Joe E. Brown

Joe E. Brown
from the trailer for the film Bright Lights (1935).
Born	Joseph Evans Brown
Years active	1928–1964
Spouse	Kathryn Francis McGraw (1915-1973) (his death) 4 children

Joseph Evans Brown (July 28, 1892 – July 6, 1973) In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Astons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville circuits. He left the Astons team after surviving the San Francisco earthquake & fire. Later he became a professional baseball player. After three seasons he returned to the circus, then went into Vaudeville and finally starred on Broadway. He gradually added more humor to his repertoire, becoming famous as a comedian. His first notable appearance in the 1920s was in the Broadway musical comedy Jim Jam Jems.

Biography

In late 1928, Brown began making films, and the next year for Warner Bros.. He quickly shot to stardom after appearing in the first all-color all-talking musical comedy On with the Show (1929). He starred in a number of lavish Technicolor Warner Brothers musical comedies including: Sally (1929), Hold Everything (1930), and Song of the West (1930). By 1931, Joe E. Brown had become such a star that his name began to appear alone above the title of the movies in which he appeared.

He followed Fireman, Save My Child (1932), a comedy in which he played a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, with Elmer, the Great (1933) with Patricia Ellis and Claire Dodd, and Alibi Ike (1935) with Olivia de Havilland, in both of which he portrayed ballplayers with the Chicago Cubs.

In 1933 he starred in Son of a Sailor with Jean Muir and Thelma Todd. In 1934, Brown starred in A Very Honorable Guy with Alice White and Robert Barrat, and in The Circus Clown again with Patricia Ellis and with Dorothy Burgess. 1936 saw Polo Joe with Carol Hughes and Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, and Sons O' Guns. In 1934 he stars with Maxine Doyle in the movie Six-Day Bike Rider.

In 1933 and 1936, he managed to become one of the top ten earners in films. In 1937, he left Warner Brothers to work for David Loew. In 1938, he starred in The Gladiator, a loose film-adaptation of Philip Gordon Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator, which influenced the creation of Superman.. Also see . He gradually switched to making "B" pictures.

In 1939, Brown testified before the House Immigration Committee in support of a bill that would allow 20,000 German Jewish refugee children into the United States, and he later adopted two refugee children. In 1941 Brown's son, Captain Don E. Brown, was killed when his military plane crashed near Palm Springs, California. During World War II, he spent a great deal of time entertaining troops, spending many nights meeting personally with servicemen at the famous Hollywood Canteen. He wrote of his experiences entertaining the troops in his book Your Kids and Mine

Joe E Brown appeared in comic strips in the British comic Film Fun for twenty years, starting from 1933.

He was the Mystery Guest on What's My Line? during the January 11, 1953 episode. During the episode, it was mentioned that he spent a lot of time overseas in Europe entertaining the troops.

In 1948, he was awarded a Special Tony Award for his work in the touring company of Harvey.

He had a cameo appearance in Around the World in 80 Days, as a stationmaster talking to Fogg (David Niven) and his entourage in a small town in Nebraska. In a similarly epic film in 1963, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, he cameoed as a union official giving a speech at a construction site in the climactic scene.

His best known postwar role was in Some Like It Hot (1959) comedy directed by Billy Wilder in which he played the aging millionaire, Osgood Fielding III. The character of Fielding falls for Daphne (Jerry), played by Jack Lemmon in drag, and gets to say one of the most famous punchlines in film history. Another of his notable postwar roles was that of "Cap'n Andy Hawkes" in MGM's 1951 remake of Show Boat, a role that he reprised onstage in the 1961 New York City Center revival of the musical, and on tour. The musical film version included such promiment costars as Ava Gardner, Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson. Brown performed several dance routines in the film, and famed choreographer Gower Champion appeared along with first wife Marge. Brown is also one of the few vaudeville comedians to appear in a Shakespeare film; he played Francis Flute in Max Reinhardt's film version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935, and contrary to what might be expected, was highly praised for his performance.

Brown was a sports enthusiast, both in film and personally. Some of his best films were the "baseball trilogy" which consisted of Fireman Save My Child (1932), Elmer the Great (1933) and Alibi Ike (1935). He was also a television and radio broadcaster for the New York Yankees in 1953. His son, Joe L. Brown, inherited an interest in baseball, becoming the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates for more than twenty years. Brown also spent Ty Cobb's last days with him before he died, discussing his life.

Brown's sports enthusiasm also led to him becoming the first president of PONY Baseball and Softball (at the time named Pony League) when the organization was incorporated in 1953. He continued in the post until late 1964 when he retired. Later traveled additional thousands of miles telling the story of PONY League hoping to interest adults in organizing baseball programs for young people. He was also a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing, a regular at Del Mar Racetrack and the races at Santa Anita.

World War II

Joe E. Brown's own two sons were in the military service. He was too old to enlist. Likable and gregarious, Brown traveled many thousands of miles at his own expense to entertain the American troops in far sections of the globe during World War II. He would bring mail sacks of letters back to the United States, making sure they were delivered by the Post Office Department more quickly, to parents of servicemen. He gave shows in all weather conditions, many in hospitals, even doing his entire show many times for a dying soldier. He would sign autographs for everyone. One of only 2 civilians to be awarded the Bronze Star in World War II.

He was caricatured in the Disney cartoons Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933), Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), and The Autograph Hound (1939). All of them contain a scene in which he is seen laughing so loud that his mouth opens extremely wide.

He was impersonated by Daws Butler for the title character of the Peter Potamus cartoon.

He had four children: two sons, Don Evan (b. December 25, 1916 - d. October 8, 1942) and Joe LeRoy (b. September 1, 1918 - d. August 16, 2010), and two daughters, Mary Katherine Ann (b. 1930) and Kathryn Francis (b. 1934). Both daughters were adopted from the cradle.

His final film appearance was in The Comedy of Terrors (1964). Weeks earlier he had appeared with Joan Blondell and Buster Keaton in an episode of Jack Palance's ABC circus drama, The Greatest Show on Earth.

Bowling Green State University dedicated one of its three theaters to him (the one in which he appeared in "Harvey" in the 1950s) as The Joe E. Brown Theatre.

Joe E. Brown has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1680 Vine Street.

Works

• Your Kids and Mine (1944) ASIN B0000D5IWZ
• Laughter is a Wonderful Thing (1956) ASIN B002P5COJS

Death

Brown died of a stroke in 1973 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. The comedian was three weeks shy of his 81st birthday.

External links

• Joe E. Brown at IMDb
• Joe E. Brown at AllMovie
• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Joe E. Brown at Find a Grave