James Broderick

James Joseph Broderick III (March 7, 1927 – November 1, 1982) was an American actor whose career spanned Broadway, film, and television over three decades. Born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, he was the son of Mary Elizabeth (née Martindale) and James Joseph Broderick Jr., a highly decorated World War I veteran of Irish descent. His mother was of English and Irish ancestry, and Broderick was raised Catholic. He attended Manchester Central High School before enrolling at the University of New Hampshire, where he pursued pre-medical coursework for two years. In 1945 he joined the Navy, serving as a pharmacist mate.

Broderick's path to acting began in 1947 when he auditioned for a University of New Hampshire production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. Faculty director J. Donald Batcheller cast him in the role of Bluntschli, a Swiss soldier, and was sufficiently impressed by Broderick's ability to encourage him to pursue a professional career. Batcheller arranged an introduction to actor Arthur Kennedy in New York, who directed Broderick to the Neighborhood Playhouse, where he received the training that would underpin his work in theater, film, and television.

His Broadway career extended from 1953 to 1973 and included appearances in Maggie, The Time of Your Life, Let Me Hear You Smile, and Johnny No-Trump. The Time of Your Life and Johnny No-Trump are among the credits also documented in external sources, with the latter opening in 1967 and the former in 1969.

On screen, Broderick accumulated a substantial body of film work. He portrayed Ray Brock, the father figure of a New England commune, in Alice's Restaurant (1969), and played a subway motorman in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). His role as FBI agent Sheldon in Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (1975) brought him considerable attention, and he later appeared as Joe in The Shadow Box (1980), directed by Paul Newman.

Television occupied a central place in Broderick's career. He co-starred in the CBS series Brenner as Officer Ernie Brenner, and made appearances in Gunsmoke, including the 1963 episode "My Sister's Keeper" and the 1964 episode "Doctor's Wife." He appeared in the Twilight Zone episode "On Thursday We Leave for Home" and in two Public Television productions based on Jean Shepherd's writing, The Phantom of the Open Hearth and The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, in which he played the character known as the Old Man, the father of Ralph Parker. His most sustained television role came with the ABC drama Family, in which he played Doug Lawrence from 1976 to 1980, also serving as a director on the series. His performance earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1978.

In 1949 Broderick married playwright and painter Patricia Broderick. The couple had three children: a son, actor Matthew Broderick, and two daughters, Martha and Janet. James Broderick died of thyroid cancer on November 1, 1982, in New Haven, Connecticut, at the age of 55.