in
Broadway musical version of
Destry Rides Again (1959) In 1948, Brady made his film debut as a boxer in the programmer
In This Corner (1948) and took tough-guy roles in films like
He Walked by Night,
Undertow, and
Canon City. He was the leading man in the romantic comedy
The Model and the Marriage Broker and in the cult Western drama
Johnny Guitar. From 1953 to 1956, Brady appeared four times in different roles on
Lux Video Theatre and appeared five times on
The Ford Television Theatre. In 1955, he portrayed Ted Slater in "Man in the Ring" of
The Loretta Young Show. In 1955 and 1957, Brady appeared twice on
Studio 57. Early in 1957, he was cast in "The Barbed Wire Preacher" of
Crossroads. On December 26, 1957, Brady played the frontier figure
William Bent in the episode "Lone Woman" on
Playhouse 90. From 1955 to 1959, Brady appeared five times on
Schlitz Playhouse, including the roles of Reno Cromwell in "Night of the Big Swamp" and Calvin Penny in "Papa Said No". The
Schlitz Playhouse episode "The Salted Mine" became the pilot for Brady's own
Western television series
Shotgun Slade, which aired 78 episodes in
syndication from 1959 to 1961. In addition to
Shotgun Slade, Brady appeared in several other television Westerns, including ''
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, The High Chaparral, Lancer, Dirty Sally, The Virginian (twice), and Gunsmoke'' (three times). In 1958, he played the lead role of Sergeant Matt Blake in
Ambush at Cimarron Pass. He dated a number of actresses in Hollywood during this period, including
Kipp Hamilton,
Carol Ohmart,
Reiko Sato, and
Shelley Winters. In 1961, he played the roles of John Keller in "We're Holding Your Son" on
General Electric Theater and Ernie Taggart in "Voyage into Fear" on
Checkmate. In 1962, Brady was cast in the lead guest role as reporter/commentator
Floyd Gibbons in "The Floyd Gibbons Story" of
The Untouchables. The next year, he portrayed Bill Floyd in the episode "Run for Doom" of
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. In 1967, Brady guest-starred on
Judd, for the Defense. During the mid-1960s, Brady starred in several of
A.C. Lyles' Western films. In 1969, he portrayed Budd Blake in the episode "Panic" of ''
Bracken's World''. That same year, he played John Harris in the episode "Log 102: We Can't Just Walk Away From It" of
Adam 12. Brady was cast as a corrupt US sergeant serving overseas in the film,
$ (1971). In 1973, he was cast as Davey Collier in "No Stone Unturned" of
Banacek. On December 5, 1974, Brady guest-starred in the season-one ''
Movin' On TV episode "High Rollers" as a Vegas pit boss. From 1975 to 1977, Brady had the recurring role of Vinnie in 16 episodes of Police Story.'' On February 15, 1977, he appeared as
Shirley Feeney's father, Jack Feeney, in the episode "Buddy, Can You Spare a Father?" on ABC's
Laverne & Shirley. Though he had turned down the role of
Archie Bunker on
All in the Family, Brady appeared as Joe Foley on four episodes in 1976. He appeared five times on
The Rockford Files. In 1977, he portrayed Lou Caruso in "Caruso's Way" of
Welcome Back, Kotter, and appeared as Matt Zaleski in the TV miniseries
Wheels the following year. Brady portrayed Capt. Scofield, in the 1981 made-for-TV film ''
McClain's Law. In 1983, Brady portrayed Alex Kidd in "Shadow of Sam Penny" on Simon and Simon''. Brady's last film acting role was as Sheriff Frank Reilly in the 1984 film
Gremlins. ==Personal life==