Broderick Crawford

Crawford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Lester Crawford (né Lester Crawford Pendergast) and Helen Broderick, who were both vaudeville performers, as his grandparents had been. Lester appeared in films in the 1920s and 1930s. Helen Broderick had a career in Hollywood comedies, including appearances in the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Top Hat and Swing Time. Crawford and his parents performed on the stage, for producer Max Gordon. He was accepted by Harvard College where he enrolled. However, after three months at Harvard he dropped out to work as a stevedore on the New York docks. Crawford returned to vaudeville and radio, which included a period with the Marx Brothers in the radio comedy show Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel. He played his first serious character as a footballer in She Loves Me Not at the Adelphi Theatre, London in 1932. Crawford was originally stereotyped as a fast-talking tough guy early in his career and often played villainous parts. He gained fame in 1937 as Lenny in Of Mice and Men on Broadway. He moved to Hollywood and began working in films.