Richard Edwin Bradford Jr.[1] (November 10, 1934 – March 22, 2016[2]) was an American actor. He is best known for his leading role in the television series Man in a Suitcase (1967–1968) and supporting role in the film The Untouchables (1987).
Early life
Bradford was born in Tyler, Texas, the son of Richard Edwin Bradford and Rose Flaxman.[2] His stepfather was a wholesale grocer.[3] Raised by his grandparents in Conroe, Bradford received his schooling in San Antonio, Texas, then attended Texas A&M on a football scholarship.[2]
When an injury short-circuited his budding athletic career, and a switch to baseball at Texas State University was stymied due to insufficient semester hours, Bradford, who had long admired the work of actors Marlon Brando and James Dean, finally decided to seriously pursue a long-contemplated career in acting. To this end, he made his way to New York.[2]
Career
Supporting himself by waiting tables, Bradford studied acting,[4] first with Frank Corsaro,[5] and finally, in 1962, was admitted to the Actors Studio, where he studied for two years,[4] leading to roles in Studio productions such as Mother Courage (1963), June Havoc's Marathon '33 (1963), and Blues for Mister Charlie (1964). Also, he understudied Rod Steiger in the touring production of A.E. Hotchner's A Short, Happy Life (1961),[5] an ostensibly Broadway-bound show which folded out of town.[6]
Bradford's work caught the eye of another Actors Studio member, director Arthur Penn, who cast Bradford in The Chase (1966),.[4] This work, in turn, attracted the attention of media impresario Lew Grade, who brought Bradford to Great Britain in 1967 for Man in a Suitcase.
In the 1960s he appeared in the Sanctuary episode of the television series Gunsmoke and guest-starred in an episode of The High Chaparral. In the 1970s he played Lutie Bascomb in one episode of The Waltons. He guest-starred (series 2 episode 21) in an episode of Kojak, "The Goodluck Bomber", in 1975. He guest-starred in an episode of Murder, She Wrote in the 1980s. He also guest-starred in an episode in the first season of Viper. In 1987, he starred in the miniseries Amerika. In the mid-1980s he was a semi-regular cast member of the series Cagney & Lacey.
Personal life
Bradford was married to ballet dancer Eileen Elliott from 1965 to 1984. He had a son, Richard Bradford III.[7]
Miscellaneous
In 1986, the Smiths used a photograph of Bradford on the cover of their single "Panic".[8]
In 2004, Bradford gave a series of interviews and commentaries for a DVD release of Man in a Suitcase, expressing mild surprise at the ongoing popularity of the series today.[citation needed]
^"Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V69X-XKX : 1 January 2015), Richard Edwin Jr. Bradford, 10 Nov 1934; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Texas Department of State Health Services.
^ abcdHayward, Anthony (April 14, 2016). "Obituaries: Richard Bradford". The Scotsman. p. 34. ProQuest2024788993. Richard Bradford, American actor who played the enigmatic McGill in Man in a Suitcase. Born: 10 November 1934, in Tyler, Texas. Died: 22 March 2016, in Los Angeles, aged 81. [...] Bradford was born in Tyler, Texas, the son of Richard and Rose (nee Flaxman). [...] By the time he was five, his parents had divorced and he and his mother were living in Conroe with her Russian-born parents, Will and Sarah, who ran a grocery store. [...] [A]fter being educated at a San Antonio high school, he attended the city's Peacock Military Academy. He then won a football scholarship to Texas A&M University. [...] [W]hen an injury ended his career, [he] switched to baseball and Texas University, only to find that he did not have enough semester hours to make him eligible for the baseball team. An admirer of method actors Marlon Brando and James Dean, Bradford decided on acting as a career and headed for New York in 1957.
