Broderick Crawford

Intro

Broderick Crawford could make authority feel forceful, compromised or vulnerable, depending on the role. Born in Philadelphia on December 9, 1911, he was the son of actress Helen Broderick and came from a theatrical family. His career extended from Broadway to major Hollywood films, European cinema and television. The imposing figures he played were not all alike: Lennie in Of Mice and Men, Willie Stark in All the King's Men and Harry Brock in Born Yesterday demanded sharply different relationships with the people around them.

Career snapshot

On Broadway he appeared as George Fox in Point Valaine and Boop Oglethorpe in Sweet Mystery of Life, both in 1935. His major stage breakthrough came in the original production of Of Mice and Men, which opened in November 1937. Crawford played Lennie opposite Wallace Ford's George. The surviving Vandamm Studio photograph, published in Stage magazine in June 1938, shows the two men in a dark, intimate stage setting. It records Crawford's work in the play, before his later reputation for abrasive screen authority became dominant.

The entry point

Robert Rossen cast him as Willie Stark in the 1949 adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men. Stark's rise and corruption gave Crawford a leading role built around political persuasion and the destructive exercise of power. Rossen wrote, produced and directed the film, with John Ireland and Mercedes McCambridge among the principal cast. Crawford won the Academy Award for Actor at the ceremony held on March 23, 1950, honoring the previous year's films. McCambridge won the supporting-actress award, and the film itself won Best Picture.

Screen identity and style

Born Yesterday followed in 1950 under George Cukor's direction. Crawford played Harry Brock, the wealthy junk dealer whose plans in Washington depend on influence, intimidation and the cooperation of his girlfriend Billie Dawn. Judy Holliday played Billie, while William Holden was Paul Verrall, the journalist hired to educate her. The education has consequences Harry does not anticipate: Billie begins to understand her situation and resist him. Crawford's overbearing businessman gives Holliday's growing independence an adversary with real weight, allowing the comedy's romantic and political strands to meet in their conflict.

Collaborations and patterns

Night People in 1954 cast Crawford as Charles Leatherby opposite Gregory Peck in a story set amid Cold War tensions in Berlin. Nunnally Johnson wrote, produced and directed the film, his directorial debut. Crawford's civilian character and Peck's military officer occupy different positions in the crisis, a contrast visible in the publicity photograph preserved here. AFI records that exterior filming took place in Berlin and interiors in Munich. The picture thus placed Crawford's familiar forcefulness within a postwar international setting, rather than the American political and business worlds of his recent successes.

Era reflection

Federico Fellini's Il bidone in 1955 took him further into European filmmaking. He played Augusto, an aging swindler whose schemes exploit people with little money and few protections. Richard Basehart, Giulietta Masina and Franco Fabrizi were among his co-stars. Rather than treating deception only as a clever game, the film follows the moral and personal damage attached to Augusto's way of living. Crawford's central performance makes an instructive companion to Willie Stark: both characters exercise power over others, but the scale, setting and emotional direction of their stories differ.

Legacy and rediscovery

Television gave Crawford another durable association as Dan Mathews in Highway Patrol; contemporary TV Times listings advertised him in that role in 1957. He later appeared in The Interns, represented by the 1970 CBS portrait in the gallery. Hollywood honored his work with separate motion-picture and television stars on the Walk of Fame. Crawford died in Rancho Mirage, California, on April 26, 1986. Following his stage work, political drama, comedy, European crime film and television roles reveals a performer whose commanding presence could serve more than one kind of story.

Selected screen roles

• Of Mice and Men: Lennie; Broadway — 1937-1938
• All the King's Men: Willie Stark — 1949
• Born Yesterday: Harry Brock — 1950
• Night People: Charles Leatherby — 1954
• Il bidone: Augusto — 1955
• Highway Patrol: Dan Mathews — 1950s
• The Interns: Television cast — 1970

A career in pictures

Distinct photographs follow the original Broadway Of Mice and Men, Night People and The Interns. The dark stage lighting is preserved in the theatre image.

The Interns: Broderick Crawford (1970)

Television publicity portrait

CBS publicity portrait dated July 13, 1970.

Of Mice and Men: with Wallace Ford (1938)

Lennie; original Broadway production

Wallace Ford at left as George; Crawford at right as Lennie. Vandamm Studio photograph published in Stage, June 1938.

Night People: with Gregory Peck (1954)

Charles Leatherby

Crawford at left; Gregory Peck at right. Film publicity photograph.

Rewatch notes

• Crawford played Lennie in the original Broadway production of Of Mice and Men.
• He won the Actor Oscar at the 1950 ceremony for All the Kings Men.
• He has separate Hollywood Walk of Fame stars for motion pictures and television.