During World War II, he served as a naval aviation mechanic overseas on the USS Norton Sound.

[3] Discharged in 1946, Brady headed to Los Angeles, where his older brother Lawrence was already making some progress as an actor.

First taking menial jobs as a cab driver and a lumberjack, Brady studied at the Beverly Hills Drama School.

He was the leading man in the romantic comedy The Model and the Marriage Broker and in the cult Western drama Johnny Guitar.

On December 26, 1957, Brady played the frontier figure William Bent in the episode "Lone Woman" on Playhouse 90.

From 1955 to 1959, Brady appeared five times on Schlitz Playhouse, including the roles of Reno Cromwell in "Night of the Big Swamp" and Calvin Penny in "Papa Said No".

In addition to Shotgun Slade, Brady appeared in several other television Westerns, including Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, The High Chaparral, Lancer, Dirty Sally, The Virginian (twice), and Gunsmoke (three times).

He dated a number of actresses in Hollywood during this period, including Kipp Hamilton, Carol Ohmart, Reiko Sato,[7] and Shelley Winters.

[citation needed] In 1961, he played the roles of John Keller in "We're Holding Your Son" on General Electric Theater and Ernie Taggart in "Voyage into Fear" on Checkmate.

On December 5, 1974, Brady guest-starred in the season-one Movin' On TV episode "High Rollers" as a Vegas pit boss.