Bradford Dillman

About Bradford Dillman

Dark-haired, Ivy League-looking Bradford Dillman, whose white-collar
career spanned nearly five decades, possessed charm and confident good
looks that were slightly tainted by a bent smile, darting glance and
edgy countenance that often provoked suspicion. Sure enough, the camera
picked up on it and he played shady, highly suspect characters
throughout most of his career.The actor was born in San Francisco on April 14, 1930, to Dean and
Josephine Dillman. Yale-educated, he graduated with a B.A. in English
Literature. Following this he served with the US Marines in Korea
(1951-1953) before focusing on acting as a profession. Studying at the
Actors Studio, he spent several seasons apprenticing with the Sharon
(CT) Playhouse before making his professional acting debut in "The
Scarecrow" in 1953.Dillman took his initial Broadway bow in
'Eugene ONeill's play "Long Day's
Journey Into Night" in 1956, originating the author's alter ego
character Edmund Tyrone and winning a Theatre World Award in the
process. This success put him squarely on the map and 20th Century-Fox
took immediate advantage by placing the darkly handsome up-and-comer
under contract. Cast in the melodrama
A Certain Smile (1958), he earned
a Golden Globe for "Most Promising Newcomer" playing a Parisian student
who loses his girl (Christine Carère)
to the worldly Italian roué
Rossano Brazzi. He followed this with a
strong ensemble appearance in
In Love and War (1958), which
featured a cast of young rising stars including
Hope Lange and
Robert Wagner. More acting honors
followed after completing the film
Compulsion (1959), which told the true
story of the infamous 1920s kidnapping/murder case of
Nathan Leopold and
Richard Loeb. He went on to share a "Best
Actor" award at the Cannes Film Festival with fellow co-stars
Dean Stockwell, who played the other
youthful murderer, and veteran
Orson Welles.Though he was a magnetic player poised for stardom, Dillman's
subsequent films failed to serve him well and were generally unworthy
of his talent. Though properly serious and stoic as the title character
in Francis of Assisi (1961),
the film itself was stilted and weakly scripted.
Circle of Deception (1960)
was a misguided tale of espionage and intrigue, but it did introduce
him to his second wife, supermodel-cum-actress
Suzy Parker. While
A Rage to Live (1965) with
Suzanne Pleshette was trashy soap
material, The Plainsman (1966) was
rather a silly, juvenile version of the
Gary Cooper western classic. As a
result of these missteps--and others--he began to top-line lesser
quality projects or play supporting roles in "A" pictures. His nothing
role as Robert Redford's college
pal-turned Hollywood producer in
The Way We Were (1973) and his
major roles in the ludicrous
The Swarm (1978) and
Lords of the Deep (1989) became
proof in the pudding. His last good film role was in O'Neill's
The Iceman Cometh (1973),
although he did play an interesting John Wilkes Booth in the
speculative re-enactment drama
The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977)
and had a fun leading role in the
Jaws (1975)-like spoof
Piranha (1978).Dillman b...

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