Trivia

While rehearsing a scene for Universal's East of Java (1935), he was mauled by a 400-pound lion on his neck and shoulders, very close to his jugular vein. it required nearly a year for him to recover from the injuries.

Served during WWI as a lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.

Never placed all his eggs in one basket when it came to his financial security. At one time he owned a gas station and garage, a half interest in a pearling schooner, a pair of whaling boats, a hog farm, a chicken ranch, a lingerie shop, and purchased an island off the coast of the Indonesian island of Java where coconuts were harvested.

Every time he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, one of his co-stars won the Oscar for Best Actress (Jennifer Jones for The Song of Bernadette (1943), Loretta Young for The Farmer's Daughter (1947) and Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda (1948)).

Was in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: Of Mice and Men (1939), The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Johnny Belinda (1948).

He was billed as Charles A. Bickford early in his career. The "A" stood for Ambrose.

Amomg his outside interests were painting and a gold mine in San Bernadino, CA.

Studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Wrote his autobiography, "Bulls, balls, bicycles & actors", in 1965.

Interred at Woodlawn Cemetary, Santa Monica, CA.

Is one of eight actors who have received an Oscar nomination for their performance as a priest. The others, in chronological order, are: Spencer Tracy for San Francisco (1936) and Boys Town (1938); Bing Crosby for Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945); Barry Fitzgerald for Going My Way (1944); Gregory Peck for The Keys of the Kingdom (1944); Karl Malden for On the Waterfront (1954); Jason Miller for The Exorcist (1973); and Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008). Tracy, Crosby and Fitzgerald all won Oscars for their performances.

Son Rex Bickford (b. 1924, d. 1960), coffee importer.

He was a lifelong Democrat.

Daughter Doris Bickford (b. 1919).