[4] Always more interested in experiencing life than reading about it, Bickford was considered "the wild rogue" of the family, causing his parents frequent consternation.

This venue provided him with an occasional living and served as the principal training ground for developing his acting and vocal talents.

[3]: 142–145  He was offered a role in Herbert Brenon's 1926 film of Beau Geste, but anxious not to give up his newfound Broadway stardom, refused it, a decision he later came to regret.

Following his appearance in the critically praised but unsuccessful Maxwell Anderson-Harold Hickerson drama about the Sacco and Vanzetti case Gods of the Lightning (Bickford was the Sacco character), he was contacted by filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille and offered a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios to star in DeMille's first talking picture: Dynamite.

Always independent minded, exceptionally strong-willed, and quick with his fists, Bickford frequently argued and nearly came to blows with Mayer and any number of other MGM authority figures during the course of this contract with the studio.

Throughout his early career on both the stage and later films, Bickford rejected numerous scripts and made no secret of his disdain for much of the material he was offered.

While he recovered, he lost his contract with Twentieth Century-Fox and his leading-man status owing to extensive neck scarring suffered in the attack, coupled with his advancing age.

[3]: 298–303  Soon, he made a very successful transition to character roles, which he felt offered much greater diversity and allowed him to showcase his talent to better effect.

Much preferring the character roles that became his forte, Bickford appeared in many notable films, including The Farmer's Daughter, Johnny Belinda, A Star Is Born, and Not as a Stranger.

[6] According to Paul Green, author of A History of Television's The Virginian, 1962-1971, Bickford's vigorous portrayal of John Grainger helped restore the quality of the show after what some considered a chaotic fourth season.

[7] Two of the actor's late-career, big-screen roles came in the Western The Big Country (1958), as a wealthy and ruthless rancher, with Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston; and in the drama Days of Wine and Roses (1962), as the forlorn father of an alcoholic, with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick.