Ralph Brown
| Ralph Brown | |
|---|---|
 Ralph Brown in March 2009 |
|
| Born | Ralph William John Brown 18 June 1957 Cambridgeshire, England |
| Occupation | Actor, Writer |
| Years active | 1982–Present |
Ralph William John Brown[1] (born 18 June 1957)[1] is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in Withnail and I, the security guard Aaron (aka "85") in Alien 3, DJ Bob Silver in The Boat That Rocked, and the pilot Ric Olié in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He wrote the award-winning play Sanctuary, and the British film New Year's Day.
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[edit] Early life and career
Brown was born in Cambridgeshire, England, the son of Heather R and John F W Brown.[1]
His many and various film roles include Dil's on-off boyfriend Dave in the Academy Award-winning film The Crying Game, Danny the drug dealer in Withnail & I, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs in Buster, roadie Del Preston in Wayne's World 2, teacher and rugby league player Phil in Up 'n' Under, prison guard captain Mr Burton in Mean Machine, Sgt Major Harris in the Paul Schrader film Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, and CIA renegade Mr Collins alongside Wesley Snipes in The Contractor. In 1995 Brown appeared in Steven Spielberg's slavery epic Amistad. In 2007 he filmed Caught In The Act, an independent British film, and appeared in the series Cape Wrath for Channel 4/Showtime as the moustachioed policeman Wintersgill.
Among a myriad of TV appearances (see imdb), Brown appeared in Dennis Potter's Karaoke in 1995, he also played Prince John in the BBC's adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe in 1997 and did a memorable turn as shaven-headed gang-boss "Miami Vice" in the 2000 series Lock, Stock...The Series.
In 2005 he appeared in Coronation Street as Barney, roadie to Status Quo, and with Julia Davis in the cult TV sitcom Nighty Night. He appeared in the final two episodes of Life on Mars as Frank Morgan, an interim DCI in 1973 sequences, and Sam's (John Simms) surgeon in 2006 sequences.
Ralph Brown stars as DJ Bob Silver in The Boat That Rocked, a film by Richard Curtis released in April 2009. In 2009 he made four films: The Kid directed by Nick Moran, Huge directed by Ben Miller, Mission: London a Bulgarian comedy directed by Dimitar Mitoviski which premiered in Sofia on April 13, 2010, and SUS, written by Barrie Keeffe, writer of The Long Good Friday, which premiered April 24, 2010 and ran in the West End for several weeks.
In 2010 Brown worked on the BBC Three comedy Him & Her and the film Killing Bono. In the summer of 2010 he shot the feature film Dark Tide in Cape Town opposite Halle Berry. In 2011 he filmed I, Anna with Gabriel Byrne and Charlotte Rampling, then went on to work on Jack The Giant Killer directed by Bryan Singer, Tower Block in London, and Stoker in Nashville, the latter directed by Park Chan-Wook.
As a writer, Brown won the Samuel Beckett Award in 1987 for his first play, Sanctuary, which was produced by Joint Stock Theatre Company. This was also performed in the US as Sanctuary DC where it was nominated for two Helen Hayes Awards in 1989. Brown wrote the screenplay for New Year's Day which won the Raindance Film Festival and the Sapporo Film Festival in 2001. He also wrote the screenplay for the aborted film Red Light Runners.
[edit] Personal life
Brown has been married to Jenny Jules since 1992.[1] He is a member of a Brighton-based Beach Boys tribute band, The Brighton Beach Boys, who performed Pet Sounds and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper albums live on stage in St George's Church at the Brighton Festival Fringe in May 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2007, the Brighton Beach Boys won both the Argus Angel Award and the Latest Festival Award during the Brighton Festival Fringe.[2] In 2011 they added the Beatles LP Abbey Road to their repertoire (May 27) and an original album Pop Dreams, with all songs written by singer Glen Richardson. Brown is a fan of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., playing saxophone on the "We Want Falmer" EP which was released by Brighton fans as Seagulls Ska in support of their wish for a ground at Falmer on the outskirts of the city.[3] The single reached no 17 in the official chart and number one in the indie chart. He is credited for playing saxophone on Monster Bobby's 2007 album Gaps, and is the voice on Midfield General's "Teddy Bear" off his 2008 album, General Disarray. Brown also occasionally plays saxophone in tribute band Absolute Bowie. Brown is a member of the Brighton & Hove Green Party, and helped to get Caroline Lucas elected in the Brighton Pavilion constituency as the UK's first Green M.P. in the May 2010 General Election.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | John | TV Movie |
