Philip Mortimer Brown (April 30, 1916 – February 9, 2006) was an American actor.
Early life
Brown was born in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
in 1916. He majored in dramatics at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
, where he was a member of the
Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
Career
Brown played some of his first roles on stage when he joined the
Group Theatre in New York City. The Group Theatre eventually closed, and many of its members relocated to
Hollywood, where Brown helped found the
Actors' Laboratory Theatre. He found his first cinema roles here, making his motion picture debut in
Mitchell Leisen's 1941 war movie, ''
I Wanted Wings''.
In
1946, he played
Ernest Hemingway's protagonist
Nick Adams in
Robert Siodmak's version of ''
The Killers'', alongside
William Conrad and
Charles McGraw as the titular "killers".
In 1948, he played Tom in
Tennessee Williams's ''
The Glass Menagerie'', at the
Haymarket Theatre London, in a production directed by
John Gielgud.
His association with the Lab came back to haunt him later in the decade, when its members fell under the scrutiny of the
House Un-American Activities Committee.
Although he was not a
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
, Brown was
blacklisted in 1952, and was eventually compelled to relocate with his family to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
between 1953 and 1993.
Overseas he was able to resume acting on stage, TV and films; he also directed for the stage and TV.
He was best known for his role as
Luke Skywalker's uncle,
Owen Lars
This incomplete list of characters from the '' Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt Di ...
, in ''
Star Wars'' (1977).
He returned to the United States in the 1990s and in later years made the rounds of autograph shows.
Death
Phil Brown died in his sleep of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
on February 9, 2006 at the age of 89,
two months shy of his 90th birthday.
Legacy
His wife Ginny survives him with their son; two grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Phil
1916 births
2006 deaths
American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male television actors
Hollywood blacklist
Male actors from Cambridge, Massachusetts
Stanford University alumni
Deaths from pneumonia in California
20th-century American male actors