Who was the star of the television series 'Highway Patrol'?

William Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles. He is best known for his portrayal of Willie Stark in 'All the King's Men' and for his starring role as Chief Dan Mathews in the television series 'Highway Patrol' (1955–1959).

In 1955, television producer Frederick Ziv of ZIV Television Productions offered Crawford the lead role as 'Dan Mathews' in the police drama '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 dialogue and Crawford's convincing portrayal of a hard-as-nails police official 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 involved ZIV Television, which was among the relative handful of producers willing to accept the occasional challenges inherent with working with the hard-living and hard-drinking Crawford.