| 1984 | The Hit | Second Man | |
| 1985 | Black Arrow | Yardley | TV Movie |
| 1985 to 1986 | The Bill | P.C. Muswell | TV |
| 1986 | London's Burning: The Movie | Second Policeman | TV Movie |
| 1987 | Withnail & I | Danny | |
| 1988 | Screenplay | Insp. Drury | TV |
| 1988 | Buster | Ronnie Biggs | |
| 1988 | Christabel | Lange | TV Movie |
| 1989 | Scandal | Paul Mann | |
| 1989 | Rules of Engagement | Mick Rendall | TV Mini-Series |
| 1989 | Diamond Skulls | Jack | |
| 1990 | Mistress of Suspense | TV | |
| 1991 | 4 Play | Archie Heckle | TV |
| 1991 | Impromtu | Eugène Delacroix | |
| 1991 | The Pope Must Die | Doctor | |
| 1992 | Van der Valk | Inspector Rep | TV |
| 1992 | Alien 3 | Francis Aaron ("85") | |
| 1992 | The Crying Game | Dave | |
| 1992 | Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Peter Mullin | TV |
| 1993 | Undercover Blues | Leamington | |
| 1993 | Between the Lines | D.A.C. John Convey | TV |
| 1993 | Wayne's World 2 | Del Preston | |
| 1994 | Don't Get Me Started | Larry Swift | |
| 1994 | Requiem Apache | Mick | TV Movie |
| 1995 | Devil's Advocate | Demagio | TV Movie |
| 1996 | A Touch of Frost | Captain Carlisle | TV |
| 1996 | Dalziel and Pascoe | Sam Connon | TV |
| 1996 | Karaoke | Peter Beasley | TV |
| 1996 | Cold Lazarus | Peter Beasley | TV |
| 1997 | The Place of the Dead | Sgt Bob Mann | TV Movie |
| 1997 | Ivanhoe | Prince John | TV Mini-Series |
| 1997 | Jonathan Creek | Roy Pilgrim | TV |
| 1997 | Amistad | Lieutenant Gedley | |
| 1998 | Up 'n' Under | Phil | |
| 1998 | A Respectable Trade | Dr. Hadley | TV Mini-Series |
| 1999 | Peak Practice | Stephen Westwood | TV |
| 1999 | The Last Train | Jonathan Geddes | TV |
| 1999 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | Ric Olié | |
| 1999 | Cleopatra | Guevarius | TV Mini-Series |
| 1999 | Extremely Dangerous | Joe Connor | TV |
| 2000 | Lexx | Duke | TV |
| 2000 | New Year's Day | Mr. Diamond | |
| 2000 | Lock, Stock... | Miami Vice | TV |
| 2001 | NCS: Manhunt | Ray du Barriatte | TV Movie |
| 2001 | The Grimleys | Frankie Fate | TV |
| 2001 | Waking the Dead | Mike Coleman | TV |
| 2001 | Last Run | Simon | |
| 2001 | Mean Machine | Burton | |
| 2002 | NCS Manhunt | Ray du Barriatte | TV |
| 2002 | A Tribute to the Likely Lads | Gary | TV Movie |
| 2002 | The Final Curtain | Timothy (Channel Controller) | |
| 2003 | The Agency | Andrei Kachan | TV |
| 2003 | I'll Be There | Digger | |
| 2004 | Exorcist: The Beginning | Sergeant Major | |
| 2004 | Lawless | Phil Howell | TV Movie |
| 2005 | Big Dippers | Dave | TV Movie |
| 2005 | Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist | Sergeant Major | |
| 2005 | Puritan | Mickey Conway | |
| 2005 | Stoned | Gysin | |
| 2005 | Nighty Night | Jacques | TV |
| 2005 | Spooks | Paul Seymour | TV |
| 2005 | Coronation Street | Barney | TV |
| 2006 | Cattle Drive | Truesdale | TV |
| 2006 | Modern Toss | TV | |
| 2007 | Cold Blood 2 | Bob Massum | TV Movie |
| 2007 | Flood | Mel's Dad | |
| 2007 | Life on Mars | Frank Morgan | TV |
| 2007 | Straightheads | Jamie | |
| 2007 | The Contractor | Jeremy Collins | Direct-to-Video Film |
| 2007 | Cape Wrath | Wintersgill | TV |
| 2007 | Nearly Famous | Dominic Soloman | TV |
| 2008 | Caught in the Act | Joep | |
| 2009 | The Boat That Rocked | DJ Bob | |
| 2010 | The Guards | Sutton | TV Movie |
| 2010 | Mission London | Detective Collway | |
| 2010 | The Kid | Gordon Peters | |
| 2010 | Sus | Karn | |
| 2010 | Huge | ||
| 2010 | Copelia | Hathaway | Short |
| 2010 | Him & Her | Nigel | TV |
| 2011 | The Trigger | Gamekeeper | Short |
| 2011 | Killing Bono | Leo | |
| 2011 | Dark Tide | Brady | Post-Production |
| 2012 | I, Anna | George Stone | Post-Production |
| 2012 | Tower Block | Filming |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Ralph Brown Biography (1957-)
- ^ The Argus: What's on: Brighton Festival and Festival Fringe: Argus Angel Awards
- ^ "Tom Hark (We Want Falmer) - The Story of a Hit!". Attilathestockbroker.com. http://www.attilathestockbroker.com/falmer.html. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
