Harold Willard Bradley Jr. (October 13, 1929 – April 13, 2021) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and an Italian actor, singer, and visual artist. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

and played four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1954–1958. He later starred in over 25 Italian films as an actor and opened an art and music studio in Rome.

Childhood

Harold Bradley Jr. was born in Chicago, and grew up in the West Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago's south side. His father,

Harold Bradley Sr. Harold "Hal" Willard Bradley Sr. (September 27, 1905 – November 30, 1973) was an American football player for the Chicago Cardinals in 1928. Bradley was one of only 13 African-Americans to play in the National Football League prior to World Wa ...

, was one of 13 African-Americans to participate in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

before World War II, playing for the Chicago Cardinals in 1928. Like his father before him, Harold Bradley Jr. played football at Englewood High School in Chicago and enrolled at the University of Iowa after graduation.

University of Iowa

By joining the Hawkeyes football team, Harold Bradley Jr. completed the first African-American father-son combination to play football for the University of Iowa; his father played for the Hawkeyes in 1926. Bradley Jr. was one of five African-Americans to play for the Hawkeye football team in 1950, when the team finished the season with a road game at the University of Miami. Bradley and his four African-American teammates, nicknamed the "Orange Bowl Five", became the first African-Americans to play at the historic Orange Bowl stadium, a contest won by Miami, 14-6. Bradley capped his Hawkeye football career by being named team MVP of the 1950 Iowa football team. He graduated from Iowa in 1951 with a degree in fine arts.

Professional football

After leaving Iowa, Bradley served for three years in the

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...

. He played football for a team called the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Devil Dogs from 1951–1953, where he was discovered by a coach for the Cleveland Browns. Bradley then played three seasons for the Cleveland Browns from 1954–1956, winning NFL championships with the team in 1954 and 1955. He finished his pro football career with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1958. By playing four seasons of pro football in the 1950s, Bradley joined with his father to complete the first African-American father-son combination to ever play in the

Artistic career, television host and movie roles

Bradley earned a scholarship in 1959 to study at the University for Foreigners of Perugia in Italy. He then opened an art studio in Rome named

Folkstudio Folkstudio was a musical club and a record label located in Rome, Italy. The club was founded in by the American painter, musician and actor Harold Bradley, Jr., and was located in Via Garibaldi, in Trastevere.Ernesto Bassignano; Lalla Cantore. ...

in 1962. During the day, Bradley used the studio to display his paintings while turning it into a jazz club in the evenings.Biography of Italian Artist Harold Bradley
/ref> Several prominent musicians, including Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger, would go on to perform at Folkstudio. Bradley also broke into acting in 1960, landing a role the following year in the film '' Barabbas''. He would star in more than a dozen Italian films over the next seven years, mostly in the

sword-and-sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget H ...

genre. Bradley's cinematic work during this time included notable roles in two 1965 films: Tucos in ''

Sette contro tutti ''Sette contro tutti'' or ''Seven Rebel Gladiators'' is a 1965 Italian film directed by Michele Lupo. Plot Cast *Roger Browne as Marcus Aulus (as Roger Brown) *José Greci as Assuer (as Liz Havilland) *Alfio Caltabiano as Vadius (as Al Northon) ...

'' (Seven Rebel Gladiators) and George Harris in ''

La capanna dello zio Tom LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' (Uncle Tom's Cabin). In 1968, Harold Bradley Jr. moved back to the United States after accepting a job as a curator for the Illinois Arts Council, in Chicago. He went on to teach history of education at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and work with the university's Center for Upgrading Education Services (CUES) in its extension projects with local Champaign schools. Later, he took on a posting at the Illinois State Board of Education, in Springfield, producing instructional and educational television. During the 18 years he spent commuting between Champaign, Illinois and

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

he produced and hosted three prime-time public-affairs shows – Soul Side , Close-Up for the CBS affiliate and "People Beat" for the NBC affiliate. Race and intercultural issues were the main focus of his interviews. During the next two decades, Bradley also made occasional appearances in movies and on television. Bradley visited Italy in 1987 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Folkstudio, and he soon decided to take up permanent residence there. After returning to Italy, Bradley made a few more film appearances, mostly in Italian films but also a small role in the movie ''

Daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunligh ...

'', starring Sylvester Stallone.Daylight (1996)
/ref> He also appeared on six albums of spiritual- and folk-inspired music.

