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Biography
Robert North Bradbury (March 23, 1886 – November 24, 1949) (born Ronald E. Bradbury) was an American film director and screenwriter who directed 125 movies between 1918 and 1941.
He is most famous for directing early Western films starring John Wayne in the 1930s, including Riders of Destiny (1933; an early singing-cowboy movie), The Lucky Texan (1934), West of the Divide (1934), Blue Steel (1934), The Man From Utah (1934), The Star Packer (1934), The Trail Beyond (1934; co-starring Noah Beery, Sr. and Noah Beery, Jr.), The Lawless Frontier (1934), Texas Terror (1935), Rainbow Valley (1935), The Dawn Rider (1935), Westward Ho (1935), and Lawless Range (1935). These were inexpensively shot "Poverty Row" movies; many were also written by Bradbury and almost all of them featured character actor George "Gabby" Hayes.
Bradbury also shot numerous similar films during this period starring his son Bob Steele or Johnny Mack Brown. Bradbury occasionally billed himself as "Robert North Bradbury", "R.N. Bradbury", or "Robert Bradbury". He died in Glendale, California on November 24, 1949 at age 63.