David Colbreth Broderick

David Colbreth Broderick , 1820-59, American politician, b. Washington, D.C. Brought up in New York City, he was active in Tammany Hall before moving to California in 1849. He became equally active in politics there, being a member of the state constitutional convention of 1849. He was elected to the state senate in 1850 and was chosen to preside over it in 1851. Broderick, who drew his support chiefly from Northerners, fought bitterly for control of the Democratic party in the state against U.S. Senator William M. Gwin , leader of the proslavery element. Both were sent to the U.S. Senate in 1857 under a compromise by which Broderick was to have control of the federal patronage. However, President Buchanan and Gwin ignored the understanding, and Broderick fiercely attacked them both. He was killed by Chief Justice David S. Terry of the California supreme court, a supporter of Gwin, in a famous duel near San Francisco. An eloquent eulogy at his elaborate funeral and editorial reverberations throughout the land made him the martyr of the Union cause in California.

Bibliography: See biographies by J. Lynch (1911) and D. A. Williams (1969).

Broderick, Matthew (b. 1960), actor. The handsome, youthful‐looking leading man possesses a vulnerable charm on stage and screen and has already given some cherished performances in New York during his young career. He was born in New York, the son of actor James Broderick, and studied acting with Uta Hagen. In 1982 he made his professional stage debut Off Broadway as the gay youth David in Torch Song Trilogy. Broderick was on Broadway the next year receiving applause for his engaging performance as the Brooklyn teenager Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983). He returned to the same character in the sequel Biloxi Blues (1985). Broderick's other Broadway successes include the ambitious corporate climber Finch in the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and the nebbish accountant Leo Bloom in The Producers (2001). In the last role, Broderick was described by Ben Brantley in the New York Times as “a slumped, adenoidal figure that . . . manages to make hunched introversion into an extroverted style.” James BRODERICK (1928–1982) was a flexible, all‐purpose actor who played both leading men and character types effectively. He was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, and educated at the University of New Hampshire before making his New York debut in 1953. Broderick was often outstanding in short‐run plays, such as Johnny No‐Trump (1967) and Wedding Band (1972), but he was very successful on television.