John Brown
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,[2] played Irma's love interest Al in My Friend Irma, both "Gillis" and 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. 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.
Brown appeared in some notable films: as the inebriated professor in Hitchcock’s 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.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 2.282 |
Birthday | 1904-04-04 |
Place of Birth | Hull, Yorkshire, England, UK |
Also Known As |
1952
Hans Christian Andersen
6.3/63
A small-town shoemaker with a knack for spinning yarns, Hans encounters happiness and heartbreak on his road to becoming a full-fledged writer.
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Hans Christian Andersen
1945
The Horn Blows at Midnight
5.8/18
A trumpet player in a radio orchestra falls asleep during a commercial and dreams he's Athanael, an angel deputized to blow the Last Trumpet at exactl...
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The Horn Blows at Midnight
1949
The Life of Riley
7/1
Inspired by the popular '40s radio show of the same title, director Irving Brecher's 1949 comedy stars William Bendix as a hard-working husband-and-fa...
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The Life of Riley
1934
A Peach of a Pair
0/0
Vaudeville performers Cook and Butler are mistaken for domestic servants; hilarity ensues.
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A Peach of a Pair
1951
Symphony in Slang
7.135/37
At the gates of Heaven, the admitting officials have a hard time understanding a newcomer's life story with all his contemporary slang.
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Symphony in Slang
1953
Robot Monster
4.6/91
Ro-Man, an alien robot who greatly resembles a gorilla in a diving helmet, is sent to earth to destroy all human life. Ro-Man falls in love with one o...
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Robot Monster
1953
Man Crazy
6/1
Three women come to Hollywood to break into the movies.
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Man Crazy
1951
The Day the Earth Stood Still
7.458/1071
An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still
1954
Dixieland Droopy
6.917/18
John Pettibone (Droopy), a dog whose love of Dixieland music is not appreciated by those around him, has a lucky meeting with Pee-Wee Runt and his All...
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Dixieland Droopy
1951
Strangers on a Train
7.7/1608
Two strangers meet on a train. They’ve never met before. Both of whom have someone they’d like to murder. So, they swap murders. A psychopath shares t...
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Strangers on a Train
1953
Jennifer
5.6/11
A young woman is hired to take care of an eerie old mansion, where she finds herself entangled with an enigmatic murderer.
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Jennifer
1953
The Wild One
6.6/287
The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club ride into the small California town of Wrightsville, eager to raise hell. Brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler takes...
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The Wild One
1953
Crazylegs
5/3
The story of the life and career of football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch (who plays himself).
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Crazylegs
1953
The Bigamist
6.4/87
San Francisco businessman Harry Graham and his wife and business partner, Eve, are in the process of adopting a child. When private investigator Mr. J...
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The Bigamist
1946
The Stranger
7.3/553
An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of...
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