Lansing "Lansa" Vanwoert Brown Jr. (August 24, 1900 – February 16, 1962) was an American

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

. Brown is often recalled for an event on September 2, 1934, in which he accidentally shot and killed his friend, crooner

Russ Columbo Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolfo Colombo (January 14, 1908 – September 2, 1934), known as Russ Columbo, was an American baritone, songwriter, violinist and actor. He is famous for romantic ballads such as his signature tune "You Call It Madnes ...

, when an antique pistol discharged and the bullet ricocheted into Columbo's skull. After Columbo's death, Brown was cleared of all charges, but he remained deeply affected by the incident. Brown served in the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as a photography instructor. He died of a stroke at the

West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...

Veterans Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

Hospital.

References

*Battaglia, Richard (October 29, 2004)
Preservation Notebook.
''Larchmont Chronicle'' 20th-century American photographers 1900 births 1962 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) American military personnel of World War II {{US-photographer-stub