Leslie Calvin "Les" Brown (born February 17, 1945) is an American politician and motivational speaker. He was a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...

from 1977 to 1981.

Early life

Brown was born with his twin brother, Wesley, in Liberty City, a low-income section of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida. He was adopted by Mamie Brown, a 38-year-old single woman who worked as a cafeteria attendant and domestic assistant. Brown claims that he was declared "educable

mentally retarded Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...

" in grade school, which damaged his self-esteem and confidence.

Professional life

According to many of Brown's speeches, when he first decided to get into public radio he was repeatedly unsuccessful. It was only after the on-air failures of the previous afternoon DJ that he was hired full-time. Upon his termination from the radio station, he ran for election in the

and won. After leaving the

Ohio State Legislature The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. ...

, he shifted his career to television and became a host on PBS. From September to November 1993, he hosted a talk show, ''

The Les Brown Show Leslie Calvin "Les" Brown (born February 17, 1945) is an American politician and motivational speaker. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981. Early life Brown was born with his twin brother, Wesley, in Liberty ...

.'' Brown was on

KFWB KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios i ...

in California for a daily syndicated radio program from 2011 to 2012.

Personal life

Brown married

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

in 1995. They divorced in 1997.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Les 1945 births Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives American motivational speakers Living people People associated with direct selling American self-help writers American twins African-American state legislators in Ohio 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people