Richard Bradford, American actor, Died at 82

  Actor

Richard Bradford was born on November 10, 1934, and died on March 22, 2016.

He was an American actor.

He was best known for his lead role as former CIA agent turned private eye McGill in the British TV adventure series Man in a Suitcase, made by ITC in 1967.

Bradford studied acting, first with Frank Corsaro, and finally, in 1962, was admitted to the The Actors Studio, where he worked for two years,leading to roles in Studio productions such as Mother Courage (1963), June Havoc’s Marathon ’33 (1963), and Blues for Mister Charlie (1964).

Richard also understudied Rod Steiger in the touring production of A.E. Hotchner’s Hemingway-based A Short, Happy Life (1961), an ostensibly Broadway-bound show which folded out of town.

Ultimately, his work caught the eye of another Actors Studio member, director Arthur Penn, who cast Bradford in The Chase (1966), where he held his own alongside Janice Rule, Martha Hyer and a host of Studio veterans, including Marlon and Jocelyn Brando, E.G. Marshall, and Clifton James, as well as newcomer Jane Fonda and future member Robert Duvall.

After that, his work attracted the attention of media impresario Lew Grade, who would bring Bradford to Great Britain in 1967 for Man in a Suitcase.

Also to his numerous TV appearances, Bradford has been featured in many films, such as The Missouri Breaks (1976), An Enemy of the People (1978), Badge of the Assassin (1985), The Trip To Bountiful (1985), The Untouchables (1987) and The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), but arguably his best-known film role is the corrupt police captain in the 1997 film Hoodlum featuring Laurence Fishburne, Andy GarcĂ­a, and Tim Roth.

Richard Bradford also appeared in the 1989 film Heart of Dixie, and had notable turns in Costa-Gavras’ Missing (1982), the Kurt Russell thriller The Mean Season (1985) and was also in The Crossing Guard (1995) with Jack Nicholson.

Richard was a guest star on NBC’s Viper.

Richard Bradford starred in the miniseries Amerika, in 1987.

The ballet dancer Eileen Elliott, was his wife at one point.

He was consequently in a long-time relationship with actress Millie Perkins, with whom he had two stepchildren.

Richard also had one biological son.

The Smiths used a photograph of Bradford on the cover of their single “Panic”, in 1986.

Richard Bradford passed away at 82 yrs old.