Eddie Bracken
Encyclopedia
Edward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor.
at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway
musical Too Many Girls
in a role he reprised for the 1940 film adaptation. He had performed in a short film series called The Kiddie Troupers (one of many Our Gang
-like series) prior to that, but that film was his big break. In 1936, Bracken pursued success on Broadway with his starring run in the Joseph Viertel play So Proudly We Hail. The military drama, co-starriing Richard Cromwell
, opened to much fanfare but closed after 14 performances at the 46th Street Theater.
In the 1940s, director Preston Sturges
cast Bracken in two of his best-loved films, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
, opposite Betty Hutton
, and Hail the Conquering Hero
. Due to the popularity of these films, Eddie Bracken was a household name during World War II
. He made numerous radio
broadcasts during this era, notably on The Eddie Bracken Show.
In 1953, Bracken left Hollywood. He appeared on Broadway in Shinbone Alley
, Hello, Dolly!
, The Odd Couple
and Sugar Babies
. His last appearance on Broadway was in the musical Dreamtime
, directed by David Niles at the Ed Sullivan Theater
at the age of 77.
Bracken's extensive television roles between 1952 and 2000 include an episode of The Golden Girls
as Rose Nylund's ex-childhood boyfriend from St. Olaf, as well as an episode of Tales from the Darkside
playing a stubborn old man who refuses to believe that he has died. After nearly 30 years out of feature films, he returned to perform character roles, including the sympathetic Walley World theme park founder Roy Walley in National Lampoon's Vacation
.
Bracken also had a long career with Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey
, starring in dozens of productions in the 1980s-early 2000s. One high point was their production of Show boat
in which he played Cap'n Andy Hawkes. This production was broadcast on PBS in 1990.
, of complications from an undisclosed surgery at the age of 87. His wife of 63 years, Connie, a former actress, died in August 2002, just three months before his death. Connie was his leading lady in the Broadway production of What a Life in 1938. Together Eddie and Connie had five children: two sons (Michael and David) and three daughters (Judy, Carolyn and Susan).
at 1651 Vine Street and a second star at 6751 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to the television industry.
Life and career
Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical Too Many Girls
Too Many Girls (musical)
Too Many Girls is a Broadway musical comedy and a 1940 film version of the show, starring Lucille Ball.-Broadway version:Too Many Girls opened October 18, 1939, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by George Marion Jr. It was produced by George Abbott...
in a role he reprised for the 1940 film adaptation. He had performed in a short film series called The Kiddie Troupers (one of many Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
-like series) prior to that, but that film was his big break. In 1936, Bracken pursued success on Broadway with his starring run in the Joseph Viertel play So Proudly We Hail. The military drama, co-starriing Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (actor)
Richard Cromwell, born LeRoy Melvin Radabaugh , was an American actor. His family and friends called him Roy, though he was also professionally known and signed autographs as Dick Cromwell. Cromwell's career was at its pinnacle with his work in Jezebel with Bette Davis and Henry Fonda and again...
, opened to much fanfare but closed after 14 performances at the 46th Street Theater.
In the 1940s, director Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
cast Bracken in two of his best-loved films, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall...
, opposite Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer.-Early life:Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg, daughter of a railroad foreman, Percy E. Thornburg and his wife, the former Mabel Lum . While she was very young, her father abandoned the family for...
, and Hail the Conquering Hero
Hail the Conquering Hero
Hail the Conquering Hero is a satirical comedy/drama written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines and William Demarest, and featuring Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson and Bill Edwards....
. Due to the popularity of these films, Eddie Bracken was a household name during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He made numerous radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcasts during this era, notably on The Eddie Bracken Show.
In 1953, Bracken left Hollywood. He appeared on Broadway in Shinbone Alley
Shinbone Alley
Shinbone Alley is a musical with a book by Joe Darion and Mel Brooks, lyrics by Darion, and music by George Kleinsinger. Based on archy and mehitabel, a series of New York Tribune columns by Don Marquis, it focuses on poetic cockroach Archy, alley cat Mehitabel, and her relationships with...
, Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
, The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
and Sugar Babies
Sugar Babies
Sugar Babies is a musical revue conceived by Ralph G. Allen and Harry Rigby, with music by Jimmy McHugh, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and Al Dubin and various others. The show is a tribute to the old burlesque era...
. His last appearance on Broadway was in the musical Dreamtime
Dreamtime (musical)
Dreamtime is an original musical by Jean Marc Cerrone and David Niles. It was created by Niles, based on an original story by Cerrone. Niles wrote the book for the musical. The show's message is the power of love and dreams. Billed as a "New Broadway Musical Experience," the show combined giant...
