Facts About Broderick Crawford

Before there was Jon and Ponch, there was Dan Mathews.

Creative Commons: carlfbagge

Long before CHIPs were roaming the highways of California, Dan Mathews was keeping Californians safe. When Crawford wasn’t on the right side of the law, he could sometimes be seen roaming the Old West terrifying law abiding citizens.

In general, Crawford was a fairly high-profile guy who, with his burly build and gravelly voice could be menacing. Beyond that, I didn’t know a great deal about Crawford. So, after some research, here are some things you might not have known about Broderick Crawford.

1: Crawford was accepted at Harvard but left after three weeks.

He left to work on the docks of New York as a stevedore, which means a guy who loads and unloads ships. Since Broderick went to Harvard, he probably knew that.

2: Broderick’s career got a big boost when he starred in a Broadway production of “Of Mice and Men.”

I believe he was one of the men. Yes, I got confirmation, he was Lenny.

3: While he was doing “Highway Patrol” he also did a western with Glenn Ford called ‘The Fastest Gun Alive.”