Editing Broderick Crawford (section)

===''Highway Patrol''===
In 1955, television producer [[Frederick Ziv]] of [[Ziv Television Programs|ZIV Television Productions]] offered Crawford the lead role as "Dan Mathews" in the police drama ''[[Highway Patrol (American TV series)|Highway Patrol]]'', which dramatized law enforcement activities of the [[California Highway Patrol]] (CHP). ZIV Television Productions operated on an extremely low budget of $25,000 per episode of ''Highway Patrol'' with ten percent of gross receipts going to Crawford as per his contract. While the show's scripts were largely fictional, the use of realistic, rapid-fire dialogue, stark film noir styled feel and Crawford's convincing portrayal of a hard-as-nails police officer helped make the show an instant success. ''Highway Patrol'' remained popular during its four years (1955–1959) of first-run syndication, and would continue in repeat syndication on local stations across the United States for many years after. For much of the period from 1955 until 1965, most of Crawford's television roles were for ZIV Television, among the relatively few producers willing to accept the challenges of working with the hard-living and alcoholic Crawford. Years later, Frederick Ziv admitted in an interview, "To be honest, Broderick could be a handful!"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford / TVparty!|url=http://www.tvparty.com/50-highway-patrol.html|access-date=2021-01-31|website=www.tvparty.com}}</ref>

''Highway Patrol'' helped revive Crawford's career and cement his tough-guy persona, which he used successfully in numerous movie and TV roles for the rest of his life.

During the series' run he appeared in ''[[The Fastest Gun Alive]]'' (1956) with Ford at MGM, a successful Western; ''[[Between Heaven and Hell (film)|Between Heaven and Hell]]'' (1956) with [[Robert Wagner]] at Fox, directed by [[Richard Fleischer]]; and ''[[The Decks Ran Red]]'' (1958) with James Mason for [[Andrew L. Stone]].

Fed up with the show's hectic shooting schedule, Crawford quit ''Highway Patrol'' at the end of 1959 in order to make a film in Spain, and try to get his drinking under control.<ref name="JAS">Jason, Rick, ''[http://www.scrapbooksofmymind.com/broderick_crawford.htm Scrapbooks of My Mind: A Hollywood Autobiography]'' (2000)<!-- ISBN needed --></ref>