Bradford Dillman

Bradford Dillman (April 14, 1930 – January 16, 2018) was an American actor and author, who appeared in over 140 film, television, and stage productions between 1953 and 1995. He originated the role of Edmund Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, earning a Theatre World Award, and won the 1959 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film Compulsion. He was also a Golden Globe Award winner and a Primetime Emmy Award nominee.

Early life Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930, in San Francisco, the son of Dean Dillman, a stockbroker, and Josephine (née Moore). Bradford's paternal grandparents were Charles Francis Dillman and Stella Borland Dean. He studied at Town School for Boys and St. Ignatius High School from which he graduated in 1949. He later attended the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, where he became involved with school theatre productions. While at Yale University, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1948. While a student, he was a member of the Yale Dramatic Association, Fence Club, Torch Honor Society, The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, WYBC and Berzelius.

Military service After graduation, he entered the United States Marine Corps as an officer candidate, training at Parris Island. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in September 1951. As he was preparing to deploy to the war in Korea, his orders were changed, and he spent the rest of his time in the Marine Corps, from 1951 to 1953, teaching communication in the Instructors' Orientation Course. He was discharged in 1953 with the rank of first lieutenant.

Career Studying with the Actors Studio, Dillman spent several seasons apprenticing with the Sharon Playhouse in Sharon, Connecticut. He was offered a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, but declined it to star in an Off-Broadway production of The Scarecrow in 1953.

During 1955, he appeared in an episode of the television series The Big Picture as an MP patrolling the city of Augusta, Georgia.

Broadway Dillman first performed in a Broadway play as part of the U.S. premiere cast of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night in November 1956. He portrayed the author's alter-ego character Edmund Tyrone and won a Theatre World Award for his performance. The production also featured Fredric March, Florence Eldridge and Jason Robards Jr., and played for 390 performances until March 1958.

In 1957, Katharine Cornell cast him in a Hallmark Hall of Fame television production of Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize winning 1940 play, There Shall Be No Night.

20th Century Fox Dillman was cast in the movie melodrama A Certain Smile (1958). He followed this with In Love and War (1958), a war movie featuring many of 20th Century Fox's young contract players, for which he earned a Golden Globe award. It was a financial success. So too was Compulsion (1959), featuring Dillman, Dean Stockwell and Orson Welles for producer Richard Zanuck and director Richard Fleischer.

Dillman shared an award for Best Actor with Stockwell and Welles at the Cannes Film Festival. After making the movie Circle of Deception (1960) in London, Dillman was reunited with Welles, Fleischer and Zanuck for Crack in the Mirror (1960), filmed in Paris. It was unsuccessful. Back in Hollywood, Fox cast Dillman in support of Yves Montand and Lee Remick in Sanctuary (1961). They also had him in the title role in Francis of Assisi (1961).

Television When he quit Fox, Dillman mostly concentrated on television. He guest-starred in a 1963 episode of The Virginian, titled: "Echo of Another Day", and he guest-starred in the 1966 12 O'Clock High episode "Twenty-Fifth Mission". He co-featured with Diana Hyland in the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "To Catch A Butterfly" in February 1963, and with Barbara Barrie in the 1964 Hitchcock Hour episode "Isabel". He appeared in seven episodes of Dr. Kildare (1964–66) and 26 of Court Martial (1965–66). He guest-featured in television series such as The F.B.I. (six episodes), Ironside (two episodes), Shane, The Name of the Game, Columbo, The Wild Wild West, Night Gallery, The Eleventh Hour, Wagon Train, The Greatest Show on Earth, Breaking Point, Mission: Impossible (two episodes), The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cannon, Barnaby Jones (six episodes), Three for the Road, Wonder Woman and a two-part episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which was made into the feature movie The Helicopter Spies (1968).

Dillman appeared twice in the Western television series The Big Valley (1965–69), once in season two, episode 15, titled "Day of the Comet", broadcast December 26, 1966; and the second time in season three, episode 9, titled "A Noose is Waiting", which was broadcast November 13, 1967. He appeared in occasional movies during this period, including A Rage to Live (1965), Sergeant Ryker (1968), and The Bridge at Remagen (1969).

Dillman played painter Richard Pickman in the television adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's 1926 story, Pickman's Model, presented as the opening act of a December 1971 Night Gallery episode. In 1970 Bradford played the role of a U.S. Army captain in the TV film Suppose They Gave A War and Nobody Came. He starred as Tony Goodland in "The Greenhouse Jungle", the second episode of the second season of Columbo (initially aired on October 15, 1972). He also starred as the sadistic hunter Michael Sutton in "The Snare", the ninth episode in the third season of The Incredible Hulk (initially aired on December 7, 1979).

