Bradbury never married; indeed, apart from casual film acquaintances such as
Viola Dana and
Philo McCullough (cited in a July 1927 news item dubbing Bradbury "an enthusiastic swimmer" and frequenter of "various beach clubs [and] seaside homes"), one of the few individuals with whom he was reported to have a personal relationship—apart from family of origin—was actor
Robert Armstrong, described in that same 1927 story as "an old friend and stage associate from the east [to whom Bradbury] has been extending hospitality lately in various other directions." Not quite two months later, it was reported by
Oakland Tribune that the two were on the verge of being paired by an undisclosed "big studio" as a comedy team in a series of upcoming films, a project which evidently never got beyond the planning stage. The following month, the
Los Angeles Evening Citizen News reported that Armstrong was one of ten guests attending a birthday party Bradbury Jr. had given for his father. On June 21, 1936, after having concluded that the "buddy" to whom he had recently entrusted over two hundred fifty dollars for the purpose of purchasing travelers checks had simply absconded with the funds, Bradford made an attempt to kill himself by turning on the gas in his room on
West 11th Street in Los Angeles. Eventually growing impatient, he lit a match, setting off a gas explosion, thus turning himself, as reported by the
Los Angeles Daily News, "into a human torch." Within two hours of his arrival at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, Bradbury had died, at age 41. ==Partial filmography==