Bradford was born in Tyler, Texas, the son of Richard Edwin Bradford and Rose Flaxman.^[2] His stepfather was a wholesale grocer.^[3] Raised by his grandparents in Conroe, Bradford received his schooling in San Antonio, Texas, then attended Texas A&M on a football scholarship.^[2]

When an injury short-circuited his budding athletic career, and a switch to baseball at Texas State University was stymied due to insufficient semester hours, Bradford, who had long admired the work of actors Marlon Brando and James Dean, finally decided to seriously pursue a long-contemplated career in acting. To this end he made his way to New York.^[2]

Supporting himself by waiting tables, Bradford studied acting,^[4] first with Frank Corsaro,^[5] and finally, in 1962, was admitted to the Actors Studio, where he studied for two years,^[4] leading to roles in Studio productions such as Mother Courage (1963), June Havoc's Marathon '33 (1963), and Blues for Mister Charlie (1964). Also, he understudied Rod Steiger in the touring production of A.E. Hotchner's A Short, Happy Life (1961),^[5] an ostensibly Broadway-bound show which folded out of town.^[6]

Bradford's work caught the eye of another Actors Studio member, director Arthur Penn, who cast Bradford in The Chase (1966),^[4]. This work, in turn, attracted the attention of media impresario Lew Grade, who brought Bradford to Great Britain in 1967 for Man in a Suitcase.

In addition to his numerous TV appearances, Bradford has been featured in many films, such as The Missouri Breaks (1976), An Enemy of the People (1978), Badge of the Assassin (1985), The Trip to Bountiful (1985), The Untouchables (1987), and The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), but arguably his best known film role is the corrupt police captain in the 1997 film Hoodlum. Bradford appeared in the 1989 film Heart of Dixie and had notable turns in Costa-Gavras' Missing (1982), The Mean Season (1985) and The Crossing Guard (1995).

In the 1960s, he appeared in the Sanctuary episode of the television series Gunsmoke and guest-starred in an episode of The High Chaparral. In the 1970s, he played Lutie Bascomb in one episode of The Waltons. He guest starred(series 2 Episode 21) in an episode of Kojak 'The Goodluck Bomber' in 1975. He guest-starred in an episode of Murder, She Wrote in the 1980s. He also guest-starred in an episode in the first season of Viper. In 1987, he starred in the miniseries Amerika. In the mid 1980s, he was a semi-regular cast member of the series Cagney & Lacey.

Bradford was married to ballet dancer Eileen Elliott from 1965 to 1984. He had a son, Richard Bradford III.^[7]

In 1986, The Smiths used a photograph of Bradford on the cover of their single "Panic".^[8]

In 2004, Bradford gave a series of interviews and commentaries for a DVD release of Man in a Suitcase, expressing mild surprise at the ongoing popularity of the series today.^{[citation needed]}

• Richard Bradford at IMDb
• Richard Bradford at the Internet Broadway Database