John Brown (April 4, 1904 – May 16, 1957) was a British actor.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . p. 43.

Radio

Brown had major roles in several popular radio shows: He was "John Doe" in the

Texaco Star Theater ''Texaco Star Theater'' is an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave M ...

's version of

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist topically-pointed radio program '' The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forw ...

's Allen's Alley, played Irma's love interest Al in '' My Friend Irma'', both "Gillis" and Digby "Digger" O'Dell in ''

The Life of Riley ''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, as well as two different television series, and a comic book. Radio series The radio program initially aired on the B ...

'', (a role he reprised for the first incarnation of the television show), "Broadway" in ''The Damon Runyon Theatre'', and "Thorny" the neighbor on the radio version of ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was b ...

''. Perhaps his most memorable piece of work is the ‘Broadway’ role; once heard, many find it impossible to think of the narrator of Damon Runyon’s stories as anyone else. It was a measure of Brown’s talent that this quintessentially American character was portrayed by an Englishman.

Film

Brown appeared in some notable films: as the inebriated professor in Hitchcock’s '' Strangers on a Train'' (1951), ''

The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, F ...

'' (1951, uncredited), and ''

The Wild One ''The Wild One'' is a 1953 American crime film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. The picture is most noted for the character of Johnny Strabler, portrayed by Marlon Brando, whose persona became a cultural icon of the ...

'' (1953); he supplied the voice of "Ro-Man" in the 1953 cult science fiction B-film '' Robot Monster''.

Television

In early television, Brown was the second actor (after

Hal March Hal March (born Harold Mendelson; April 22, 1920 – January 19, 1970) was an American comedian, actor, and television quiz show emcee. Early career March entered show business as a straight man in the vaudeville act the Hollywood Rioteers, b ...

) to play "Harry Morton", the next-door neighbor of George Burns and Gracie Allen in their situation comedy show, opposite Bea Benaderet; his tenure on the series lasted six months, and he was replaced by Fred Clark in June 1951.

Personal life

In 1952, Brown was placed on the

Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

Death

Brown died of a heart attack on May 16, 1957, in West Hollywood, California, while en route to his doctor's office.

Filmography

Radio

Films

Television

References

External links

* *
''The Damon Runyon Theatre'' – audio files of the complete series
freely available at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John 1904 births 1957 deaths Burials at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery English male radio actors English male television actors English male voice actors Hollywood blacklist Jewish English male actors 20th-century English male actors