Brad Dexter

Brad Dexter, born Boris Michel Soso on April 9, 1917, in Goldfield, Nevada, was an American actor and film producer who built a career around tough-guy and villainous roles across stage, film, and television. He died on December 11, 2002, in Rancho Mirage, California, from emphysema, at age 85, and is interred at Desert Memorial Park.

Dexter was the second of three sons born to Marko and Ljubica Šošo, ethnic Serb immigrants from Bosnia-Herzegovina who later anglicized their names to Marko and Violet Soso. Serbian was his first language. The family relocated to Los Angeles, where Dexter attended Belmont High School. After working briefly as an amateur boxer, he trained at the Pasadena Playhouse. His first screen appearance came in a small role in The Mortal Storm in 1940. During World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, where he met fellow Serbian-American Karl Malden, and appeared uncredited in the Corps production Winged Victory in 1944.

Following the war, Dexter took a role in the Roy Rogers western Heldorado in 1946, billed as Barry Mitchell, a name he also used for Sinbad the Sailor in 1947. In 1949, he appeared on Broadway in Magnolia Alley. He subsequently adopted the name Brad Dexter and played a villainous detective in The Asphalt Jungle in 1950. His breakthrough came with The Las Vegas Story in 1951 for RKO, opposite Victor Mature and Jane Russell, which led RKO to sign him to a contract and cast him in a similar role in Macao in 1952, again alongside Russell. He later signed with 20th Century Fox, appearing in a string of films including Untamed, Violent Saturday, and House of Bamboo, all in 1955, followed by The Bottom of the Bottle and Between Heaven and Hell in 1956.

Dexter's most celebrated film role came in 1960, when director John Sturges cast him as one of the gunslingers in The Magnificent Seven, produced by Walter Mirisch, both of whom had previously worked with Dexter. The film became his best-known credit. Despite its success, Dexter returned primarily to television, guest starring in numerous series including Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, Wanted: Dead or Alive, and 77 Sunset Strip, among many others. He continued to appear in occasional features, including Taras Bulba in 1962 and Kings of the Sun in 1963, both again with Yul Brynner.

A close friend of Frank Sinatra, Dexter helped rescue him from drowning on May 10, 1964, during production of None but the Brave on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Sinatra and Ruth Koch, wife of producer Howard Koch, were swept out to sea by an outgoing tide, and Dexter swam out with two surfers to bring them to safety. He was awarded a Red Cross medal for the act, and Sinatra subsequently named him vice president of Sinatra Enterprises. Dexter appeared alongside Sinatra in Von Ryan's Express in 1965 and produced The Naked Runner in 1967, which starred Sinatra and was filmed in London. Disagreements with Sinatra over the production led Dexter to resign from Sinatra's company.

Dexter went on to produce additional films with director Sidney J. Furie, including The Lawyer in 1970, Little Fauss and Big Halsy in 1970 starring Robert Redford, and Lady Sings the Blues in 1972, in which Diana Ross portrayed Billie Holiday. He returned to acting through the 1970s with roles in Shampoo in 1975, The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover in 1977, and Winter Kills in 1979, along with guest appearances on Kojak, McCloud, and The Incredible Hulk. He also produced the television series Skag in 1980, starring his wartime acquaintance Karl Malden. His final screen role was in Cognac in 1988.

In his personal life, Dexter married singer Peggy Lee in January 1953; the marriage ended in divorce that November. He married StarKist tuna heiress Mary Bogdanovich on January 27, 1971, and remained with her until her death on June 12, 1994. Later that same year he married June Deyer, who survived him.