Robert North Bradbury
American film director (1886-1949)
Robert North Bradbury (March 23, 1886 – November 24, 1949) (born Ronald E. Bradbury, also billed as R.N. Bradbury or Robert Bradbury) was an American film actor, director, and screenwriter. He directed more than 125 movies between 1918 and 1941. He was considered one of the best directors of Westerns during the 1930s.
Bradbury is known for directing early Poverty Row Westerns starring John Wayne in the 1930s. He is the father of noted cowboy actor Bob Steele.
Bradbury was born in Walla Walla, Washington, on March 23, 1886, and died in Glendale, California, on November 24, 1949, at age 63. With Nieta Quinn Bradbury, he had three children, Robert Bradbury Jr. (Bob Steele), Bill Bradbury, and Jim Bradbury.
Early life
Bradbury was born in Walla Walla, Washington, on March 23, 1886. He later lived in Portland, Oregon, and along with his wife, Nieta Quinn Bradbury, he had a vaudville act.
“Robert North Bradbury” enters the record as american film director (1886-1949). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Robert, North and Bradbury can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q472420. VIAF identifies the subject as 24799231. The Library of Congress control number is n87847721. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1886, 1949, 1918 and 1941.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert North Bradbury” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.