Charles Bickford

albatros1 ( 2007-11-29 )

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Bickford was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was an intelligent but very independent and unruly child. In his late teens he drifted aimlessly around the United States for a time but eventually graduated from the MIT. He eventually joined a road company and travelled throughout the United States for more than a decade before being noticed by Cecil B. DeMille and offered a contract with MGM studios. Always of independent mind, strong-willed, Bickford would frequently argue with Mayer. Understandably, his association with MGM was short-lived, and he became an independent actor for several years before signing with Twentieth Century Fox studios. As a character actor Bickford would find his greatest success. He would establish himself as a highly sought after, powerful actor, whose screen appearances commanded attention throughout the remainder of his career. His burly frame and craggy, intense features, coupled with a gruff but powerful voice lent themselves to his being cast in a wide variety of roles in high quality productions. During the 1940s he would be nominated three times for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. In his final years, Bickford played rancher John Grainger, owner of the "Shiloh Ranch" on The Virginian NBC television series. He died in Los Angeles of a blood infection at age 76, just days after filming a 1967 Virginian episode. He had a son, Rex and a daughter, Doris.