Personal life

Harold Bradley Jr. resided in

Rome, Italy , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

. He and his wife Hannelore have two daughters, Michaela and Lea, and a son, Oliver.

Notes

Special Collaboration

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

, Pete Seeger, Totò Torquati, Luca Casagrande, Annette Meriweather, Jho Jenkins, Tony Scott, Juliette Gréco, Gianni Morandi, Nanni Loy,

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, Mark Forest,

Thomas Fritsch Thomas Fritsch (16 January 1944 – 21 April 2021) was a German film, television and dubbing actor. He was regarded as the "Sonnyboy" in the German cinema of the 1960s, and became one of the best-known actors by his presence in television serie ...

, John Kitzmiller, Alfredo Kraus, Eduardo Sola-Franco, Géza von Radványi, Anthony Quinn,

Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...

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Recognition and Prizes

* Engelwood High School – Most Valuable Player and Team Captain, varsity football * University of Iowa – Most Valuable Player, varsity football (1950), Distinguished Alumni Award (2021) * Pro Football Hall of Fame recognition as first African-American father-son combination in the NFL, alongside father, Harold W. Bradley, Sr. (1978) *Ingersoll Art Award (1940) *Medaglia in Bronzo con Incisa la Lupa Capitolina, dal

Comune di Roma , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

– in riconoscimento per la fondazione del

e del contributo allo sviluppo ed internazionalizzazione della vita culturale e musicale italiana (luglio 2012) *Lapide commemorativa posta sulla facciata del edificio Via Garibaldi 58, Roma, luogo natale del

, dal

(luglio 2012)

Working History

*McGraw Hill. *Illinois Arts Council. Curator. 1968 *University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign / CUES

Illinois Sesquicentennial Commission. 1968 *Illinois State Board of Education. Superintendent for Public Instruction, Educational and Instructional Television Department. Producer

Performing Artist

Cinema

*'' La tragica notte di Assisi'', (1960) *'' Barabbas'', (1961) *'' Io, Semiramide'', ''servo di Semiramide'' (1962) *'' Maciste il gladiatore più forte del mondo'', (1962) *'' Il gladiatore di Roma'', (1962) *''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

'', (1963) *'' Maciste l'eroe più grande del mondo'', (1963) *'' L'eroe di Babilonia'', (1963) *'' Jason and the Argonauts'', (1963) *'' Tarzak contro gli uomini leopardo'', (1964) *''

Maciste nell'inferno di Gengis Khan ''Hercules Against the Barbarians'' ( it, Maciste nell'inferno di Gengis Khan, lit=Maciste in Genghis Khan's Hell) is a 1964 Italian peplum film, ''peplum'' film directed by Domenico Paolella. When the Mongols invade Europe, they are defeated at ...

'', (1964) *'' La caduta dell'impero romano'', (1964) *''

'', ''Harris'' (1965) *''

'', ''uno dei sette gladiatori'' (1965) *'' Missione apocalisse'', ''King Joe'' (1966) *'' Per amore... per magia...'', ''Genio Hassan'' (1967) *'' Troppo per vivere... poco per morire'', (1967) *''

I giorni della violenza ''Day of Violence'' ( it, I giorni della violenza) is a 1967 Italian western film directed by Al Bradley (film director), Al Bradley, written by Mario Amendola, Antonio Boccaci, Gian Luigi Buzzi and Paolo Lombardo, and starring Peter Lee Lawrence ...

'', ''Nathan'' (1967) *'' Sing Sing chiama Wall Street'', (1987) *'' Pacco, doppio pacco e contropaccotto'', (1993) *'' Daylight – Trappola nel tunnel'', ''Police Chief'' (1996) *'' Memsaab'', (1996) *'' Solo x te'', ''Angelo del Supermercato'' (film TV) (1998) *'' Gangs of New York'', ''menestrello'' (2002) *''

In ascolto ''The Listening'' ( it, In ascolto) is a 2006 Italian crime drama film directed by Giacomo Martelli in his debut. The film is based on the mass surveillance operations conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) with the aid of private corpor ...

