RICHARD BRADFORD

(10 November 1937 - 22 March 2016)

Giving up football following an injury, Richard Bradford headed for New York to train at the Actors’ Studio. His first film was Arthur Penn’s The Chase (1966) with Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford and a screenplay by Lillian Hellman. Then followed several television appearances including the ITV series Man in a Suitcase, about a former intelligence agent trying to clear his name. The usual run of TV also offered The High Chapparal, The Waltons, Marcus Welby M.D., Mannix and Kojak. It was Penn and Brando again for The Missouri Breaks (1976) and then came a film of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People with Steve McQueen. Jack Nicholson directed him in Goin’ South (Bradford was best man at Jack’s wedding), and he was also in a sequel to American Graffiti, Costa-Gavros’ Missing with Jack Lemmon and Wim Wenders’ Hammett. Bradford played the Sheriff in The Trip to Bountiful with Geraldine Page, the Police Chief in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, with Kevin Costner, and he was the ruthless property developer in Redford’s The Milagro Beanfield War. For another twenty years or so he graced popular TV series such as Cagney & Lacey, Midnight Caller, Time Trax, Earth 2, Sparks and Fitz – always working as the good character actor that he was. After more TV series and movies his last appearance was in Andy Garcia’s The Lost City (2005) which also starred Garcia.

MICHAEL DARVELL