Bryan Brown

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

Bryan Brown
AM
Brown at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born
Bryan Neathway Brown

(1947-06-23) 23 June 1947 (age 76)
Panania, New South Wales, Australia
OccupationActor
Years active1975–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1983)​
Children3; including Matilda

Bryan Neathway Brown[1] AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor.[2] He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include Breaker Morant (1980), Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984), F/X (1986), Tai-Pan (1986), Cocktail (1988), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), F/X2 (1991), Along Came Polly (2004), Australia (2008), Kill Me Three Times (2014) and Gods of Egypt (2016). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his performance in the television miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983).

Early life

Brown was born in Panania, a south-western Sydney suburb, the son of John "Jack" Brown and Molly Brown, a pianist in the early days of the Langshaw School of Ballet, who also worked as a house cleaner.[3] He grew up with his younger sister, Kristine, in Panania, and began working at AMP as an actuarial student. He started to act in amateur theatre performances,[4] where he discovered a passion for acting.

Career

Theatre

Brown went to Britain in 1972 and eventually won minor roles at the Old Vic. He returned to Australia and became a member of the Genesian Theatre, Sydney. He appeared in Colleen Clifford's production of A Man for All Seasons, before joining the Queensland Theatre Company in 1975 for a tour of The Rainmaker.[5]

Early films

He made his cinema debut in Scobie Malone (1975) as a policeman. He delivered two lines and was listed last in the credits as "Brian Bronn".

In 1977, he had the lead in a short feature, The Love Letters from Teralba Road (1977), which was written and directed by Stephen Wallace.[6]

Brown had small roles in The Irishman (1978), which was directed by Donald Crombie, Weekend of Shadows (1978) from Tom Jeffrey, and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), which was directed by Fred Schepisi.

He had a bigger part in Newsfront (1978), which was directed by Phil Noyce, the mini series Against the Wind (1978), which was directed by Simon Wincer, and Money Movers (1978), which was directed by Bruce Beresford.

Brown had the lead in the low budget film Third Person Plural (1979) from James Ricketson and a key role in Jeffrey's The Odd Angry Shot (1979) and Crombie's Cathy's Child (1979).[7] He played the lead in a short for Wallace, Conman Harry and the Others (1979), and had a leading role in Albie Thoms' Palm Beach (1980).[8][9]

In 1980, Brown became known to international audiences for his performance in Breaker Morant, directed by Beresford.[2][10]

Stardom

Brown played the leading role in Wallace's Stir (1980). He had starring roles in Blood Money (1980), a thriller, and Winter of Our Dreams (1981), a relationship drama with Judy Davis written and directed by John Duigan.

Brown had a huge international success playing the lead role in the TV mini-series, "A Town Like Alice" (1981), which won popularity in the United States. This co-starred Helen Morse and the two of them were reteamed in Far East (1982), written and directed by Duigan.

Brown had another big success internationally with his role as Luke O'Neil in The Thorn Birds (1983), starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward (whom he later married).[11] Brown was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his work.

This led to a number of international offers for Brown. He had the lead in a British TV film, Kim (1984) (playing a British agent in Imperial India) and supported Paul McCartney in Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984).

Brown returned to Australia for another mini series from the makers of Alice, Eureka Stockade (1984), but it was not as popular.[12]

In the UK, Brown played an Australian hitman in Parker (1985) and he returned home to play Cliff Hardy in The Empty Beach (1985). He supported Matt Dillon and Debra Byrne in Rebel (1985).

US career

Brown was given the lead role in the US action film F/X (1986), which was a hit. However Tai-Pan (1986), directed by Daryl Duke from The Thorn Birds, was a huge flop, despite being based on a best seller by James Clavell.

Brown returned to Australia to make The Umbrella Woman (1987) with Ward and then a new version of The Shiralee (1987). He supported Tom Cruise in Cocktail (1988) and Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist (1989).

In Australia he played the lead in a World War Two drama, Blood Oath (1990), directed by Wallace[13] and did a romantic comedy based on a story by him and Tony Morphett, Sweet Talker (1991), directed by Mike Jenkins.[14]

In the US he did F/X2 (1991), a sequel to F/X, where he was also executive producer, and the TV film Dead in the Water (1991).

He did a comedy with Dudley Moore, Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), followed by some thrillers: Devlin (1992), The Last Hit (1993), and Age of Treason (1994); in the latter he was a detective in Ancient Rome.

Brown had the lead in a short lived British TV series The Wanderer (1994) and starred in the popular cable film Full Body Massage (1995).

Return to Australia

Brown returned to Australia to star in Dead Heart (1996), which he also produced.[15] He produced and starred in Twisted Tales (1996) which led to an anthology TV series. He played Ned Land in the 1997 mini series 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Michael Caine, then did a TV film for Ken Russell, Dogboys (1998) and a thriller On the Border (1998). In 1999 Brown starred in the romantic comedy Dear Claudia and had a support role in Two Hands (1999) with Heath Ledger and Rose Byrne.

Brown starred in Grizzly Falls (1999), and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999). In Australia he had a support role in Risk (2000) and the lead in On the Beach (2000) and Dirty Deeds (2002) which he also produced. He produced a short film by his wife, The Big House (2001). Brown had support roles in Footsteps (2003), Along Came Polly (2004), Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman (2005), Spring Break Shark Attack (2005), and The Poseidon Adventure (2005). He produced a short feature directed by his wife, Martha's New Coat (2005) and made Two Twisted (2005). Back in Australia Brown was in Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback (2007), and Cactus (2008), which he also co produced. He was in Dean Spanley (2008), and had a small role in Australia (2008).

Brown produced and had a small role in Beautiful Kate (2009), directed by his wife. He was in Limbo (2010) and Love Birds (2011) and guest starred on The Good Wife. He had the lead in Better Man (2013) and appeared in An Accidental Soldier (2013) also directed by his wife. He and his daughter did a short, Lessons from the Grave (2013). He starred in the ghost film The Darkside (2013) and had the lead in a TV series Old School (2013). In 2014 he appeared on stage for the Sydney Theatre Company at the Wharf Theatre with Alison Whyte in David Williamson's play Travelling North.[16]

He was in Kill Me Three Times (2013), Cocktails & Dreams (2015), Deadline Gallipoli (2015), Gods of Egypt (2015), The Light Between Oceans (2016), and Red Dog: True Blue (2016). He had roles in Australia Day (2017), and Sweet Country (2017) and is in Palm Beach directed by his wife, and the 2019 TV series Bloom.

Brown appeared in the opening ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

His 2021 crime novel, Sweet Jimmy, was published by Allen & Unwin in print[17] and as audio book, narrated by Brown.[18]

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 to spot the connection.

Honours and awards

Brown was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in 1989. He received the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Breaker Morant (1980) and for Two Hands (1999).

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."[19]

The Bryan Brown Theatre & Function Centre in Bankstown, Sydney, was named after him in 2013.[20] He won Longford Lyell Award at the AACTA Awards in 2018.[21]

Personal life

When Bryan Brown was first introduced to Rachel Ward on the set of the TV miniseries The Thorn Birds in 1983, he read her palm and predicted she would have three children. They married a few months after filming wrapped.[22] They have three children, Rosie, Matilda and Joe.[22]

He is a strong supporter of Australian republicanism.[23]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1977 The Love Letters from Teralba Road Len Short Film
1978 Third Person Plural Mark
1978 The Irishman Eric Haywood
1978 Weekend of Shadows Bennett
1978 The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith Shearer
1978 Newsfront Geoff
1978 Money Movers Brian Jackson
1979 Cathy's Child Paul Nicholson
1979 The Odd Angry Shot Rogers
1980 Palm Beach Paul Kite
1980 Breaker Morant Lt. Peter Handcock AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1980 Stir China Jackson Nominated—AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1980 Blood Money Brian Shields
1981 Winter of Our Dreams Rob
1982 Far East Morgan Keefe
1984 Give My Regards to Broad Street Steve
1984 Kim Mahbub Ali Television film
1985 Parker David Parker
1985 The Empty Beach Cliff Hardy
1985 Rebel Tiger Nominated—AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1986 F/X Roland 'Rollie' Tyler
1986 Tai-Pan Dirk Struan
1987 The Good Wife Sonny Hills
1987 The Shiralee Macauley Television film
1988 Cocktail Doug Coughlin
1988 Gorillas in the Mist Bob Campbell
1990 Blood Oath Captain Cooper aka Prisoners of the Sun
1991 Sweet Talker Harry Reynolds
1991 Dead in the Water Charlie Deegan Television film
1991 F/X2 Rollie Tyler
1992 Blame It on the Bellboy Mike Lawton/Charlton Black
1992 Devlin Frank Devlin Television film
1993 Age of Treason Marcus Didius Falco Television film
1993 The Last Hit Michael Grant Television film
1995 Full Body Massage Fitch Television film
1996 Dead Heart Ray Lorkin
1997 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Ned Land Television film
1998 Dogboys Captain Robert Brown Television film
1998 On the Border Barry Montana Television film
1999 Dear Claudia Walter Burton
1999 Two Hands Pando AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1999 Grizzly Falls Tyrone Bankston
2000 On the Beach Dr. Julian Osborne Television film
2001 Risk John Kriesky
2001 Mullet Publican (voice)
2001 Styx Art
2002 Dirty Deeds Barry Ryan
2003 Footsteps Eddie Bruno Television film
2004 Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman Hal Thorne Television film
2004 Along Came Polly Leland Van Lew
2005 Spring Break Shark Attack Joel Gately Television film
2005 The Poseidon Adventure Jeffrey Eric Anderson Television film
2006 Two Twisted Detective Vincent Westler Television film
2007 Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback Rex Wild QC Television film
2008 Dean Spanley Wrather
2008 Cactus Rosco
2008 Australia King Carney
2009 Beautiful Kate Bruce Kendall Nominated—AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2010 Limbo Daniel
2011 Love Birds Dr. Buster
2014 Kill Me Three Times Bruce Jones
2016 The Light Between Oceans Septimus Potts
2016 Gods of Egypt Osiris
2016 Red Dog: True Blue Grandpa
2017 Sweet Country Sergeant Fletcher
2017 Australia Day Terry Friedman
2018 Peter Rabbit Mr. Rabbit (voice)
2019 Palm Beach Frank Also producer