'', ''esaminatore del poligrafo'' (2006) *'' The Same Love – l'Amore è Uguale Per Tutti'', (2010) *'' Habemus Papam'', ''Cardinale'' (2011) *'' Miss Wolf and the Lamb'', (cortometraggio) (2011)

YouTube Playlist: Harold Bradley – Cinema. Compiled by Oliver Bradley

Television series

*'' La donna di fiori'', ''barman'' parts 1, 4, 5, 6, (1965) *'' La fiera della vanità'', ''Sambo'' nella part #1.1, (1967) *'' The Chisholms'', ''servant'' parts 1, 2, 3, 4, (1979) *'' Valeria medico legale'', with C.Koll 2nd season, 1st part ''Bentornata Valeria'', (2002) *'' Questa Sera parla Mark Twain'' with P. Stoppa *'' Il grande coltello'' with M. Girotti

Theater

*''Tango'' (1966–67) *''L’avvenimento'' (1966–67) *''Shakespeare in Harlem'', by

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

*''Mister Jazz'', by L. Hughes *''The Dutchman'', by LeRoi Jones. Directed by S. Zacharias *''La Putain Respectuese'', by Jean-Paul Sartre *''Arriva l'uomo del Ghiaccio''. Directed by L. Squarzina *''Il Volpone'', by Ben Jonson *''Purlie. Musical''. Directed by G. Romans *''A Spasso con Daisy'' (Driving with Miss Daisy). Co-protagonist with

*''Se non ci fosse la Luna''. Musical *''La città di Dio''. Directed by M.Prosperi

Discography

Mbatha-Opasha's Voices of Glory. (1993). ''Come On And Praise''. Featuring Mbatha-Opasha, Harold Bradley, Annette Meriwether and Jho Jhenkins. (Editore S.P.A.V.)

Mbatha-Opasha's Voices of Glory. (1996). ''Thank you Lord''. Featuring Mbatha-Opasha, Harold Bradley, Annette Meriwether and Jho Jhenkins. (Paoline Edizioni). EAN 8019118020246

St. John Singers Spirituals-Gospels Chorus. (1998). ''Black and White Together''. Featuring Harold Bradley and Joy Garrison. (ISMA Music Group – Edizioni Musicali).

Associazione Eleniana & InterSOS. (2004). Harold Bradley & Sat&B Gospel Choir. ''Khumba ya my Lord – Together for Darfur / Insieme per Darfur''. Vietato Chiudere Gli Occhi / Don't Close Your Eyes. (Edizione Eleniana).

Jona's Blues Band. (2010) ''Back to Life Sifare''. Special Guest: Harold Bradley (Edizioni Musicali / Believe Digital).

Harold Bradley. (2012). ''Live al Cafè Latino''. (Casa discografica TERRE SOMMERSE).

YouTube Playlist: Harold Bradley – Music. Compiled by Oliver Bradley

Television Host

''Close-Up'' – WCIA – Channel 3 ( CBS) 1969–1975

''Soul Side'' WCIA – Channel 3 ( CBS) 1970–1975 *''People Beat'' – WICD (TV), WICD – Channel 15 ( NBC) 1975–1980

Special TV Appearance

Folkstudio: Harold Bradley. Claudio Villa (singer), Claudio Villa ''Notti Romane'' RAI TV 1965

Publicity

* Carrera occhiali (2011)

References

Bibliography

Jet (magazine). XXII, No. 12 (July 12, 1962), Ex-Pro Gridder-Artist Harold Bradley Tries Flicks. "Barabbas" p. 61

'' Time (magazine), Time'' magazine – Folk Singers: For the Love of It – Harold Bradley. Friday, April 10, 1964

Ebony Magazine. Vol. XX, No. 11 (September 1965). Young Man With Worlds to Conquer: Harold Bradley. p. 119-125

Jet (magazine). XXXII, No. 13 (July 6, 1967), Harold Bradley: Cleveland Browns. LeRoi Jones "Dutchman". p. 28

Ebony Magazine. Vol. XXIV, No. 12 (October 1969). Football Heroes Invade Hollywood. p. 195-202.

Jet (magazine). Vol. 54, No. 12 (June 8, 1978), Black Alumni Honor University of Iowa Pioneers. Harold Bradley artwork. p. 17 *Volpi, Gianna. (1982). ''Spoleto Story''. p. 126. (Edizione Rusconi). *Bianchi, Carlo Vittorio (1984). ''Umbria Per Vivere''. "Harold". p. 247-255. (Edizione Grafica Salvi, Perugia). *Saint John's Spirituals Gospel Choir. (2001). ''I Nostri Dieci Anni di Musica''. (Edizione Cantiere dell'Arte). SBN RMS0181768. *Lancia, Enrico. Melelli, Fabio. (2006) ''Dizionario del Cinema Italiano''. Vol. 4: Attori Stranieri del Nostro Cinema. "Bradley Harold". p. 37-38. (Gremese Editore). .

