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1-14 of 14
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Burly, handsome and rugged character actor John Crawford appeared in over 200 movies and TV shows combined in a career that spanned over 40 years, usually cast as tough and/or villainous characters.
Crawford was born Cleve Richardson on September 13, 1920, in Colfax, Washington. He was discovered by a Warner Bros. scout while attending the University of Washington's School of Drama. Although he failed his screen test, Crawford nonetheless joined RKO as a laborer. He then got a job building sets at Circle Theater in Los Angeles, and eventually persuaded the producers to cast him in some of their plays. He was soon signed to Columbia Pictures to act in secondary roles in westerns. In the late 1950s he graduated to bigger parts in such films as Orders to Kill (1958), The Key (1958) and Hell Is a City (1960), all of which were made in the UK. Crawford returned to America in the early 1960s and began a prolific career in both movies and TV series, up until 1986. His most memorable film roles include the ill-fated chief engineer in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), the hearty Tom Iverson in Night Moves (1975), the bumbling mayor of San Francisco in The Enforcer (1976), hard-nosed police chief Buzz Cavanaugh in Outlaw Blues (1977) and amiable old mine hand Brian Deerling in The Boogens (1981). John had recurring parts as Sheriff Ep Bridges in The Waltons (1972) and Capt. Parks on Police Woman (1974). Among the many TV shows he made guest appearances in are The Lone Ranger (1949), Adventures of Superman (1952), I Spy (1965), The Twilight Zone (1959), The Untouchables (1959), Wagon Train (1957), The Fugitive (1963), Star Trek (1966), Lost in Space (1965), Bonanza (1959), Hogan's Heroes (1965), Mission: Impossible (1966), Gunsmoke (1955), The Bionic Woman (1976), Dallas (1978) and Dynasty (1981). Crawford died at age 90 following complications from a stroke on September 21, 2010, in Thousand Oaks, California. He's survived by his ex-wife Ann Wakefield, four daughters and two grandchildren.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A petite and extremely lovely blonde "B" film actress who eventually deserted her career in favor of standing by her man (cowboy icon William Boyd, aka, "Hopalong Cassidy"), Grace Bradley spent the rest of her life in his shadow and devoting herself to her husband's career. Bill's Hoppy was the longest span of any fictional character played by the same actor. Following his death in 1972, she spent a good deal of her time keeping his good name and image intact.
The former film lead and second lead was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 21, 1913, and initially studied to be a concert pianist. At age 15 she played Carnegie Hall, representing the state of New York in one of its annual competitions for up-and-coming pianists. She took advantage of all her assets by modeling full time and taking singing/dancing lessons on the sly. She went on to act, sing, and dance on the Broadway stage in the musicals "Strike Me Pink" and "The Little Show".
While performing at the Paradise nightclub in Manhattan in 1933, she was "discovered" by a Paramount Pictures director and signed for films.
Out west, Bradley often was cast as an assertive "bad girl" or femme-fatale at Paramount with names like Goldie, Trixie, Flossie, Lily and Sadie.
Her first full-length movie was as a second lead in the Bing Crosby/Jack Oakie musical comedy Too Much Harmony (1933), in which she sang and danced to the feisty tune "Cradle Me With a Hotcha Lullaby". She subsequently appeared in the W.C. Fields classic Six of a Kind (1934); the Richard Arlen pictures Come On, Marines! (1934) and She Made Her Bed (1934); the Claudette Colbert/Fred MacMurray comedy The Gilded Lily (1935), and had the female lead opposite Bruce Cabot in Redhead (1934). Appearing secondary in the Bing Crosby/Ethel Merman version of Anything Goes (1936), her musical talents were tapped into with the films The Cat's-Paw (1934), Stolen Harmony (1935), Old Man Rhythm (1935), Sitting on the Moon (1936), and Wake Up and Live (1937). Elsewhere, various "B" male co-stars would include Wallace Ford, Lee Tracy, Jack Haley, John Boles, Robert Livingston, Jack Holt and Robert Armstrong.
In 1937, she happened to cross paths with William Lawrence Boyd, who became her literal "Prince Charming on a big white horse". She had harbored a long-time school-girl crush on the man and she was instantly smitten upon their first meeting. He was 42 and she 23. Their courtship was fast and furious. He asked her to marry him within a few days and they were married three weeks later on June 5th. Boyd had already been married four times, none of which lasted any longer than six years. She would become the fifth (and last) Mrs. William Boyd in a marriage lasting 35 years. The couple had no children together; Bill had one child from his third marriage.
Grace continued on with her cinematic career for a time. She appeared in the mystery Romance on the Run (1938) with Donald Woods; enjoyed top billing in the "B" crime drama The Invisible Killer (1939); supported heavy-duty singers Allan Jones and Susanna Foster in the musical romance The Hard-Boiled Canary (1941); and provided decorative diversion in the Jack London adventure Sign of the Wolf (1941) opposite Michael Whalen. Her last three pictures had the actress co-starring as Sadie McGuerin and mingling with cab company owners William Bendix and Joe Sawyer in the Hal Roach full-length comedies Brooklyn Orchid (1942), The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942), and Taxi, Mister (1943). She then retired completely.
By 1944, Boyd's movie career had faltered and the couple sought the purchasing rights to his old movies and the identifiable Hoppy character. Selling their Malibu ranch home and moving to a Hollywood apartment, the risk paid off. By 1946 he had formed his own production company and began churning out new Hopalong Cassidy films and serials. They took the character to episodic television in 1948 and he became a hit all over again. "Hoppymania" burst onto the American scene with hundreds of products bearing his name and likeness becoming instant collectible items (lunch boxes, tee shirts, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, toy guns, etc).
Boyd retired from show business in 1953 now quite wealthy. He and his wife then moved to Palm Desert, California. In 1968, Boyd had surgery to remove a tumor from a lymph gland. From that point on, he refused all requests for interviews and photographs. Suffering from Parkinson's disease, he died as the result of heart failure in Laguna Beach, California, on September 12, 1972, at age 77.
Bradley went on to spend the last decades of her life devoting herself to volunteer work at the same hospital where her husband had died. She later withstood legal battles stemming from copyright infringements, although enjoyed appearing occasionally at Hopalong Cassidy tributes. The definitive biography Hopalong Cassidy, "An American Legend", was co-authored by Bradley and Michael Cochran in 2008.
Grace Bradley Boyd died of natural causes on her 97th birthday. She was interred next to her husband at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Mickey Freeman was born on 12 February 1917 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Phil Silvers Show (1955), McHale's Navy (1962) and Keep in Step (1959). He died on 21 September 2010 in New York City, New York, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Geoffrey Burgon was born on 15 July 1941 in Hambledon, Hampshire, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Life of Brian (1979), The Forsyte Saga (2002) and Longitude (2000). He was married to Jacqueline Kroft and Janice Garwood. He died on 21 September 2010 in London, England, UK.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Sandra Mondaini was born on 1 September 1931 in Milan, Italy. She was an actress, known for Casa Vianello (1988), Biblioteca di Studio Uno (1964) and I misteri di Cascina Vianello (1997). She was married to Raimondo Vianello. She died on 21 September 2010 in Milan, Italy.- Bernard Davies was born on 19 November 1923 in Bath, Somerset, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Secret Agent (1964), Doctor Who (1963) and The Wallet (1952). He died on 21 September 2010 in Norwood, England, UK.
- Armands Neylands-Yaunzems was born on 26 May 1970 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia]. He was an actor, known for Kobra. Antiterror (2003), Lyubov.ru (2008) and Brachnyy kontrakt (2009). He died on 21 September 2010 in Peredelkino, Moscow Oblast, Russia.
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Harry Fischbach was born in 1921 in Brussels, Brussels-Capital, Belgium. He was a producer and director, known for Les Grands Moments (1980), Festival (1978) and L'auberge de la licorne (1966). He died on 21 September 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.- Producer
- Production Manager
- Writer
Stanley Colbert was born on 18 October 1927 in New York, USA. He was a producer and production manager, known for Murder by Phone (1982), Hornets' Nest (1970) and Coming Out Alive (1980). He died on 21 September 2010 in Toronto, Canada.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Don Partridge was born on 27 October 1941 in Bournemouth, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Breakfast on Pluto (2005), Otley (1969) and Popdown (1969). He died on 21 September 2010 in England, UK.- Carl Jones was born on 18 July 1919 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Easy to Look At (1945), Drömsemester (1952) and A Hundred Thousand Stars (1959). He died on 21 September 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Transportation Department
- Additional Crew
Mike Zosiuk is known for I, Robot (2004), Head Over Heels (2001) and Fringe (2008). Mike died on 21 September 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Amy Breliant was born on 11 January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Exposé (2000). She died on 21 September 2010 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
- Kôji Okumura was a producer, known for Shuto Konsoku Trial (1988), Nasty Diver (1977) and Wet & Rope (1979). He died on 21 September 2010 in Japan.