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John Brown

Apr 04, 1904 - May 16, 1957 (53 years old) in 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.

Known For

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The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Harry Morton
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I Love Lucy
Mr. Murdoch
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Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
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The Stranger
Passport Photographer (uncredited)
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The Bigamist
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Strangers on a Train
Prof. Collins
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The Day the Earth Stood Still
George Barley, boarder
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The Wild One
Bill Hannegan
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Hans Christian Andersen
Schoolmaster
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The Horn Blows at Midnight
Lou the waiter (uncredited)

Credits

Images

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