Full Name John H. Brown Role Film actor Name John Brown | Years active 1932-1957 Occupation Actor | |
 | ||
Died May 16, 1957, West Hollywood, California, United States Movies Strangers on a Train, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Robot Monster, The Stranger, The Bigamist Similar People Orson Welles, Francis D Lyon, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Wise, Ida Lupino | ||
John Brown (April 4, 1904 - May 16, 1957) was an English radio and film actor.
Contents
Early years
Brown was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England.
Radio
Brown had major roles in several popular radio shows: He was "John Doe" in the Texaco Star Theater's version of Fred Allen's Allen's Alley, played Irma's love interest Al in My Friend Irma, Digby "Digger" O'Dell in The Life of Riley, (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.
Film
Brown appeared in some notable films: Strangers on a Train (1951), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, uncredited), and The Wild One (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) 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 became another victim of the Hollywood blacklist.
Death
Brown died of a heart attack on May 16, 1957, in West Hollywood, California, while en route to his doctor's office.