Bradford Meade (Alan Dale)

Alan Dale as Bradford Meade

Background

Bradford Meade is a famous publishing mogul whose company, Meade Publications, publishes the popular fashion magazine MODE. He is also the father of Daniel Meade, the womanizing editor-in-chief, and Alex/Alexis Meade, his post-op transgendered daughter.

Bradford also was responsible for making major changes at the magazine after the mysterious death of chief editor Fey Sommers, including handing over the day-to-day operations to the inexperienced Daniel. He was also responsible for getting Betty Suarez hired as Daniel's personal assistant because he believes Betty is the only woman in New York City that Daniel will never ever sleep with.

Bradford's decision to put Daniel in charge and to make Betty his assistant are reasons alone for Creative Director Wilhelmina Slater -- who wanted the editor-in-chief job -- to plot against them in an effort to manipulate Bradford into reconsidering her for the top job.

However, Bradford is also skeptical about Fey's death. He had tampered with the steering wheel in her car and she later died in a car accident. After noticing Fey's casket was closed at her funeral, he hired a private detective, Steve, to find out any information that could implicate him and whether she faked her death. Prior to her death, Bradford and Fey had an affair and later he broke into her apartment and retrieved a photo of them together. After the funeral, he burned the photo to hide it from Daniel and Bradford's wife Claire.

Bradford has shown signs of being more sinister after learning that Fey is still alive and that Steve was actually working for her (It was later discovered in "Sofia's Choice" that Steve was really working for Wilhelmina). In turn, he hired a henchman, Mr. Green, to "clean up messes" starting with Mr. Green burying Steve in Fey's empty tomb - though Steve survived. Bradford plans to step up his scheme to bring Fey out into the open by any means, dead or alive, even though he is unaware that his "late" son, Alex, is actually behind this scheme and is planning to frame him for Fey's murder, which happened during Fashion Week, when he is arrested after Alexis stuns him by revealing his sex-change in front of the world as he was about to hand over the reins to Daniel. He is actually innocent though, because it was revealed in the episode Brothers, that Claire killed her. When Claire visits him at Rikers Island and tells him that she will turn herself in, Bradford is not happy about this, since he might be trying to protect her in more ways than one, but in the end she does and he is released immediately.

With that turn of events out of the way, it is expected that his damaged relationship with both Alexis and Daniel will resume, and with Alexis back in the picture still trying to reclaim a piece of the Meade empire, expect Bradford to make his distrust of her a priority, especially after going through with the sex-change operation even as he tried to mold his son into the "Golden Boy" that would carry on the tradition, which he was hoping to distill on Daniel before the arrest.

It was later revealed that Bradford's company only publishes MODE; Claire is the actual owner of the magazine and has the ability to pull the strings. She was able to do this as Bradford had put the magazine under her name to evade taxes.

In the episode Punch Out it is revealed that Bradford is turned on by feet (Strategy that Fey Sommers used to keep their relationship alive). Wilhelmina uses this information to her advantage and seduces Bradford (successfully), so she could "own" and control Meade Publications. She also succeeds in convincing Bradford to divorce Claire after Wilhelmina twisted Claire's threats to make it look like Claire went through with it while behind bars.

In the season finale, he gives Wilhelmina an engagement ring that he made himself, setting things up for a November wedding. Unbeknownst to Bradford, Claire has just escaped while en route to prison, hoping to stop him from marrying Wilhelmina. In the finale it is also revealed the breaks on Bradford's car have been mysteriously cut; paradoxically it is actually Alexis driving the car in order to take Daniel to hospital.

Connections

• Betty Suarez - Assistant editor; He was responsible for getting Betty the job so she can keep Daniel from hiring attractive women that he'll sleep with. Her knowledge has helped Daniel succeed in their roles at MODE, which also pleased Bradford. And like his son, he seems to trust Betty a lot more, especially when he tells her to watch Daniel's financial responsibilities.
• Fey Sommers - Former Editor-In-Chief; He had a 20-year affair with her and is under suspicion because he tampered with the steering on her car at the time of her death. He believes that she is alive, thus prompting him to resort to sinister measures to expose her hoax.
• Wilhelmina Slater - Creative Editor at MODE; After being passed over for the role as the editor-in-chief, she has secretly sought revenge by teaming up with Alexis Meade to drive a wedge between him and Daniel, as well as using manipulation tatics to convince him that she is the right person for the job. She is attempting to romance him in an effort to get control of MODE away from his wife Claire.
• Daniel Meade - His son Editor-In-Chief at MODE; Despite handing the job to him, Daniel is not so sure that he can live up to the challenge, but has gained his trust even though the two have shown signs of a rift in their relationship, which is being fueled by Wilhelmina.
• Alexis Meade - His son-turned-daughter and Co-Editor-In-Chief at MODE; Before Alexis (then Alexander) had a sex change, Bradford did his best to try to persuade him to not become a woman. Alex faked his death in a skiing accident to secretly have a sex change and came out of hiding two years later. However, Bradford still did not accept Alexis and tried to have her fired. This failed due to Claire's ownership of MODE and her desire to see Daniel and Alexis work together. After Alexis turned down a $10 million offer to leave the company, Bradford takes Wilhelmina's suggestion by enlisting Rodigo, the creative director at MODE Brasil, to romance her so he can get her out of the company and the Meade family for good.
  Claire Meade - Bradford's wife; Has been in and out of rehab due to her drinking problem, which was brought on by Bradford's affair with Fey. Although they are estranged, the two are still married. Even as she faces jail time, Bradford insists that he will stay married to her, but thanks to Wilhelmina's tactics, he has decided to divorce her.
• Sofia Reyes - Author and Editor-In-Chief of sister publication MYW; Bradford hired her to help launch a new magazine and was the one who gave her the newly created position.
• Steve - Private detective; Was hired by Bradford to investigate Fey's death, only to discover that he was working for Fey. But in Sofia's Choice he was actually employed by Wilhelmina.
• Mr. Green - Bradford's henchman; Loyal to Bradford, his job is to "Clean up messes," starting with disposing of Steve in the cemetery (Steve by the way, survived the melee).

Trivia

• Bradford's character is equivalent to Roberto Mendoza, Armando's father, with Armando equalling Daniel.
• To the UK audience, the word Bradford is more commonly associated with the West Yorkshire City as opposed to a Christian name.

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