and Crawford (right) in the original 1938 Broadway production
Of Mice and Men Crawford returned to vaudeville and radio, which included a period with the
Marx Brothers in the radio comedy show
Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel. He gained fame in 1937 as Lennie in
Of Mice and Men on Broadway. He moved to Hollywood and began working in films.
''All the King's Men'' and stardom '' (1949) In 1949, Crawford was cast as Willie Stark, a character inspired by and closely patterned after the life of
Louisiana politician
Huey Long, in ''
All the King's Men'', based on the novel by
Robert Penn Warren. The film was a huge hit, and Crawford won the
Academy Award for Best Actor. Crawford went on to make several major films in the first half of the 1950s, including
Born Yesterday (1950),
Lone Star (1952),
Last of the Comanches (1953), and
Night People (1954). In 1955, Crawford took on the starring role of Rollo Lamar, the most violent of convicts in
Big House, U.S.A., in which Crawford's character is a hardened convict so violent he commands the obedience of even the most violent and psychotic prisoners in the prison yard, followed by a co-starring role in the hit
Not as a Stranger (1955).
Highway Patrol In 1955, television producer
Frederick Ziv of
ZIV Television Productions offered Crawford the lead role in the police drama
Highway Patrol, which dramatized law enforcement activities of the
California Highway Patrol (CHP). ZIV operated on a low budget of $25,000 per episode, with ten percent of gross receipts going to Crawford. While the show's scripts were largely fictional, the use of realistic, rapid-fire dialogue, stark film noir style and Crawford's convincing portrayal of a hard-as-nails police officer made the show an instant success.
Highway Patrol remained popular during its four years (1955–1959) of first-run syndication, and continued in rerun syndication across the United States for many years. From 1955 until 1965, most of Crawford's television roles were for ZIV, which was one of the few producers willing to accept the challenges of working with the hard-living and alcoholic Crawford. Years later, Frederick Ziv said, "To be honest, Broderick could be a handful!"
Highway Patrol revived Crawford's career and cemented his tough-guy persona, which he used successfully in numerous roles for the rest of his life. During the series' run he was in three significant films:
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) for director Russell Rouse at MGM,
Between Heaven and Hell (1956) with
Robert Wagner at Fox, directed by
Richard Fleischer, and
The Decks Ran Red (1958) with James Mason for
Andrew L. Stone. Fed up with its hectic shooting schedule, Crawford quit
Highway Patrol at the end of 1959 to make a film in Spain. Crawford's successful run on
Highway Patrol earned him two million dollars, and he re-signed with ZIV for
King of Diamonds. Having temporarily stopped drinking, Crawford played the starring role as diamond industry security chief John King.
King of Diamonds was picked up for syndication in 1961, but lasted only one season, after which Crawford returned to motion pictures, most notably in
The Oscar (1966) and
The Texican (1966).
1970s After 1970, Crawford returned to television. Along with numerous guestings on TV series and TV movies, he was Dr. Peter Goldstone in
The Interns and starred as
J. Edgar Hoover in
The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover. In 1977, he wore the trademark fedora and black suit as guest host of
NBC's
Saturday Night Live that included a spoof of
Highway Patrol. He parodied his Dan Mathews character again that year in a commercial for
Canada Dry Ginger Ale with
Aldo Ray and
Jack Palance. In an episode of
CHiPs, Crawford appeared as himself, recognized after being stopped by Officer Poncherello
Erik Estrada, who presses a reluctant Crawford to give his trademark line from
Highway Patrol ("Twenty-One-Fifty to Headquarters"). In 1979, Crawford had a cameo in the film
A Little Romance, and his last role was as a film producer who is murdered in a 1982 episode of
Simon & Simon. Co-starring with him was
Stuart Whitman, who had the recurring role of Sergeant Walters on
Highway Patrol. Crawford is referenced in the 1977 film
Smokey and the Bandit when an Alabama State Patrol officer angrily confronts Sheriff Buford T. Justice (
Jackie Gleason) and his damaged vehicle with its horn that won't stop blaring. When Justice starts to introduce himself, the trooper retorts, "I don't care if your name is Broderick Crawford." ==Personal life==