Donald Ellis Brodie (May 29, 1904 – January 8, 2001) was an American film and television actor.
Early years
The youngest of six children born to Frank Ellis Brodie and Charlotte Moonert,[1][2][3] Donald Brodie was raised in Cincinnati's Avondale neighborhood and attended Hughes High School and the University of Cincinnati.[4][5] Before becoming a professional actor, Brodie worked in Procter & Gamble's main offices.[3] At age 16, his first-place finish-this-'filmerick' entry was published in The Cincinnati Post:
Little Mary Miles Minter was ill;
She thought that she needed a pill. Lon Chaney said: "Tarry, I'll fetch Wesley Barry, With his capers, the pain he will kill.[6]
Career
As early as 1922, Brodie was acting on stage.[5][7] In 1924, he co-starred in a production of Lord Dunsany's Fame and the Poet.[8] In November 1927, a story in The Cincinnati Post mentions "Donald Brodie" among the players in the Emery Theatre production of Mrs. Leopold Markbreit's comedy, Diplomatic Perplexities.[9] Five months later, a review in The Cincinnati Enquirer listed him in the cast of the Civic Theater's production of The Pigeon.[10]
Brodie worked with Cincinnati's Civic Repertory Theater for nine years.[5]
A veteran of over 250 film and television productions, Brodie signed his first film contract with Universal Pictures Corporation in 1931.[5] Initially signed as a "feature comedian" and promoted as "Steve" Brodie, a name "already famous as a synonym for daring"[11] (presumably a reference to the suddenly like-named bridge-jumper), Universal evidently thought better of this plan; the nickname was dropped well before Brodie made his debut later that year in the two-reeler, Out Stepping.[12]
He appeared as a callow, mustachioed actor in various utility roles in films from the early 1930s. Usually playing bit parts in features, his more notable credits include his voiceover work in the Disney cartoon features Pinocchio and Dumbo and his portrayal of a carefully used car lot owner in the film noir classic Detour. He also worked off and on as a dialogue director.
In 1938, Brodie, with considerable media fanfare, landed by far the most substantial role of his screen career: prominently featured in the fifth installment of Universal's Crime Club series, The Last Express.[13][14][15] (He had appeared uncredited in each of the four prior entries).[13] Although the film was widely dismissed by critics,[16][17] those few reviewers who did more than merely mention Brodie by name lauded his contribution. The Jackson Sun describes leading man Kent Taylor and Brodie as "mak[ing] most of meaty roles of private detective and stooge, respectively," and notes that "Brodie adapts himself readily to the comic relief,"[18] while the Liverpool Evening Express deems Brodie "very amusing as [Taylor's] assistant."[19]
In 1944, Brodie earned what would prove his sole screen directing credit with A Fig Leaf for Eve. He did get a chance to direct again in 1957, helming the hour-long pilot episode for a proposed series entitled Tricks for Living, scripted by Mary Wellman Harris and starring Dell O'Dell.[20][21] However, it does not appear that this episode was ever aired.
On March 7, 1930, Brodie married Lucille I. Becker.[22][1]
Death
On January 8, 2001, Brodie died in Los Angeles, California.[23] His entry in the reference work Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2001: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture gave his age as 101 and his birth date as May 29, 1899.[24]
Selected filmography
Name the Woman aka The Woman Within (1934) as Reporter
The Call of the Savage (1935) as Dr. Carl Neff (as Don Brody)[25]
^ ab"California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8NY-BV9 : 9 March 2021), Don L Brodie and Lucille I Becker, 07 Mar 1930; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,074,789.
^"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLF9-BQL : accessed 16 February 2023), Donald H Brodie in household of Frank E Brodie, Cincinnati Ward 18, Hamilton, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 207, sheet 3A, family 52, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1193; FHL microfilm 1,375,206.
^"Avondale Actor". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Ohio, Cincinnati. September 11, 1938. p. Section 3 – Page 1. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abcd"Don Brodie Signs". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Ohio, Cincinnati. May 17, 1931. p. Section 3 – Page 4. Retrieved January 4, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^"In Town Monday Night". Liverpool Evening Express. May 13, 1939. p. 4. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
^"TV–Radio Briefs". The Hollywood Reporter. April 23, 1957. p. 8. ProQuest2338382294. Dell O'Dell, formerly seen on ABC and KTLA, goes before the cameras of Howard Studios tomorrow to shoot a 60-minute pilot starring herself and featuring her husband Charles Carrer, Ruth Scott, Ron McNeil and Diane Hall. Pilot will be directed by Don Brodie, scripted by Alice Wellman Harris.
^"Advertisement: HOLLYWOOD TV FILM PRODUCTION HOLLYWOOD TV FILM PRODUCTION; Howard Prods". The Hollywood Reporter. May 3, 1957. p. 15. ProQuest2338403572. "Tricks for Living"; Starring Dell O'Dell, Charles Carrer, Ron McNeil, Ruth Scott, Diane Hall; 39 hour films for syndication; Producer — Howard Wormser; Director — Don Brodie; Writer — Alice Wellman
^Lentz, Harris, III (October 2001). "Obituaries: Don Brodie". Classic Images. p. 57. ProQuest2130594. Film and television character actor Don Brodie died at age 101 in Los Angeles, California, on January 8, 2001.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
