Bradley was born in Winnetka, IL, and attended the prestigious Todd School for Boys in Woodstock, IL, arriving a year after the departure of the school's most famous student, Orson Welles. Bradley went on to Northwestern University and served in the Signal Corps in World War II, both times with his friend Charlton Heston.
Before and after the war, Bradley was a pioneer in amateur film-making. He directed the then seventeen-year-old Heston in his first major role, the title character in Peer Gynt (1941). Bradley's directorial credits went on to include: Sredni Vashtar (1943); Macbeth (1947); Julius Caesar (1950), starring Heston again, as Mark Antony; Talk About a Stranger (1952), starring Nancy Davis, and Bradley's only film for a major Hollywood studio (MGM); Dragstrip Riot (1958); 12 to the Moon (1960); and an infamous B-movie, The Madman of Mandoras (1963), rereleased with newly directed footage a few years later as They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968).
Bradley became best known, however, as a film collector and historian. He built an extensive collection that covers the silent film era to 1990s releases. He was a popular film history instructor at a number of colleges and universities, including UCLA.
From the guide to the Bradley mss., 1902-1997, (Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington))
