest, Broderick could be a handful!"[2]
Highway Patrol helped revive Crawford's career and cement his tough-guy persona, which he used successfully in numerous movie and TV roles for the rest of his life.
Fed up with the show's hectic shooting schedule, Crawford quit Highway Patrol at the end of 1959 in order to make a film in Spain, and try to get his drinking under control.[3]
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. Recently back from Europe, and having temporarily stopped drinking, Crawford was signed to play the starring role as diamond industry security chief John King.[3]King of Diamonds was picked up for syndication in 1961, but was a failure, the show lasting only one season.
After 1970, Crawford again returned to television. From 1970 to 1971, he played the role of Dr. Peter Goldstone in The Interns.
In 1977, he starred as J. Edgar Hoover in The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover. He would eventually make a series of guest appearances on several TV programs, while starring in several made-for-TV movies.
He 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. He parodied the Dan Matthews character again that year in a commercial for Canada DryGinger Ale that also featured Aldo Ray and Jack Palance.
In an episode of CHiPs Crawford appeared as himself, recognized after being stopped by Officer Poncherello, who presses a reluctant Crawford to give his trademark line from Highway Patrol ("Twenty-One-Fifty to Headquarters!").
Musician Webb Wilder's instrumental, "Ruff Rider" (on the album It Came From Nashville), is dedicated to Broderick Crawford in admiration of his Highway Patrol character's ability to solve any crime committed in California by setting up a road block.
Crawford worked in 140 motion pictures and television series during his career and remained an especially durable presence in television.
Crawford is referenced in the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit in the scene where an Alabama State Patrol officer angrily confronts Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) and his damaged vehicle with its horn that won't stop blaring. When Justice starts to introduce himself, the trooper interrupts him and barks, "I don't care if your name is Broderick Crawford!"
In 1979, Crawford had a cameo as himself in the film A Little Romance in which he referenced his drinking. In 1981, Crawford played a pawnbroker named 'Slim', on the tv series Vega$, the episode was titled 'Dead Ringer'
His last role was as a film producer who is murdered in a 1982 episode of the Simon & Simon television series. The actor who played the part of the suspected murderer was Stuart Whitman, who had played the recurring part of Sergeant Walters on Highway Patrol.
Personal life
Throughout his adult life, Crawford was prone to bouts of heavy drinking, and was known for eating large meals. These habits contributed to a serious weight gain for Crawford during the 1950s.
Crawford's drinking increased during the filming of Highway Patrol, eventually resulting in several arrests and stops for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), which eventually gained him a suspended driving license.[4] Eventually the drinking strained the show's relationship with the CHP as well as Crawford's relationship with ZIV.[4]
Fellow actor Stuart Whitman became a close friend of Crawford. In an interview Whitman said they both clicked upon meeting when cast in an episode of Highway Patrol. According to Whitman, who was going through hard financial times, they became fast friends. 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. Whitman said that later down the line he helped to cast Crawford in The Decks Ran Red (1958). Whitman promised the production that Crawford would stay sober throughout the shoot, and he did.[5][6][7][8]
Crawford was married three times; he died in 1986 at the age of 74.[9]
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.
His popularity on "Highway Patrol" also led to him being memorialized in the poker game of Texas Hold 'em, in that a starting hand of a 10-4 (a common police radio code) is nicknamed a "Broderick Crawford".
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