Bradley, David, 1920-1997

David Shedd Bradley was born in Evanston, Illinois on April 6, 1920, the son of Addison Ballard and Katherine Shedd Bradley. A member of Chicago's prominent Shedd family, Bradley earned his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University. He went on to direct films for MGM as well as teach at UCLA. Bradley died in 1997.

Bradley attended the Todd School from 1935 to 1937 and Lake Forest Academy during 1937-1940. At Lake Forest Bradley made one of his earlier films, “Preps in Action,” an account of a day in the life of an average student. His first experience with film came through his use of his family's Winnetka basement as a movie theatre for neighborhood friends. Bradley had turned his hand to filmmaking by the mid-1930s. Preceding “Preps in Action” was a 16 millimeter short of “Treasure Island” (1937). Other films from the period include “Doctor X” (1938), “Emperor Jones” (1938), and an adaptation of The Christmas Carol, titled “Marley's Ghost” (1939). Bradley spent a year at the Goodman Memorial Theatre Drama Department of the Art Institute of Chicago and cast actors he met there in full-length film versions of “Oliver Twist” (1940), “Peer Gynt” (1941), and the Saki story, “Sredni Vashtar” (1943).

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