, directed by David Niles at the Ed Sullivan Theater
Ed Sullivan Theater
The Ed Sullivan Theater, located at 1697-1699 Broadway between West 53rd and West 54th, in Manhattan, is a venerable radio and television studio in New York City...
at the age of 77.
Bracken's extensive television roles between 1952 and 2000 include an episode of The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
as Rose Nylund's ex-childhood boyfriend from St. Olaf, as well as an episode of Tales from the Darkside
Tales from the Darkside
Tales from the Darkside is an anthology horror TV series produced by George A. Romero; it originally aired from 1983 to 1988. Similar to Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, and Tales From The Crypt, each episode was an individual short story that ended with a plot...
playing a stubborn old man who refuses to believe that he has died. After nearly 30 years out of feature films, he returned to perform character roles, including the sympathetic Walley World theme park founder Roy Walley in National Lampoon's Vacation
National Lampoon's Vacation
Vacation, sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vacation, is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall...
.
Bracken also had a long career with Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, starring in dozens of productions in the 1980s-early 2000s. One high point was their production of Show boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
in which he played Cap'n Andy Hawkes. This production was broadcast on PBS in 1990.
Death
On November 14, 2002, Bracken died in Glen Ridge, New JerseyGlen Ridge, New Jersey
Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,527. In 2010, Glen Ridge was ranked as the 38th Best Place to live by New Jersey Monthly magazine....
, of complications from an undisclosed surgery at the age of 87. His wife of 63 years, Connie, a former actress, died in August 2002, just three months before his death. Connie was his leading lady in the Broadway production of What a Life in 1938. Together Eddie and Connie had five children: two sons (Michael and David) and three daughters (Judy, Carolyn and Susan).
Hollywood Walk of Fame
For his contribution to radio, Eddie Bracken has a star on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1651 Vine Street and a second star at 6751 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to the television industry.
Filmography
- Too Many GirlsToo Many GirlsToo Many Girls may refer to:*Too Many Girls , a 1939 Broadway musical comedy and a 1940 film version*Two Many Girls , 1967 episode of TV show The Monkees...
(1940) - Life with Henry (1941)
- Reaching for the Sun (1941)
- Caught in the DraftCaught in the DraftCaught in the Draft is a 1941 comedy/war film, directed by David Butler.-Plot:Don Bolton is a famous Hollywood star who tries to get married in order to avoid the draft, as he feels it will interfere with his career...
(1941) - The Fleet's InThe Fleet's InThe Fleet's In is a movie musical produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by Victor Schertzinger, and starring Dorothy Lamour and William Holden. Although sharing the title of the 1928 Paramount film starring Clara Bow and Jack Oakie, it was not a remake...
(1942) - Sweater GirlSweater girlSweater girl describes a fashion look made popular in the 1940s and 1950s by Hollywood actresses such as Lana Turner and Jane Russell which was exemplified by a tight sweater which emphasized the wearer's bustline...
(1942) - Star Spangled RhythmStar Spangled RhythmStar Spangled Rhythm is a 1943 all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, generally musicals, frequently with flimsy storylines, and with the specific intent of entertaining the...
(1942) - Happy Go LuckyHappy Go LuckyHappy Go Lucky can refer to:* Happy-Go-Lucky, 2008 film* "Happy Go Lucky" * Happy Go Lucky , a 1943 musical film starring Betty Hutton...
(1943) - Young and WillingYoung and WillingYoung and Willing is a 1943 American comedy film made by Paramount Pictures and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Edward H...
(1943) - The Miracle of Morgan's CreekThe Miracle of Morgan's CreekThe Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall...
(1944) - Hail the Conquering HeroHail the Conquering HeroHail the Conquering Hero is a satirical comedy/drama written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines and William Demarest, and featuring Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson and Bill Edwards....
(1944) - Rainbow IslandRainbow IslandRainbow Island is a 1917 short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd.-Cast:* Harold Lloyd* Snub Pollard* Bebe Daniels* Frank Alexander* Carl Barbesgaard* William Blaisdell* Sammy Brooks* Walter Crompton* Billy Evans* Billy Fay -...
(1945) - Bring on the GirlsBring on the GirlsBring on the Girls! is a semi-autobiographical collaboration between P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, first published in the United States on October 5, 1953 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on May 21, 1954 by Herbert Jenkins, London.Subtitled "The Improbable Story of...
