Acting

John Brown

Born April 4, 1904 · Hull, Yorkshire, England, UK

Died May 16, 1957 · aged 53

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 r…

Known For

Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train · 1951

Strangers on a Train

MovieCrimeThriller

A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day the Earth Stood Still · 1951

The Day the Earth Stood Still

MovieScience FictionThriller

An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.

The Wild One

The Wild One · 1953

MovieDramaCrime

The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club ride into the small California town of Wrightsville, eager to raise hell. Brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler takes a liking to Kathie, the daughter of the local lawman, as another club rolls into town.

The Stranger

The Stranger · 1946

MovieThrillerCrime

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of a distinguished professor engaged to the Supreme Court Justice’s daughter.

The Bigamist

The Bigamist · 1953

MovieDramaRomance

San Francisco businessman Harry Graham and his wife and business partner, Eve, are in the process of adopting a child. When private investigator Mr. Jordan uncovers the fact that Graham has another wife, Phyllis, and a small child in Los Angeles, he confesses everything.

Robot Monster

Robot Monster · 1953

MovieScience FictionHorror

Ro-Man, an alien robot who greatly resembles a gorilla in a diving helmet, is sent to earth to destroy all human life. Ro-Man falls in love with one of the last six remaining humans, and struggles to understand how his programming can instruct him to kill her while his heart demands that he can't.

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen · 1952

Hans Christian Andersen

MovieFamilyComedy

A small-town shoemaker with a knack for spinning yarns, Hans encounters happiness and heartbreak on his road to becoming a full-fledged writer.

Crazylegs

Crazylegs · 1953

The story of the life and career of football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch (who plays himself).

Filmography

Sort

Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train · 1951

Strangers on a Train

MovieCrimeThriller

A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.

Prof. Collins

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day the Earth Stood Still · 1951

The Day the Earth Stood Still

MovieScience FictionThriller

An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.

George Barley

The Wild One

The Wild One · 1953

MovieDramaCrime

The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club ride into the small California town of Wrightsville, eager to raise hell. Brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler takes a liking to Kathie, the daughter of the local lawman, as another club rolls into town.

Bill Hannegan

The Stranger

The Stranger · 1946

MovieThrillerCrime

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of a distinguished professor engaged to the Supreme Court Justice’s daughter.

Passport Photographer (uncredited)

The Bigamist

The Bigamist · 1953

MovieDramaRomance

San Francisco businessman Harry Graham and his wife and business partner, Eve, are in the process of adopting a child. When private investigator Mr. Jordan uncovers the fact that Graham has another wife, Phyllis, and a small child in Los Angeles, he confesses everything.

Robot Monster

Robot Monster · 1953

MovieScience FictionHorror

Ro-Man, an alien robot who greatly resembles a gorilla in a diving helmet, is sent to earth to destroy all human life. Ro-Man falls in love with one of the last six remaining humans, and struggles to understand how his programming can instruct him to kill her while his heart demands that he can't.

Ro-Man / Great Guidance (voice)

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen · 1952

Hans Christian Andersen

MovieFamilyComedy

A small-town shoemaker with a knack for spinning yarns, Hans encounters happiness and heartbreak on his road to becoming a full-fledged writer.

Schoolmaster

Crazylegs

Crazylegs · 1953

The story of the life and career of football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch (who plays himself).

Keller

That's My Pup!

That's My Pup! · 1953

MovieAnimationComedy

Spike explains to his son the rules of being a dog: 1: be man's best friend (begging, lying at feet); 2: bury bones; 3: chase cats. Just then, Tom (and Jerry) run by, offering the perfect practice subject. Spike lectures Tom to be scared by the pup or else; Jerry overhears, and is soon doing his best dog impersonation, while Tom works on various strategies to neutralize Tyke

Spike (voice) (uncredited)

Jennifer

Jennifer · 1953

MovieThrillerMystery

A young woman is hired to take care of an eerie old mansion, where she finds herself entangled with an enigmatic murderer.

Service Station Attendant (uncredited)

A Peach of a Pair

A Peach of a Pair · 1934

A Peach of a Pair

Vaudeville performers Cook and Butler are mistaken for domestic servants; hilarity ensues.

John

The Horn Blows at Midnight

The Horn Blows at Midnight · 1945

The Horn Blows at Midnight

MovieComedyFantasy

A trumpet player in a radio orchestra falls asleep during a commercial and dreams he's Athanael, an angel deputized to blow the Last Trumpet at exactly midnight on Earth, thus marking the end of the world.

Lou the waiter (uncredited)

Symphony in Slang

Symphony in Slang · 1951

Symphony in Slang

MovieAnimationComedy

At the gates of Heaven, the admitting officials have a hard time understanding a newcomer's life story with all his contemporary slang.

The Hipster / Noah Webster (voice) (uncredited)

Dixieland Droopy

Dixieland Droopy · 1954

Dixieland Droopy

MovieAnimationComedy

John Pettibone (Droopy), a dog whose love of Dixieland music is not appreciated by those around him, has a lucky meeting with Pee-Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland band at the circus.

Narrator / Pee Wee Runt (voice) (uncredited)

The Life of Riley

The Life of Riley · 1949

The Life of Riley

Inspired by the popular '40s radio show of the same title, director Irving Brecher's 1949 comedy stars William Bendix as a hard-working husband-and-father with no shortage of family problems.

Digger O'Dell

Man Crazy

Man Crazy · 1953

Three women come to Hollywood to break into the movies.

Mr. Duncan

I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy · 1951

SeriesComedyFamily

Cuban Bandleader Ricky Ricardo would be happy if his wife Lucy would just be a housewife. Instead she tries constantly to perform at the Tropicana where he works, and make life comically frantic in the apartment building they share with landlords Fred and Ethel Mertz, who also happen to be their best friends.

Mr. Murdoch

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show · 1950

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades.

Harry Morton

The Life of Riley

The Life of Riley · 1949

The Life of Riley

Riley worked in an aircraft plant in California, but viewers usually saw him at home, cheerfully disrupting life with his malapropisms and ill timed intervention into minor problems. His stock answer to every turn of fate became a catch phrase: 'What a revoltin' development this is!"

Digger O'Dell

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars · 1951

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

SeriesDramaComedy

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.