Charles Bradstreet

When Charles Bradstreet accompanied his brother to try-outs for a play, a script was thrust into Charles' hands, he was asked to read the part, and he was ultimately given the lead (a Los Angeles production titled "Come to My House"). Later, while managing a bar called Billingsley's (frequented by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby et al.), he was offered a movie contract at Columbia - then was rejected by studio Harry Cohn, who knew that Bradstreet had once thrown his (Cohn's) nephew out of Billingsley's! Bradstreet did later land an MGM contract, playing a series of small roles there, then freelanced. He played his best-known role in _Bud Abbott, Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)_, accepting it (even though he thought it was a step backwards career-wise) because he was friendly with its director, 'Charles T. Barton'. According to Bradstreet, he was offered the chance to play Tarzan and the lead in TV's "Gunsmoke", but turned down both offers. When "the glamour went out of" acting for him, he got into real estate.