Philip Mortimer Brown (April 30, 1916 – February 9, 2006) was an American actor.

Early life

Brown was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

in 1916. He majored in dramatics at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where he was a member of the

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...

fraternity.

Career

Brown played some of his first roles on stage when he joined the Group Theatre in New York City. The Group Theatre eventually closed, and many of its members relocated to Hollywood, where Brown helped found the

Actors' Laboratory Theatre The Actors' Laboratory Theatre was a politically active theatre company and acting school founded in January 1941 by Roman Bohnen, Jules Dassin, Dick Flake, Lloyd Bridges, Danny Mann, Jeff Corey, Mary Virginia Farmer and J. Edward Bromberg. Duri ...

. He found his first cinema roles here, making his motion picture debut in

Mitchell Leisen James Mitchell Leisen (October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American director, art director, and costume designer. Film career He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments. He directed his fir ...

's 1941 war movie, ''

I Wanted Wings ''I Wanted Wings'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and based on a book by Lieutenant Beirne Lay Jr. The film stars Ray Milland and William Holden. The supporting cast includes Wayne Morris, Brian Donlevy, Constance Mo ...

''. In 1946, he played Ernest Hemingway's protagonist Nick Adams in Robert Siodmak's version of ''

The Killers The Killers are an American rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingd ...

'', alongside

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

and

Charles McGraw Charles McGraw (born Charles Crisp Butters; May 10, 1914 – July 29, 1980) was an American stage, film and television actor whose career spanned more than three decades. Early life McGraw was born to Beatrice (née Crisp) and Francis P. B ...

as the titular "killers". In 1948, he played Tom in

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

's ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic persona ...

'', at the Haymarket Theatre London, in a production directed by

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

. His association with the Lab came back to haunt him later in the decade, when its members fell under the scrutiny of the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

. Although he was not a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, Brown was

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

ed in 1952, and was eventually compelled to relocate with his family to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

between 1953 and 1993. Overseas he was able to resume acting on stage, TV and films; he also directed for the stage and TV. He was best known for his role as

Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The ...

's uncle,

Owen Lars This incomplete list of characters from the '' Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt D ...

, in ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' (1977). He returned to the United States in the 1990s and in later years made the rounds of autograph shows.

Death

Phil Brown died in his sleep of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on February 9, 2006 at the age of 89, two months shy of his 90th birthday.

Legacy

His wife Ginny survives him with their son; two grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Phil 1916 births 2006 deaths American expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom American expatriates in England American male film actors American male television actors Hollywood blacklist Male actors from Cambridge, Massachusetts Stanford University alumni Deaths from pneumonia in California 20th-century American male actors