John Bromfield was a lesser-known actor, but a notable figure in the film industry, particularly during the late 1950s. With his dark hair and square-faced handsomeness, he was often compared to Steve Cochran and Rory Calhoun, both popular leading men of the time.
Born in South Bend, Indiana in 1922 as Farron Bromfield, he was an athlete and a good-looking young man who quickly caught the attention of the film industry. By the age of 26, he was in Hollywood and had signed a contract with Paramount Pictures.
His early film career included a small role in the 1948 film noir "Sorry, Wrong Number" starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster, as well as the documentary-adventure "Harpoon" and the drama "Rope of Sand" in 1949. It was during the filming of "Rope of Sand" that he met his first wife, the French actress Corinne Calvet, who was a co-star in the film.
The couple married in 1948 and remained together for five years, during which time Bromfield's career began to take off. He became a featured performer in the early 1950s and earned leading man status by 1955. However, his films were not particularly well-received and most of them were forgotten.
One of his films, "Revenge of the Creature" in 1955, gained a cult following and is still remembered today. Bromfield married his second wife, dancer Larri Thomas, in 1957 and continued to work in film and television until his last movie, "Crime Against Joe," in 1956.
After his acting career, Bromfield switched to television and starred in the syndicated western series "The Sheriff of Cochise" from 1956 to 1959. However, the show was cancelled and Bromfield retired from acting in 1960.
He went on to pursue a career as a commercial fisherman and became an emcee at Chicago's annual Sportsman's Show in the 1980s. Bromfield's third marriage ended in his passing from kidney failure on September 18, 2005, at the age of 83.