Piascik, Andy. (2006). ''The Best Show in Football: The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns Pro Football's Greatest Dynasty''. Harold Bradley. p. 265, 294, 305, 310, 382, 369. (Taylor Trade Publishers). *Bari, Sandro. (2007). ''Strenna dei Romanisti: Natale di Roma LXVIII'': La Musica Popolare di Roma. "Nascita del Folkstudio". p. 19-30. (Edizione Roma Amor 1980). *Polk, Rev Robert L.. Greene, Cheryll Y. (2008). ''Tight Little Island'': Chicago's West Woodlawn Neighborhood, 1900–1950, in the Words of Its Inhabitants. (Bronx, New York : CNG Editions). .

Piascik, Andy. (2009). ''Gridiron Gauntlet: The Story of the Men Who Integrated Pro Football, In Their Own Words''. "Harold Bradley". p. 6-7, 169-186 (Taylor Trade Publishers)..

Carrera, Alessandro. Sheehy, Colleen Josephine. Swiss, Thomas. (2009). ''Highway 61 Revisited: Bob Dylan's Road from Minnesota to the World''. "On The Streets of Rome". p. 88-89. (Univ of Minnesota Press).

George, Nelson. (February 2010). ''The Black Atlas''. Harold Bradley On Rome. Video interview.

Leatherheads of the Gridiron. African-Americans in Pro Football, 1897–1946. Harold Bradley Sr and son, Harold Bradley Jr.

Rozendaal, Neal. (2012) Duke Slater: Pioneering Black NFL Player and Judge. Harold Bradley Sr, p 115-116 and 146, Harold Bradley Jr, p. 115 and 161. .

Mad Ducks & Bears - Football Revisited, by George Plimpton: reference to Harold Bradley's size, e-book, end of chapter 17. *Gussmag, Sina. (2012). Freie Üniversität Berlin, Praktikumsprojekt. ''Kurzbiografie über Harold Bradley''. (Berlin). *Bradley, Oliver Quinn. (2013). Research Project ''Harold Bradley''. (Berlin).

External links

Yahoo Italian Cinema Listing: Harold Bradley

The Wild Eye – Italian Cinema Exposed

Torre Alfina Festival

Rozendaal, Neal. African Americans in Hawkey (University of Iowa) Sports: Harold Bradley Sr., Harold Bradley Jr.

University of Iowa newspaper (February 24, 1960) The Daily Iowan. Reference to Harold Bradley. p. 2, bottom right "Good Listening – Today on WSUI"

Fan Base. Harold Bradley football statistics

Database Football. Harold Bradley Sr. Football roster

Database Football. Harold Bradley Jr: Football roster

University of Iowa. Harold Bradley

University of Iowa. Harold Bradley: Football statistics, University of Iowa

University of Iowa. Harold Bradley: Most valuable player roster

Pro Football Hall of Fame. Harold Bradley Sr reference

The News Observer. Reference to Harold Bradley

Casting Agency, Rome. Reference: Harold Bradley

Reference Harold Bradley Sr, father of Harold Bradley, Professional Football Hall of Fame

NFL players who served during the Korean War. Harold Bradley

NFL. Harold Bradley statistics

St John's Singers, Manziana (Rome). Harold Bradley *

Harold Bradley Facebook page

Harold Bradley MySpace

SIFARE EDIZIONI MUSICALI

Jonas Blues Band

Virtual Folkstudio

Peplum Blogspot: Harold Bradley – then and now

The Annals of Iowa Volume 72 Number 2 Spring 2013, A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF HISTORY , notes, bottom p. 141

Bradley - An Artist on Defense, by Dick Jackman, The Daily Iowan, November 8, 1950, full-article, page 6 - http://dailyiowan.lib.uiowa.edu/DI/1950/di1950-11-08.pdf

University of Iowa to honor ex-football player Harold Bradley Jr., a giant of creativity, By Jon Darsee, The Des Moines Register, October 7, 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Harold Jr. 1929 births 2021 deaths Cleveland Browns players Philadelphia Eagles players Iowa Hawkeyes football players Players of American football from Chicago Male actors from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois American expatriates in Italy Englewood Technical Prep Academy alumni 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople