John Brown

Acting

John Brown

Born 1904-04-04 · Hull, Yorkshire, England, UK

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.

Acting credits

Strangers on a Train poster
7.7

A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.

Strangers on a Train

1951

The Day the Earth Stood Still poster
7.5

An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

1951

The Stranger poster
7.2

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 a distinguished professor engaged to the Supreme Court Justice’s daughter.

The Stranger

1946

The Wild One poster
6.6

The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club ride into the small California town of Wrightsville, eager to raise hell. Brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler takes a liking to Kathie, the daughter of the local lawman, as another club rolls into town.

The Wild One

1953

The Bigamist poster
6.4

San Francisco businessman Harry Graham and his wife and business partner, Eve, are in the process of adopting a child. When private investigator Mr. Jordan uncovers the fact that Graham has another wife, Phyllis, and a small child in Los Angeles, he confesses everything.

The Bigamist

1953

Man Crazy poster
7.0

Three women come to Hollywood to break into the movies.

Man Crazy

1953

Dixieland Droopy poster
7.0

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-Flea Dixieland band at the circus.

Dixieland Droopy

1954

Hans Christian Andersen poster
6.2

A small-town shoemaker with a knack for spinning yarns, Hans encounters happiness and heartbreak on his road to becoming a full-fledged writer.

Hans Christian Andersen

1952

Robot Monster poster
4.5

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 of the last six remaining humans, and struggles to understand how his programming can instruct him to kill her while his heart demands that he can't.

Robot Monster

1953

No artwork available
NR

Film aimed at middle/high school students about the power of embracing diversity.

Heritage

The Horn Blows at Midnight poster
5.9

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 exactly midnight on Earth, thus marking the end of the world.

The Horn Blows at Midnight

1945

Symphony in Slang poster
7.3

At the gates of Heaven, the admitting officials have a hard time understanding a newcomer's life story with all his contemporary slang.

Symphony in Slang

1951

Crazylegs poster
5.8

The story of the life and career of football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch (who plays himself).

Crazylegs

1953

Jennifer poster
6.0

A young woman is hired to take care of an eerie old mansion, where she finds herself entangled with an enigmatic murderer.

Jennifer

1953

A Peach of a Pair poster
8.0

Vaudeville performers Cook and Butler are mistaken for domestic servants; hilarity ensues.

A Peach of a Pair

1934

The Life of Riley poster
8.0

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-father with no shortage of family problems.

The Life of Riley

1949