(1945) - Out of this World (1945)
- Hold That BlondeHold that BlondeHold that Blonde is a 1942 film directed by George Marshall. It stars Eddie Bracken and Veronica Lake.-Cast:*Eddie Bracken as Ogden Spencer Trulow III*Veronica Lake as Sally Martin*Albert Dekker as Insp Callahan*Frank Fenton as Mr. Phillips...
(1945) - Ladies' Man (1947)
- Fun on a Weekend (1947)
- The Girl from Jones Beach (1949)
- Summer StockSummer StockFor the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
(1950) - Two Tickets to BroadwayTwo Tickets to BroadwayTwo Tickets to Broadway is a 1951 musical film directed by James V. Kern. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording .-Cast:* Tony Martin as Dan Carter* Janet Leigh as Nancy Peterson* Gloria DeHaven as Hannah Holbrook...
(1951) - About FaceAbout Face (film)About Face is a 1952 film directed by Roy Del Ruth. It stars Gordon MacRae and Eddie Bracken.-Cast:*Gordon MacRae as Tony Williams*Eddie Bracken as Biff Roberts*Dick Wesson as Dave Crouse*Virginia Gibson as Betty Long*Phyllis Kirk as Alice Wheatley...
(1952) - We're Not Married!We're Not Married!We're Not Married! is a romantic comedy film released by 20th Century Fox. The featured was directed by Edmund Goulding, and released on July 11, 1952....
(1952) - A Slight Case of Larceny (1953)
- National Lampoon's VacationNational Lampoon's VacationVacation, sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vacation, is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall...
(1983) - OscarOscar (1991 film)Oscar is a 1991 American comedy film directed by John Landis. Based on the Claude Magnier stage play, it is can be considered a remake of the 1967 film of the same name, but the settings has been moved to the Depression era New York City and centers around a mob boss trying to go straight...
(1991) - Home Alone 2: Lost in New YorkHome Alone 2: Lost in New YorkHome Alone 2: Lost in New York is a 1992 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It is the second film in the Home Alone series and the direct sequel to Home Alone. The film stars Macaulay Culkin in the lead role as Kevin McCallister, while...
(1992) - Rookie of the YearRookie of the Year (film)Rookie of the Year is a 1993 American film comedy with a baseball theme starring Thomas Ian Nicholas and Gary Busey.The cast also includes Albert Hall, Dan Hedaya, Eddie Bracken, Amy Morton, Bruce Altman, John Gegenhuber, Neil Flynn, Daniel Stern and John Candy.-Plot:Henry Rowengartner ,...
(1993) - Baby's Day OutBaby's Day OutBaby's Day Out is a 1994 comedy film, written by John Hughes and produced by Richard Vane and John Hughes, and directed by Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano and Brian Haley, as well as twins Adam and Jacob Worton as Baby Bink...
(1994) - The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue (1997,voice)
Stage Credits
- DreamtimeDreamtime (musical)Dreamtime is an original musical by Jean Marc Cerrone and David Niles. It was created by Niles, based on an original story by Cerrone. Niles wrote the book for the musical. The show's message is the power of love and dreams. Billed as a "New Broadway Musical Experience," the show combined giant...
(1992) - Sugar BabiesSugar BabiesSugar Babies is a musical revue conceived by Ralph G. Allen and Harry Rigby, with music by Jimmy McHugh, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and Al Dubin and various others. The show is a tribute to the old burlesque era...
(1982) - Hello Dolly! (1978)
- The Odd CoupleThe Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
(1965) - Beg, Borrow or Steal (1960)
- Shinbone AlleyShinbone AlleyShinbone Alley is a musical with a book by Joe Darion and Mel Brooks, lyrics by Darion, and music by George Kleinsinger. Based on archy and mehitabel, a series of New York Tribune columns by Don Marquis, it focuses on poetic cockroach Archy, alley cat Mehitabel, and her relationships with...
(1957) - The Seven Year ItchThe Seven Year Itch (play)The Seven Year Itch is a 1952 three-act play written by George Axelrod starring Tom Ewell and Vanessa Brown.The titular phrase, which refers to declining interest in a monogamous relationship after seven years of marriage, has been used by psychologists....
(1952) - What A Life (1938)
- Iron Men (1936)
- So Proudly We Hail (1936)
- Life's Too Short (1935)
- The DrunkardThe DrunkardThe Drunkard; or, The Fallen Saved is an American temperance play first performed in 1844. A drama in five acts, it was perhaps the most popular play produced in the United States before the dramatization of Uncle Tom's Cabin in the 1850s. In New York City, P.T. Barnum presented it at his...
(1934) - The Lady Refuses (1933)