Grace Bradley
Encyclopedia
Grace Bradley was an American film actress who was active in Hollywood during the 1930s.
near Rochester, New York
by age twelve after winning a scholarship. Originally she had wanted to become a professional pianist. While in school she took dance lessons and played piano. Her grandfather wanted her to be educated in Berlin, Germany so that she could receive more formal education but a Broadway producer discovered her during one of her dance recitals and hired her for a professional show.
On December 22, 1930 Bradley made her Broadway
debut at New York's Hammerstein Theatre in Ballyhoo. Her next stage appearance came one year later at The Music Box Theatre in The Third Little Show. Soon Bradley found herself working in various New York nightclubs and theatres. In March 1933, she appeared in Strike Me Pink at the Majestic Theatre. Soon Bradley decided to give Hollywood a try. After she left Broadway her role in Strike Me Pink was taken over by Dorothy Dare
who would later become a musical film star.
(1933). She was under contract to Paramount Pictures
beginning in 1933 and she reportedly had a take home of $150 per week. In the 1930s she became one of the periods most popular musical stars and her other screen credits include parts in Girl Without a Room (1933), The Cat's Paw (1934), Anything Goes (1936), Wake Up and Live
(1937), Larceney on the Air (1937), and The Big Broadcast of 1938
.
During her career she co-starred opposite such notable figures as Bob Hope
, Bing Crosby
, Dorothy Lamour
, Alice Faye
, Bruce Cabot
, William Bendix
, Fred MacMurray
, Harold Lloyd
, Claudette Colbert
, and W.C. Fields. In May 1937, Bradley submitted to a blind date and met Hopalong Cassidy
star William Boyd
and the two of them hit it off so well that they were wed in June 1937.
On September 12, 1972, just nine days before her 59th birthday, William Boyd died and Bradley became a widow. Following his death she retired from the entertainment world; however, since she shared such a strong union with her husband she still continued to do things to help keep Boyd's memory alive. Although she never bore children she considered all the children who enjoyed her husband's work as Hopalong Cassidy to be like her children. She also endured years of fighting for the legal rights to her late husband's sixty-six "Hopalong Cassidy" features. With her acting career behind her she devoted her time to a lot of volunteer work at the Laguna Beach Hospital where her husband had spent his final days.
Grace Bradley Boyd died on her 97th birthday; Tuesday, September 21, 2010. On Thursday, September 23, 2010, private services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park
in Glendale, California.http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-grace-bradley-boyd-20100924,0,2019037.story?page=2 She was interred with her husband there in the Great Mausoleum, Sactuary of Sacred Promise.
Early life
She was born on September 21, 1913 in Brooklyn, New York. As a child she took piano lessons and by the age of six she gave her first recital. She attended the Eastman School of MusicEastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
near Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
by age twelve after winning a scholarship. Originally she had wanted to become a professional pianist. While in school she took dance lessons and played piano. Her grandfather wanted her to be educated in Berlin, Germany so that she could receive more formal education but a Broadway producer discovered her during one of her dance recitals and hired her for a professional show.
On December 22, 1930 Bradley made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut at New York's Hammerstein Theatre in Ballyhoo. Her next stage appearance came one year later at The Music Box Theatre in The Third Little Show. Soon Bradley found herself working in various New York nightclubs and theatres. In March 1933, she appeared in Strike Me Pink at the Majestic Theatre. Soon Bradley decided to give Hollywood a try. After she left Broadway her role in Strike Me Pink was taken over by Dorothy Dare
Dorothy Dare
-Early life:She was born Dorothy Herskind on August 6, 1911 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . As a child she often sang in church and developed good vocability. She first appeared on stage at the age of seven.-Hollywood years:...
who would later become a musical film star.
Hollywood
Although she made one film in 1932 her true film career did not begin until 1933 when she starred in a lead role in the film Too Much HarmonyToo Much Harmony
Too Much Harmony , aka Musik skal der til in Denmark, is a black and white American musical film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and released by Paramount Pictures...
(1933). She was under contract to Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
beginning in 1933 and she reportedly had a take home of $150 per week. In the 1930s she became one of the periods most popular musical stars and her other screen credits include parts in Girl Without a Room (1933), The Cat's Paw (1934), Anything Goes (1936), Wake Up and Live
Wake Up and Live
Wake Up and Live is a 1937 Fox musical film directed by Sidney Lanfield and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The movie stars Walter Winchell, Ben Bernie and Alice Faye and was based upon the self-help bestseller by Dorothea Brande...
(1937), Larceney on the Air (1937), and The Big Broadcast of 1938
The Big Broadcast of 1938
The Big Broadcast of 1938 is a Paramount Pictures film featuring W.C. Fields and Bob Hope. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, the film is the last in a series of Big Broadcast movies that were variety show anthologies...
.
During her career she co-starred opposite such notable figures as Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
, Alice Faye
Alice Faye
Alice Faye was an American actress and singer, called by The New York Times "one of the few movie stars to walk away from stardom at the peak of her career." She is remembered first for her stardom at 20th Century Fox and, later, as the radio comedy partner of her husband, bandleader and comedian...
, Bruce Cabot
Bruce Cabot
Bruce Cabot was an American film actor, best remembered as Jack Driscoll in King Kong . He is also known for his roles in films such as the sixth version of Last of the Mohicans, Fritz Lang's Fury and the western Dodge City.-Early life:Cabot was born Etienne Pelissier Jacques de Bujac in Carlsbad,...
, William Bendix
William Bendix
William Bendix was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley...
, Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
, Harold Lloyd
Harold Lloyd
Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
, Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
, and W.C. Fields. In May 1937, Bradley submitted to a blind date and met Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
star William Boyd
William Boyd (actor)
William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor best known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy.-Biography:...
and the two of them hit it off so well that they were wed in June 1937.
Later life and death
In the 1940s Bradley's star began to wane and in 1943 she starred in her last big role in Taxi, Mister. Following this Bradley had officially played out her Paramount contract and she spent the remainder of the 1940s alongside her beloved husband William Boyd and traveled around the country with him helping to promote his cowboy image. She did come out of her publicity trips with Boyd to make one more film appearance, an uncredited cameo role in Tournament of Roses (1954).On September 12, 1972, just nine days before her 59th birthday, William Boyd died and Bradley became a widow. Following his death she retired from the entertainment world; however, since she shared such a strong union with her husband she still continued to do things to help keep Boyd's memory alive. Although she never bore children she considered all the children who enjoyed her husband's work as Hopalong Cassidy to be like her children. She also endured years of fighting for the legal rights to her late husband's sixty-six "Hopalong Cassidy" features. With her acting career behind her she devoted her time to a lot of volunteer work at the Laguna Beach Hospital where her husband had spent his final days.
Grace Bradley Boyd died on her 97th birthday; Tuesday, September 21, 2010. On Thursday, September 23, 2010, private services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California. The land was formerly part of Providencia Ranch.-History:...
in Glendale, California.http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-grace-bradley-boyd-20100924,0,2019037.story?page=2 She was interred with her husband there in the Great Mausoleum, Sactuary of Sacred Promise.
Further reading
- Boyd, Grace Bradley and Cochran, Michael (2008) Hopalong Cassidy: An American Legend Gemstone, York, Pennsylvania, ISBN 978-1-60360-066-8
External links
- Hopalong Cassidy's Widow, Grace Boyd, dies Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- Grace Bradley Boyd Tribute