Father, husband, prolific film and TV gaffer, musician

Longtime Claremont resident Curtiss Bradford died surrounded by his family after a sudden illness on July 1.

Curtiss is survived by his wife Deborah (née Madden) of Cape Cod, Massachusetts; daughters Emma Bradford of New York, and Fiona Bradford of San Francisco; brothers Christopher of Mountain View, California, Stephen of Santa Monica, California, and Peter of Stockton, California; and sisters Robin Hamilton of Richmond, California, and Rachel Cooper of Gunnison, Colorado.

He was born in Los Angeles on December 26, 1951 to Curtiss Hammond Bradford, Jr. and Mary (Maher) Bradford. The family settled in San Diego, California, and his formative years were spent in Coronado. Exploring the tide pools along San Diego Bay, playing in the surf on beautiful beaches and pickup games of baseball and football engendered in him a lifelong love of sports and the outdoors.

In the early 1960s the family left Coronado for Diamond Bar, California, which proved to have its own attractions: miles of trails into the surrounding hills and woods, a brand new school and new friends and adventures.

But the family pined for a return to Coronado, and after three years it happened. These were his junior high years and his introduction to and love of surfing. And his parents’ nearly daily sessions at the piano stoked a passion for music that never left him.

The family later moved again, to Upland, where he attended high school. Unique among his siblings, he began to display remarkable mechanical abilities. It was also in high school that the band Foggy Daze debuted with him on rhythm guitar and vocals, the first in a series of rock, country, and bluegrass groups that he led.

After graduating, he enrolled in the drama department at Chaffey College. By the time he graduated he had played lead roles in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” as well as starring roles in “The Fantasticks,” “The Robber Bridegroom,” and “Godspell,” among others. His work at Chaffey earned him a scholarship to USC. During this time, he became involved in children’s theater, writing and directing for the Space Place Players, and performing for thousands of schoolkids at the Museum of Science and Industry (now California Science Center).

Wary of making a living as an actor, he applied for work at a studio producing educational videos and landed a job as a production assistant. His manual aptitude, his knowledge of theatrical lighting, and his remarkable ability to learn a new craft on the fly was evident and he became the studio’s go-to production technician, working on dozens of film and video projects over the next couple of years.

In 1982 he began to get work as a grip on music videos and commercials. In 1985, he landed his first feature film, “Moving Violations.” Later that same year he achieved his biggest success to date as best boy grip on Francis Coppola’s “Desert Hearts.” He worked a number of film and television jobs and by 1988 had established himself as a key grip.

More films followed: “A Woman of Independent Means,” “Under the Boardwalk,” “Wild at Heart,” and “Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael.” By 1990 his resume included 17 film and television credits.

He met Deborah Madden in the late 1970s, and they dated for three years. At that time they felt they were too young to make a lifetime commitment. In the interim, both of them gained life experience and they resumed their relationship in 1988. They were married August 27, 1989.

In 1991, after paying his dues on various TV productions and commercials, he first worked as a gaffer on “My Girl.” Over the next two years he was the gaffer on six films, including the star-studded big budget epic, “Gettysburg.”

“In 1993 an even bigger star-studded event occurred with the arrival of Emma Frances Bradford, born on September 19 to rave reviews,” his family shared. “The sequel in 1996, featured the debut of Fiona Katherine Bradford on September 25, another five star production. Nothing in his life, before or since, made him happier or more proud than being a father. He reveled in his new role as a dad and brought to it the dedication and enthusiasm with which he approached everything in his life.”

In the next five years he continued adding to his resume with a number of TV shows and movies, including “The Ben Stiller Show,” “She’s So Lovely,” and “Hard Time.” In 1997 he and Deborah moved to Claremont, purchasing their home on Butte Street, where they would live for 25 years.

In the early 2000s he gaffed some of the most memorable shows of the time: “Lizzie McGuire,” “Grosse Pointe,” “Undeclared,” and the critically acclaimed series’ “Freaks and Geeks” and “Big Love.” His feature films from 2006 to 2010 included “Reign Over Me,” “Friday the 13th,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.”

Family continued to be his focus, both immediate and extended. Trips to the Bay Area to visit his mother Mary, brother Chris and sister Robin were frequent. The Bradfords spent happy vacations with his wife’s mother Fran, brother Tim, sister Tina, and families. He looked to broaden his daughters’ cultural opportunities and took Emma and Fiona on exciting trips to Europe.

He concentrated on work in LA on such shows as “The Middle,” “Friends with Benefits,” and “Switched at Birth.” In the last seven years of his career he gaffed 123 episodes of the hit series “New Girl.”

He retired in 2018 with over 72 major film and TV credits to his name. The girls graduated from college, Emma from UC Irvine and Fiona from Cal Poly Pomona. He and his wife wished to someday live on the East Coast and took trips to Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts to look for the perfect spot. They discovered Cape Cod and made the decision to move. In December of 2022 they found a beautiful home on the Cape at the edge of a woodland near the water and they bid farewell to family and friends. There he joined a senior league softball team, indulged his new hobby bird-watching, and connected with the Cape Cod music scene, getting together with new friends to jam. Daughter Emma had a job in New York and was a frequent visitor. The couple returned the favor and spent time in the city catching Broadway shows and seeing the sights.

On June 28, he suffered a devastating brain aneurysm. At the hospital, his wife was told that nothing could be done. Over the weekend, his daughters arrived in time to say goodbye. He had wished to be an organ donor, but it would take time for the required tests and time was slipping away. He hung onto life long enough, matches were made, needy patients identified.

On Monday afternoon, July 1, as his wife held his hand, his daughters played Beatles music for him, and the last notes of “Across The Universe” faded out, he died.

A private service will be held in December.