Primarily known as a "B" movie bad guy of hundreds of films, husky
actor Steve Brodie 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", 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),
Brodie appeared in a few tough-guy bit parts in such MGM films as
Dreißig Sekunden über Tokio (1944),
Urlaub für die Liebe (1945) and
Urlaub in Hollywood (1945) 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
Land ohne Gesetz (1946) and
Cole Younger in
Der Schrecken von Texas (1948).
In between those two pictures were strong roles in three film noir
classics: Desperate (1947) (leading
good guy), Kreuzfeuer - Crossfire (1947) and
Goldenes Gift (1947) (both
supporting baddies).
A hard-living, hard-drinking actor, Brodie married "B" actress
Lois Andrews in 1946 but the couple
divorced four years later, not long after appearing together in the
western programmer Rustlers (1949). He
married Barbara Savitt--the widow of bandleader
Jan Savitt--in September of 1950 and the
union produced son Kevin Brodie 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) and
another classic film noir,
Armored Car Robbery (1950), and also earned good parts
in Home of the Brave (1949),
Die Hölle von Korea (1951) and
Die Frau mit der eisernen Maske (1952)
(as the Musketeer Athos). Most of his post-RKO film work, however,
would be in low-budgeters:
I Cheated the Law (1949),
The Great Plane Robbery (1950),
Army Bound (1952),
Panik in New York (1953),
Donovans Hirn (1953) and
Under Fire (1957). He also appeared as
the hero's nemesis in several Tim Holt
/ Richard Martin westerns,
including
The Arizona Ranger (1948),
Guns of Hate (1948) and
Brothers in the Saddle (1949).
In the late 1950s he had leads in the "C"-level films
Spy in the Sky! (1958),
Arson for Hire (1959) and
Here Come the Jets (1959).
A familiar presence on 1950s and 1960s TV, he worked on such crime
series as
Public Defender (1954),
Hawaiian Eye (1959),
Surfside 6 (1960),
Perry Mason (1957),
Amos Burke (1963) and such
western series as
Wyatt Earp greift ein (1955)
(recurring part),
The Lone Ranger (1949),
Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951),
Am Fuß der Blauen Berge (1959),
Sugarfoot (1957),
Maverick (1957),
Tausend Meilen Staub (1959),
Rauchende Colts (1955) and comedies
including
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952),
_"The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962)_ (qav). He also appeared in a touring
production of "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" starring
Paul Douglas and
Wendell Corey. 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
Angriff der Riesen-Spinne (1975)
opposite Barbara Hale and a part in
Die Schlamm-Babies (1984) [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.
