Crime Commission of New York City, said that despite his fearsome reputation Broderick was actually beaten up on several occasions. Broderick's image, he says, "rested to a great extent that Broadway show business figures relied upon him for informal protection," as well as on "rave accounts" of his career by Ed Sullivan, Gene Fowler, Toots Shor and others. Reppetto observed that the "real strength" of Broderick and Cordes was that they "had what the gangster did not, the legal right to use deadly force and the practical power to slug hoods on sight." References 1890s births 1966 deaths New York City Police Department officers People from Manhattan People from Middletown, Orange County, New York People from Jackson Heights, Queens United States Navy personnel of World War I