Leslie Calvin Brown (born February 17, 1945) is an American politician and

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

. He was a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

from 1977 to 1981.

Early life

Brown was born with his twin brother, Wesley, in Liberty City, a low-income section of

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida. He was adopted by Mamie Brown, a 38-year-old single woman who worked as a cafeteria attendant and domestic assistant. Brown claims that he was declared "educable

mentally retarded ''Mentally'' is a 2017 Nigerian film written, produced and directed by James Abinibi. The movie stars Kunle Idowu, Toyin Abraham, Woli Arole and Adekunle Gold Synopsis The movie revolves around a young man who went to Lagos, a place where ...

" in

grade school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, which damaged his self-esteem and confidence.

Professional life

According to many of Brown's speeches, when he first decided to get his life into order, he went to a radio station he was repeatedly unsuccessful with his speeches. It was only after the on-air failures of the previous afternoon DJ that he was hired full-time. Upon his termination from the radio station, he ran for election in the

and won. After leaving the

Ohio State Legislature The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

, he shifted his career to television and became a host on PBS. From September to November 1993, he hosted a talk show, ''The Les Brown Show''. Brown was on

KFWB KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications, and airs a classic regional Mexican music radio format. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. ...

in California for a daily syndicated radio program from 2011 to 2012.

Personal life

Brown married

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...

in 1995. They divorced in 1997.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Les 1945 births 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians African-American state legislators in Ohio American motivational speakers American self-help writers American twins Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Living people People associated with direct selling 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly