Steve Brodie

Primarily known as a "B" movie bad guy of hundreds of films, husky actor 'Steve Brodie' (qv) was born John Daugherty Stephens on November 25, 1919, in El Dorado, Kansas. Raised in Wichita, he dropped out of school and raced cars, boxed and worked on oil rigs to get by. He initially entertained a criminal law career but that interest quickly wore off after having to toil as a property boy.A passion for acting then was instigated and Brodie found early work in summer stock. Changing his stage name to "'Steve Brodie' (qv)", a move to New York did not pay off but a subsequent move to Los Angeles did. He broke into films after being spotted by an MGM talent scout in a Hollywood theatre production entitled "Money Girls". Loaned out for his first film, Universal's _Ladies Courageous (1944)_ (qv), Brodie appeared in a few tough-guy bit parts in such MGM films as _Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)_ (qv), _The Clock (1945)_ (qv) and _Anchors Aweigh (1945)_ (qv) before he was dropped. It wasn't long before he was signed by RKO and it was with studio that his reputation as a heavy in westerns grew, with such roles as notorious outlaws Bob Dalton in _Badman's Territory (1946)_ (qv) and Cole Younger in _Return of the Bad Men (1948)_ (qv). In between those two pictures were strong roles in three film noir classics: _Desperate (1947)_ (qv) (leading good guy), _Crossfire (1947)_ (qv) and _Out of the Past (1947)_ (qv) (both supporting baddies).A hard-living, hard-drinking actor, Brodie married "B" actress 'Lois Andrews' (qv) in 1946 but the couple divorced four years later, not long after appearing together in the western programmer _Rustlers (1949)_ (qv). He married Barbara Savitt--the widow of bandleader 'Jan Savitt' (qv)--in September of 1950 and the union produced son 'Kevin Brodie' (qv) two years later (Kevin later became a producer/director). Steve's second marriage lasted until 1966.Interest in Brodie eventually waned at the studio and his contract was not renewed. Freelancing elsewhere, he appeared as a lead in _Rose of the Yukon (1949)_ (qv) and another classic film noir, _Armored Car Robbery (1950)_ (qv), and also earned good parts in _Home of the Brave (1949)_ (qv), _The Steel Helmet (1951)_ (qv) and _Lady in the Iron Mask (1952)_ (qv) (as the Musketeer Athos). Most of his post-RKO film work, however, would be in low-budgeters: _I Cheated the Law (1949)_ (qv), _The Great Plane Robbery (1950)_ (qv), _Army Bound (1952)_ (qv), _The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)_ (qv), _Donovan's Brain (1953)_ (qv) and _Under Fire (1957)_ (qv). He also appeared as the hero's nemesis in several 'Tim Holt' (qv) / 'Richard Martin' (qv) westerns, including _The Arizona Ranger (1948)_ (qv), _Guns of Hate (1948)_ (qv) and _Brothers in the Saddle (1949)_ (qv). In the late 1950s he had leads in the "C"-level films _Spy in the Sky! (1958)_ (qv), _Arson for Hire (1959)_ (qv) and _Here Come the Jets (1959)_ (qv).A familiar presence on 1950s and 1960s TV, he worked on such crime series as _Public Defender (1954)_ (qv), _Hawaiian Eye (1959)_ (qv), _Surfside 6 (1960)_ (qv), _Perry Mason (1957)_ (qv), _Burke's Law (1963)_ (qv) and such western series as _The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955)_ (qv) (recurring part), _The Lone Ranger (1949)_ (qv), _Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951)_ (qv), _Laramie (1959)_ (qv), _Sugarfoot (1957)_ (qv), _Maverick (1957)_ (qv), _Rawhide (1959)_ (qv), _Gunsmoke (1955)_ (qv) and comedies including _The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952)_ (qv), _"The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962)_ (qav). He also appeared in a touring production of "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" starring 'Paul Douglas' (qv) and 'Wendell Corey' (qv). The company ended abruptly when the liberal-minded Douglas, in a North Carolina interview, strongly criticized the conservative state and the resulting backlash forced the production's closure.Brodie's later years were marred by drinking arrests. In the 1970s he made sporadic appearances, including a lead in the campy low-budget horror film _The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)_ (qv) opposite 'Barbara Hale' (qv) and a part in _Delta Pi (1984)_ (qv) [aka "Mugsy's Girls"], which was written, produced and directed by son Kevin and was also his last film. He also provided voice work in commercials and showed up at nostalgia conventions, including The Knoxville Western Film Fair in 1991, less than a year before his death.In 1973 Brodie married a third time, to Virginia Hefner, and they had a son Sean. Suffering from esophageal cancer and heart problems, Brodie died at age 72 on January 9, 1992, at a West Hills, California, hospital.::Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]