Later career and author Dillman appeared in made-for-television movies such as Fear No Evil (1969), Moon of the Wolf (1972), and Deliver Us from Evil (1973). He appeared in 10 episodes of Falcon Crest (1982–83), and 2 of Dynasty (1984). His last known acting appearance was an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1995, his eighth guest appearance on the series. An autobiography, Are You Anybody?: An Actor's Life, was published in 1997.

Personal life "Bradford Dillman" was the actor's real name. He'd said "It [Bradford Dillman] sounded like a distinguished, phony, theatrical name -- so I kept it." He lived for many years in the 1928-built Las Armas estate, designed by architects George Washington Smith and Lutah Maria Riggs, in Montecito, California. . From 1956 to 1962, he was married to Frieda Harding and had two children with her, Pamela and Jeffrey.

During the production of Circle of Deception (1960), he met fashion model turned actress Suzy Parker. They struck up a romance and Dillman eventually divorced Harding.

Dillman was a distant cousin of the eccentric author and heiress Aimee Crocker. Crocker's cousin on her mother’s side was Charles Frances Dillman, grandfather of Bradford, who was president of the D.O. Mills National Bank and represented both Aimée’s and sister Jennie’s extensive business interests in California.

Dillman was involved in fundraising for medical research .

Death Dillman died in Santa Barbara, California, on January 16, 2018, aged 87, due to complications from pneumonia.

Partial filmography

Film

A Certain Smile (1958) as Bertrand Griot In Love and War (1958) as Alan Newcombe Compulsion (1959) as Arthur A. Straus Crack in the Mirror (1960) as Larnier / Claude Circle of Deception (1960) as Capt. Paul Raine Sanctuary (1961) as Gowan Stevens Francis of Assisi (1961) as Francis Bernardone of Assisi Monstrosity (1963) as Narrator (voice, uncredited) A Rage to Live (1965) as Sidney Tate The Plainsman (1966) as Lt. Stiles The Helicopter Spies (1968) as Luther Sebastian (archive footage) Sergeant Ryker (1968) as Capt. David Young (uses archive footage) This was a recut version of a 1963 TV film first shown as a two-part episode of NBC's Kraft Suspense Theatre, which spawned the series Court Martial Jigsaw (1968) as Jonathan Fields The Bridge at Remagen (1969) as Major Barnes Mastermind (1969; unreleased until 1976) as Jabez Link Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970) as Capt. Myerson Brother John (1971) as Lloyd Thomas The Mephisto Waltz (1971) as Bill Delancey Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) as Dr. Lewis Dixon The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971) as Sen. Clayton Zachary Wheeler The Way We Were (1973) as J.J. The Iceman Cometh (1973) as Willie Oban Chosen Survivors (1974) as Peter Macomber 99 and 44/100% Dead (1974) as Big Eddie Gold (1974) as Manfred Steyner A Black Ribbon for Deborah (1974) as Michel Lagrange Bug (1975) as James Parmiter The Enforcer (1976) as Capt. Jerome McKay One Away (1976) as Ruben Bass The Amsterdam Kill (1977) as Howard Odums The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977) as John Wilkes Booth The Swarm (1978) as Major Baker Piranha (1978) as Paul Grogan Guyana: Crime of the Century (1979) as Dr. Gary Shaw Love and Bullets (1979) as Jim Brickman Running Scared (1980) as Arthur Jaeger Sudden Impact (1983) as Captain Briggs (1985) as Clark Man Outside (1987) as Frank Simmons Lords of the Deep (1989) as Dobler Heroes Stand Alone (1989) as Walt Simmons

Television

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1963) (Season 1 Episode 19: "To Catch a Butterfly") as Bill Nelson Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1964) (Season 2 Episode 31: "Isabel") as Howard Clements Mission: Impossible (1968, TV series) as Paul Shipherd Fear No Evil (1969, TV Movie) as Paul Varney Black Water Gold (1970, TV Movie) as Lyle Fawcett Night Gallery (1971) (episode: "Pickman's Model") as Richard Upton Pickman Five Desperate Women (1971, TV Movie) as Jim Meeker Moon of the Wolf (1972, TV movie) as Andrew Rodanthe Mission: Impossible (1972, TV series) as Larry Edison Deliver Us from Evil (1973, TV Movie) as Steven Dennis The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974, TV Movie) as Maj. Mike Dunning The Hostage Heart (1977, TV movie) as Dr. Eric Lake The Memory of Eva Ryker (1980, TV Movie) as Jason Eddington The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982, TV Movie) as Singer

Stage credits