Broderick Crawford, "Highway Patrol," and the Cars of the 1950s!

Thanks to Ed Garten for pointing me to this unforgettable TV series. I regretted not knowing about the availability of episodes on Youtube as a source to be used  my recent Stealing Cars: Technology and Society from the Model T to the Gran Torino (Johns Hopkins, 2014). I love all of the cars featured -- DeSotos, Imperials, Buick cop cars, etc. etc.. 

From Ed: Throughout his adult life, Crawford was prone to bouts of heavy alcohol consumption, and was known for eating large meals. These habits contributed to a serious weight gain for Crawford during the 1950s. His weight and penchant for heavy drinking contributed to several injuries suffered on the set of Highway Patrol. It became particularly difficult for Crawford to perform certain scenes, such as when he had to enter and exit a police teleporter. In 1958, Crawford broke his ankle while exiting the teleporter and was forced to wear an ankle cast, which may be seen in some episodes.

Crawford's heavy drinking increased during the filming of Highway Patrol, eventually resulting in several arrests and stops for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), which eventually gained him a suspended driving license. While representing the California Highway Patrol as "Chief Mathews", Crawford was known with considerable embarrassment by the CHP as "Old 502" due to his habit of driving under the influence of alcohol ("Code 502" was the CHP police radio code for drunken driving). According to the show's creator, Guy Daniels, "We got all the dialogue in by noon, or else we wouldn't get it done at all. He [Crawford] would bribe people to bring him booze on the set." The show used their CHP technical advisor, Officer Frank Runyon, to keep the actor sober: "I was told to keep that son of a bitch away from a bottle. I think his license was suspended. Some scenes had to be shot on private roads so that Brod could drive." Eventually the drinking strained the show's relationship with the CHP as well as Crawford's relationship with ZIV.