Chad Brown (August 13, 1961 – July 2, 2014) was an American actor, poker player and

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

, based in

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Early life, family and education

Brown was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and was raised in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, where he began playing poker in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

cafés A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

Career

He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in the early 1990s where he began working in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Brown landed minor

roles A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, obligations, beliefs, and norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavior and may have a given indi ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

and

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

s, including '' Miami Hustle'', ''

Basket Case 2 ''Basket Case 2'' is a 1990 American comedy horror film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter, and the sequel to his 1982 film '' Basket Case''. It stars Kevin Van Hentenryck reprising his role as Duane Bradley, who moves with his deformed, ...

'' and '' Maximum Bob''. He also appeared as an assistant

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on the

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

Caesars Challenge ''Caesars Challenge'' is an American game show that aired on NBC from June 14, 1993, to January 14, 1994, and was recorded at the Circus Maximus Theatre of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ahmad Rashad hosted the series and, in keeping wit ...

'' in the early 1990s. Brown was the presenter of the '' Ultimate Poker Challenge'' television series. He has finished

in the money ''In the Money'' is a 1958 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on February 16, 1958, by Monogram Pictures, Allied Artists Pictures and is the 48th and final film in the series. It ...

at several events in the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

(WSOP), including third in the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

$1,500 Omaha hi-lo split event, second to

Ted Forrest Ted Forrest (born September 24, 1964) is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tournament wins In 1992, Forrest won two tournaments at the LA Poker Classic and one at the World Poker Finals in Mashant ...

in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

$1,500

seven-card stud Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River, is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was one of the most widely played poker variants in home games across the Unite ...

event and second in the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

$2,000 seven-card stud hi-lo event. Brown made back to back final tables at 2005 World Series of Poker circuit events, including a third-place finish behind

Chris Ferguson Christopher Philip Ferguson (born April 11, 1963) is an American professional poker player. He has won six World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Ferguson is ...

and Prahlad Friedman. Brown made 10 Final Tables at the WSOP, but never won a WSOP Bracelet in open competition. He finished runner-up three times and in third place three times. In 2014 he was awarded an honorary World Series of Poker bracelet for his overall contributions to the game of poker. Brown reached the final table of the

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the ...

fourth season Bay 101 Shooting Stars Tournament, where he finished 6th. Brown won one of the biggest

online poker Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 t ...

tournaments in the 2006 World Championship of Online Poker $5000 H.O.R.S.E. event. He bested 174 other players to take down the $223,125 first prize and a gold bracelet. Brown made the finals of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

National Heads-Up Poker Championship The National Heads-Up Poker Championship was an annual poker tournament held in the United States and produced by the NBC television network. It is a $25,000 "buy-in" invitation-only tournament organized as a series of heads up poker, one-on-one ...

, defeating Yosh Nakano,

Gabe Kaplan Gabriel Weston Kaplan (born March 31, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, and professional poker player. He played the title character in the 1970s sitcom '' Welcome Back, Kotter''. He later became a professional poker player and a commentat ...

, Brad Booth, Kristy Gazes, and Gavin Smith before losing to Paul Wasicka 2-0 in the best-of-three final. In 2007, Brown cashed for the first time in the Main Event, coming in 97th place out of a field of 6,358 players, winning $67,535. Brown's biggest win came at the 2009 Gulf Coast Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Brown and Vanessa Rousso served as the official celebrity hosts of the tournament. For first place, Brown earned $225,567. Brown was named '' Bluff Magazine'' Poker Player of the Year for 2006, for which he said “Winning player of the year is like an actor winning an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

”. Brown's total live tournament winnings exceed $3,600,000. His 38 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,220,357 of those winnings.

Personal life and demise

Brown resided in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In December 2007, he was engaged to Vanessa Rousso, also a professional poker player, with a wedding planned for 2009. He was twenty years her senior. However, after separating, they divorced in January 2012 but remained very close. In February 2011, he was diagnosed with

liposarcoma Liposarcomas are the most common subtype of soft tissue sarcomas, accounting for at least 20% of all sarcomas in adults. Soft tissue sarcomas are rare neoplasms with over 150 different histological subtypes or forms. Liposarcomas arise from the ...

and had a tumor removed from his abdomen. Brown resumed his poker career until he was no longer physically able to compete. He underwent

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and other conventional treatments as well as alternative therapy in Mexico. Just prior to his death, the World Series of Poker honored him by awarding him an honorary bracelet for his achievements in poker, but Brown was unable to make the ceremony due to his condition, so it was shipped to him so he could see and wear it before he died. Brown died on July 2, 2014, at age 52 in hospice care at Calvary Hospital in New York with his fiancée Stephanie Donahue by his side.

Early life, family and education

Career

Personal life and demise

References

External links