Harry Clinton Browne (August 18, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

player and actor. He appeared on stage and in

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s and recorded for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in the 1910s and 1920s.

Biography

Browne was born in 1878 in

North Adams, Massachusetts North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the ...

. Before his acting career, he served in the Second Massachusetts U.S. Volunteers during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

and had a brief career campaigning for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

, then the Secretary of State, offered Browne a diplomatic position in February 1914 but the latter declined. Browne later worked for a stock company as an actor, casting him in plays such as ''

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

'' and ''

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's joy ...

'' in the early 1900s. A skilled banjo player, Browne performed in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

for seven years before recording a series of songs for Columbia Records, starting in 1916. His first record, perhaps his most well-known, is a re-interpretation of the American

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

song "

Turkey in the Straw "Turkey in the Straw" is an American folk song that first gained popularity in the 19th century. Early versions of the song were titled "Zip Coon", which were first published around 1834 and performed in minstrel shows, with different people c ...

". Released in March 1916, Browne appropriated the standard as a

coon song Coon songs were a genre of music that presented a stereotype of black people. They were popular in the United States and Australia from around 1880 to 1920, though the earliest such songs date from minstrel shows as far back as 1848, when they w ...

re-titled "

Nigger Love a Watermelon, Ha! Ha! Ha! "Turkey in the Straw" is an American folk song that first gained popularity in the 19th century. Early versions of the song were titled "Zip Coon", which were first published around 1834 and performed in minstrel shows, with different people c ...

". It is commonly referred to as one of the most

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

songs in American music. The song relied heavily on the

watermelon stereotype The watermelon stereotype is a stereotype that African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Afric ...

, a belief popularized in the 19th century that African-Americans had an unusual appetite for watermelons. For the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, Browne chose to record the

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

favorite "

Old Dan Tucker "Old Dan Tucker," also known as "Ole Dan Tucker," "Dan Tucker," and other variants, is an American popular song. Its origins remain obscure; the tune may have come from oral tradition, and the words may have been written by songwriter and perfor ...

", marking the tune's first commercial appearance on a major label. Between 1906 and 1925, Browne appeared in at least 14 Broadway shows, including ''

Oh, Lady! Lady!! ''Oh, Lady! Lady!!'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern, a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse and lyrics by Wodehouse. It was written for the Princess Theatre on Broadway, where it played in 1918 and ran for 219 performances. The story ...

'' His

feature length A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

film debut is believed to have been in August 1914 with the release of ''

The Eagle's Mate ''The Eagle's Mate'' is a 1914 American silent drama film produced by the Famous Players film company and released through Paramount Pictures. The film starred Mary Pickford and was her first film working with the actor/director James Kirkwood. Th ...

'', although he appeared in a number of shorter films before that. During his acting career, Browne had roles in notable films such as ''

The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch ''The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch'' is a 1914 American drama film directed by Allan Dwan, written by Allan Dwan and Mrs. Burton Harrison, and starring Henrietta Crosman, Walter Craven, Lorraine Huling, Minna Gale and Harold Lockwood. It was released ...

'', ''

The Heart of Jennifer ''The Heart of Jennifer'' is a 1915 American silent film, silent drama film directed by James Kirkwood, Sr. and written by Edith Barnard Delano. The film stars Hazel Dawn, James Kirkwood, Sr., Irene Howley, Russell Bassett, and Harry C. Browne. T ...

'', and '' Closed Doors''. Afterwards, he worked as an announcer and production director for

CBS radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

, a position he resigned from in 1931. Browne died in 1954, aged 76.

Selected filmography

:''Source
IMDb
' * ''

'' (1914) as Fisher Morne * ''

'' (1915) as Stephen Weldon * ''

The Flower of No Man's Land ''The Flower of No Man's Land'' is a lost 1916 silent film drama directed by John H. Collins and starring Viola Dana. It was distributed by Metro Pictures. Cast *Viola Dana Viola Dana (born Virginia Flugrath; June 26, 1897 – July 3, 198 ...

'' (1916) as Big Bill * '' The Big Sister'' (1916) as Rodney Channing * ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

'' (1917) as Pelham Franklin * '' The Inn of the Blue Moon'' (1918) as Warde MacMahon * ''

The Battler "The Battler" is a short story written by Ernest Hemingway, published in the 1925 New York edition of ''In Our Time'', by Boni & Liveright.Oliver (1999), 21 The story is the fifth in the collection to feature Nick Adams, Hemingway's autobiogra ...

'' (1919) as Duncan Hart * '' Know Your Men'' (1921) as John Barrett * '' Closed Doors'' (1921) as Jim Ranson * ''

Moral Fibre ''Moral Fibre'' is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by Webster Campbell and starring Corinne Griffith, Catherine Calvert and Harry C. Browne.Munden p.524 Cast * Corinne Griffith as Marion Wolcott * Catherine Calvert as Grace Elmor ...

'' (1921) as George Elmore

References

External links

* *
Harry C. Browne Draft Card
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Harry 1878 births 1954 deaths American banjoists 20th-century American male actors American male stage actors American male silent film actors Musicians from Massachusetts Male actors from Massachusetts People from North Adams, Massachusetts American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Military personnel from Massachusetts