Bryan Brown

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For the Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, see Bryan D. Brown.
Bryan Brown

Brown at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born Bryan Neathway Brown
23 June 1947 (1947-06-23) (age 62)
Sydney, Australia
Occupation Actor
Years active 1977–present
Spouse(s) Rachel Ward (1983–present)

Bryan Neathway Brown,[1] AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Brown was born in Sydney, the son of John (Jack) Brown and Molly Brown, a house cleaner and pianist.[2] He grew up in the south-western Sydney suburb of Bankstown, and began working at AMP as an actuarial student. He started to act in amateur theatre performances,[3] where he discovered a passion for acting.

[edit] Career

Brown went to England in 1964, eventually winning minor roles at the Old Vic. He returned to Australia where he became a member of the Genesian Theatre, Sydney, appearing in Colleen Clifford's production of A Man for All Seasons, before joining the Queensland Theatre Company. He made his cinema debut in 1977 with a small role in The Love Letters from Teralba Road, and appeared in several more Australian films over the next two years.

In 1980 Brown became known to international audiences for his performance in Breaker Morant. While he continued appearing in Australian productions he also appeared in American TV mini-series, winning popularity in the United States in A Town Like Alice (1981), and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role in The Thorn Birds (1983), starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward.

He starred in several international productions, including Tai-Pan, with Joan Chen, Gorillas in the Mist, with Sigourney Weaver, and Cocktail, with Tom Cruise.

He is one of the few Australian actors who regularly plays Australians, thereby retaining his accent. Two exceptions are Tai-Pan and his role in the TV series Against the Wind, which called for an Irish accent.

In the 1990s and more recently, Brown appeared in American and Australian TV productions and movies, such as Two Hands (1999), as well as in British TV commercials.

[edit] Production work

Brown's production company made the series Twisted Tales and Two Twisted (similar to Alfred Hitchcock Presents). The second series had an additional twist: both stories in each episode were connected in some way, and the audience was invited to try and spot the connection.


[edit] Honours and awards

In June 2005, Brown was made a Member of the Order of Australia "for service to the community through a range of charitable organisations committed to providing assistance and support to families and young people and to the Australian film and television industry."[4]

He received the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Breaker Morant (1980) and for Two Hands (1999).

[edit] Personal life

Brown has been married to actress Rachel Ward since 1983. He met her while shooting the TV miniseries The Thorn Birds in the same year. Rachel and Bryan have three children, Rosie, Matilda and Joe.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Rachel-Ward-Not-just-a-glamour-girl/2005/06/12/1118514930622.html
  2. ^ Bryan Brown Biography – Film Reference
  3. ^ Brown, Bryan (7 February 2005). "Opening speech: Bryan Brown". Art Gallery of New South Wales. http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artexpress1/2005/opening_speech. Retrieved 30 December 2008. 
  4. ^ "It's an Honour website". Australian Government. http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1135919&search_type=quick&showInd=true. Retrieved 29 March 2008. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Brown"