William Earl Brown (born September 7, 1963) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, musician, and songwriter. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Kenneth "Kenny" Brown in the film ''

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

'' (1996), Warren in the film ''

There's Something About Mary ''There's Something About Mary'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. It stars Cameron Diaz as the title character with Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon, Lee Evans, and Chris Elliott all playing men w ...

'' (1998), Dan Dority on the HBO series '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006), and the voice and motion capture of Bill in the video game ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel (The Last of Us), Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie (The Last of Us), Ell ...

'' (2013). He has appeared in films such as ''

Backdraft A backdraft ( North American English) or backdraught (British English) is the abrupt burning of superheated gasses in a fire, caused when oxygen rapidly enters a hot, oxygen-depleted environment; for example, when a window or door to an enclosed ...

'', '' The Master'', ''

Being John Malkovich ''Being John Malkovich'' is a 1999 American fantasy comedy film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman, both making their feature film debut. The film stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Keener, with John Malkovich ...

'', '' The Sessions'', ''

Vanilla Sky ''Vanilla Sky'' is a 2001 American science fiction thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by Cameron Crowe. It is an English-language remake of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 Spanish film '' Open Your Eyes'', which was written by Amenábar ...

'', ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

'', and ''

Bloodworth ''Bloodworth'' is a 2010 drama film directed by Shane Dax Taylor and based on ''Provinces of Night'', a novel by William Gay. The film stars Val Kilmer, Kris Kristofferson, and Dwight Yoakam. Toby Keith was also set to star in the film, but late ...

'' (which he also wrote and produced), as well as series such as '' Seinfeld'', '' NYPD Blue'', '' C.S.I.'', '' C.S.I. Miami'', ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...

'', '' Six Feet Under'', ''

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

'', '' Bates Motel'', ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...

'', ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...

'', '' Chicago Fire'', and ''

The Mandalorian ''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginning five years after the events of '' Retur ...

''.

Early life

William Earl Brown was born in

Golden Pond, Kentucky Golden Pond was a town in western Trigg County, Kentucky, United States. It is now the site of the headquarters of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, west-southwest of Cadiz. Golden Pond was established in the 19th century and b ...

, on September 7, 1963. He gained a bachelor's degree from Murray State University before moving to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he received an MFA from DePaul University Theatre School in 1989.

Career

After his breakout performance in

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on ...

's outreach staging of

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

's '' A View from the Bridge'', Brown began working in television and film. He appeared in films such as ''

'', ''

The Babe ''The Babe'' is a 1992 American biographical sports drama film about the life of famed baseball player Babe Ruth, who is portrayed by John Goodman. Directed by Arthur Hiller, written by John Fusco, it was released in the United States on April 1 ...

'', ''

Excessive Force Excessive Force is a musical side project started in 1991 by Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM and Buzz McCoy of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. History In 1991, Excessive Force released the single "Conquer Your House", followed by the album ''Co ...

'', and '' Rookie of the Year''. In 1993, he moved to Los Angeles and was cast in ''

Wes Craven's New Nightmare ''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' (also known simply as ''New Nightmare'') is a 1994 American meta slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven, creator of 1984's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street''. A standalone film and the seventh installment in ...

''. He also had a minor role in Craven's ''

Vampire in Brooklyn ''Vampire in Brooklyn'' is a 1995 American dark comedy horror film directed by Wes Craven. It stars Eddie Murphy, who produced and wrote with his brothers Vernon Lynch and Charles Q. Murphy. The film co-stars Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem ...

'', and a bigger one as a news cameraman working for

Gale Weathers Gale Weathers is a fictional character of the ''Scream'' film series, created by Kevin Williamson and portrayed by Courteney Cox. The character first appeared in '' Scream'' (1996), followed by five sequels: ''Scream 2'' (1997), ''Scream 3'' (20 ...

in Craven's ''

''. He played Warren in the 1998 comedy film ''

'' and later took roles in ''

'', ''

Dancing at the Blue Iguana ''Dancing at the Blue Iguana'' is a 2000 American erotic drama film, released September 14, 2000, directed by Michael Radford about the lives of strippers at a gentlemen's club. The film was based on an improvisational workshop involving the lea ...

'', '' The Alamo'', and''

The Big White ''The Big White'' is a 2005 black comedy film directed by Mark Mylod starring Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Giovanni Ribisi, Woody Harrelson, Tim Blake Nelson, W. Earl Brown and Alison Lohman. In a podcast interview with Marc Maron in 2010, Wi ...

''. In 2009, Brown wrote, produced, and appeared in the film ''

''. His 2010s film credits include '' The Master'', '' The Sessions'', ''

'', '' Brother's Keeper'', and ''

Wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...

''. On television, he is best known for his portrayal of Dan Dority on the HBO series '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006). He has also guest starred on '' Bates Motel'', '' Rectify'', ''

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

'', ''

'', '' Justified'', '' Six Feet Under'', '' NYPD Blue'', '' X-Files'', ''

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show f ...

'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', '' Ellen'', '' Seinfeld'', ''

'', and others. He also portrayed singer

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

in VH1's television film ''Meat Loaf: To Hell and Back''. In 2013, he performed the voice and motion capture of Bill in the critically acclaimed video game ''

''. Brown also writes and performs with the country music band Sacred Cowboys. He is set to appear in the upcoming film ''Shirley'', which stars

Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her o ...

opposite

Lance Reddick Lance Reddick (born December 31, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Cedric Daniels in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe'' (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in '' Bosch'' (2014–2020) ...

Lucas Hedges Lucas Hedges (born December 12, 1996) is an American actor. A son of filmmaker Peter Hedges, he studied theater at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Hedges began his acting career with a supporting role in Wes Anderson's com ...

André Holland André Holland (born December 28, 1979) is an American actor, widely known for his 2016 performance as Kevin in the Academy Award-winning film '' Moonlight''. Throughout his career, Holland has acted in film, television, and theatre production ...

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films ''Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles ...

and newcomer Ethan Jones Romero.

Personal life

Brown married Carrie Paschall in 1989. They live in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and have a daughter named Anna.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, W. Earl 1963 births Male actors from Kentucky American male film actors American male television actors Living people Murray State University alumni DePaul University alumni 21st-century American male actors 20th-century American male actors American male stage actors American male video game actors American male voice actors