- Charles Bickford
-
Charles Bickford 
from the trailer for the film Johnny Belinda (1948)Born Charles Ambrose Bickford
January 1, 1891
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
United StatesDied November 9, 1967 (aged 76)
Los Angeles, California,
United StatesYears active 1929-67 Spouse Beatrice Loring (1916-67) (his death) 2 children Charles Bickford (January 1, 1891 – November 9, 1967) was an American actor best known for his supporting roles.[1] He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette (1943), The Farmer's Daughter (1947), and Johnny Belinda (1948). Other notable roles include Whirlpool (1948), A Star is Born (1954) and The Big Country (1958).
Contents
Early life
Bickford was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the first minute of 1891.[2] The fifth of seven children, he was a very independent and unruly child who was tried and acquitted at nine years old of the attempted murder of a trolley motorman who had callously driven over and killed his dog.[3] In his late teens he drifted aimlessly around the United States for a time. Before breaking into acting he worked as a lumberjack, investment promoter, and for a short time, ran a pest extermination business. He was a stoker and fireman in the United States Navy when a friend dared him to get a job in Burlesque. He did and remained on stage for the next sixteen years.
Acting career
Bickford had intended to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to earn an engineering degree, but while wandering the country, he became friends with the manager of a burlesque show, who convinced Bickford to take a role in the show. He debuted in Oakland, California in 1911.[4] Bickford enjoyed himself so much that he abandoned his plans to attend M.I.T.[5] He made his legitimate stage debut with the John Craig Stock Company at the Castle Square Theatre in Boston in 1912.[6] Bickford eventually joined a road company and traveled throughout the United States for more than a decade, appearing in various productions. In 1925, while working in a Broadway play called Outside Looking In, he and co-star James Cagney (in his first Broadway role) received rave reviews.[7] He was offered a role in Herbert Brenon's 1926 film of Beau Geste, but anxious not to give up his new-found Broadway stardom, turned it down. Following his appearance in the critically praised but unsuccessful Maxwell Anderson-Harold Hickerson drama about the Sacco and Vanzetti case, Gods of the Lightning (Bickford was the Sacco character), Bickford was contacted by filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille and offered a contract with MGM studios to star in DeMille's first talking picture, Dynamite.[8] He soon began working with MGM head Louis B. Mayer on a number of projects.
He became a star after playing Greta Garbo's lover in Anna Christie (1930), but never developed into a romantic lead. Always of independent mind, strong-willed and quick with his fists, Bickford would frequently argue and nearly come to blows with Mayer. During the production of DeMille's Dynamite, he punched out his director. He rejected numerous scripts and made no secret of his disdain for much of the material he was offered. His association with MGM was short-lived, and Bickford asked for and received a release from his contract, but found himself blacklisted at other studios.[9] He became an independent actor for several years. Bickford was mauled by a lion and nearly died while filming East of Java in 1935. While he recovered, he lost his contract with Fox as well as his leading man status due to extensive neck scarring coupled with his advancing age.[10] Much preferring the character roles that now became his forte, Bickford appeared in many notable films including The Farmer's Daughter, Johnny Belinda, A Star is Born, and Not As a Stranger.[11]
Bickford found his greatest success playing character actor roles, both in films and later in television. He became highly sought after; his burly frame and craggy, intense features, coupled with a gruff, powerful voice lent themselves to a wide variety of roles. Most often he played lovable father figures, stern businessmen, heavies, ship captains or authority figures of some sort. During the 1940s, he was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He served as host of the 1950s television series The Man Behind the Badge. He continued to act in generally prestigious projects right up until his death. He guest starred in NBC's The Barbara Stanwyck Show and The Eleventh Hour medical drama. In his final years, Bickford played rancher John Grainger, owner of the Shiloh Ranch on NBC's The Virginian western series.
In 1965, he published his autobiography, Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors.[12]
Death
He died in Los Angeles of a blood infection at the age of seventy-six, just days after filming a 1967 Virginian episode. He had a son, Rex and a daughter, Doris.
Partial filmography
References
- ^ Obituary Variety, November 15, 1967.
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, p. 4
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, pp. 12-16
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, pp. 50-53.
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, pp. 60-61.
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, pp. 61-62.
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, pp. 142-145
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, p. 157
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, pp. 274-277
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, pp. 298-303
- ^ Bickford, Charles. Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., 1965, p 308.
- ^ Parish, James Robert; Mank, Gregory W.; Stanke, Don E. (1978), The Hollywood Beauties, New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House Publishers, p. 75, ISBN 0-87000-412-3
External links
- Charles Bickford at the Internet Movie Database
- Charles Bickford at AllRovi
- Charles Bickford at the Internet Broadway Database
- "Charles Bickford". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6653618. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
Categories:- 1891 births
- 1967 deaths
- Actors from Massachusetts
- American film actors
- Animal attack victims
- People from the Greater Los Angeles Area
- Western (genre) film actors
- United States Navy sailors
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