Brodie, Steve

Description

Autograph ID: 3291
Condition: Very good
Description: “(1863–1901) Brooklyn bookmaker who claimed to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and survived on July 23, 1886. The newspaper reports at the time gave Brodie lots of publicity, and the New York City tavern he opened shortly afterward was a success. Hoax or not, Brodie became famous, and his name for a time became slang; to “pull a Brodie” or “do a Steve Brodie” came to be understood to do something flamboyant and dangerous. In 1933, Brodie was portrayed by George Raft in Raoul Walsh’s film “The Bowery”. He is a character in the 1949 Warner Bros. cartoon short “Bowery Bugs”, starring Bugs Bunny. In Samuel Fuller’s 1952 “Park Row”, the character Steve Brodie is prepped to make the leap, and then becomes the primary focus for first edition of “The Globe” newspaper. He was the inspiration for “Kelly”, 1965 musical flop that closed after 1 performance on Broadway. The Brooklyn Bridge, one of the oldest suspension bridges in the US, was completed in 1883. It connects New York City boroughs of Manhattan & Brooklyn by spanning the East River. At 5,989 feet (1825 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903, and the 1st steel-wire suspension bridge.

Signed 2 ½ x 3 ½ card”
Type: Signed Card