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1978 Against the Wind Michael Connor 2 episodes
1981 A Town Like Alice Joe Harmon 3 episodes
1983 The Thorn Birds Luke O'Neill 3 episodes
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1984 Eureka Stockade Peter Lalor 3 episodes
1994 The Wanderer Adam 13 episodes
1996 Twisted Tales Jack Johnson Episode: "The Confident Man"
1999 Journey to the Center of the Earth Casper Hastings 2 episodes
2012 The Good Wife Jack Copeland 2 episodes
2013 Better Man Lex Lasry 4 episodes
2013 An Accidental Soldier Captain Foster TV Film
2014 Old School Lennie Cahill 8 episodes
2019 Halal Gurls Gordon Released on ABC iView October 2019
2019 Hungry Ghosts Neil Stockton
2019-20 Bloom Ray Reed Stan original series, 12 episodes
2021 The Moth Effect Ted Amazon Prime Video series, 2 episodes
2022 Darby and Joan[24] Jack Darby Acorn TV original series, 8 episodes

References

  1. ^ "Rachel Ward: Not just a glamour girl". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 June 2005.
  2. ^ a b "Bryan Brown". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2016. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
  3. ^ Bryan Brown Biography – Film Reference
  4. ^ Brown, Bryan (7 February 2005). "Opening speech: Bryan Brown". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 30 July 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  5. ^ "Five places that made me: Bryan Brown" by Julietta Jameson, The Border Mail, 8 October 2016
  6. ^ "The Love Letters from Teralba Road". Filmnews. Vol. 7, no. 7. New South Wales, Australia. 1 August 1977. p. 8. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "First big starring role in films is no joke for Graham Kennedy". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 46, no. 20. Australia. 18 October 1978. p. 18. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Palm Beach..." Filmnews. Vol. 10, no. 1. New South Wales, Australia. 1 January 1980. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Talking to Albie Thoms". Filmnews. Vol. 9, no. 5. New South Wales, Australia. 1 May 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Bryan Brown a fair dinkum sta[?]". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 48, no. 19. 8 October 1980. p. 58. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Bryan Brown to wed". The Canberra Times. Vol. 57, no. 17, 355. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 April 1983. p. 14. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p192
  13. ^ "Hey dude! We're numero uno". The Canberra Times. Vol. 64, no. 20, 210. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 August 1990. p. 3. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Bryan Brown stars opposite Indi's girl". The Canberra Times. Vol. 63, no. 19, 517. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 March 1989. p. 25. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Three Films selected for 1995 Film Fund". Filmnews. Vol. 25, no. 5. New South Wales, Australia. 1 July 1995. p. 3. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "Travelling North, Sydney Theatre Company – review" by Jessica Keath, The Guardian, 30 January 2014
  17. ^ "Bryan Brown's first crime novel is 'an extraordinary piece of work' " by Brian McFarlane, The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 September 2021
  18. ^ Brown, Bryan (2021). Sweet Jimmy (audio book). narrator: Bryan Brown. Wavesound/W. F. Howes. ISBN 9781004058013.
  19. ^ "It's an Honour website". Australian Government. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
  20. ^ The Man behind the name, Bryan Brown Theatre & Function Centre
  21. ^ "Winners & Nominees". aacta.org. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  22. ^ a b Lehmann, Megan (14 September 2013). "Rachel Ward is calling the shots". The Australian. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  23. ^ "Mountain-top republicans". ABC.net.au. 8 October 1999. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  24. ^ "ROAD TRIP MYSTERY SERIES DARBY AND JOAN COMING TO ACORN TV". screenaustralia.gov.au. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bryan_Brown&oldid=1118768183"