Reno Browne was the stage name of Josephine Ruth Clarke (April 20, 1921 – May 15, 1991), an American

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

and

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

during the late 1940s and into the 1950s, with most of her films being in 1949. She was sometimes billed as Reno Blair.

Early life

She was born in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, to wealthy parents. Her father was a successful attorney. Browne graduated from a Dominican convent in San Rafael in 1941.

Career

Browne became a licensed

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. She was proficient at riding horses. After taking

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

lessons, she embarked on a film career, signing a contract with

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

. She starred with

Whip Wilson Whip Wilson (born Roland Charles Meyers, June 16, 1911 – October 22, 1964) was an American cowboy film actor, film star of the late 1940s and into the 1950s, known for his roles in B movies (Hollywood Golden Age)#Cowboys and dogs, B-westerns. ...

in the 1949 western ''

Haunted Trails ''Haunted Trails'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Adele Buffington. The film stars Whip Wilson, Andy Clyde, Reno Browne, Dennis Moore, I. Stanford Jolley and William Ruhl. The film was released on ...

'', and that same year started a thirteen-episode

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

show, '' Reno Rides Again''. Also in 1949, she starred in ''

West of El Dorado ''West of El Dorado'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by Ray Taylor and written by Adele Buffington. The film stars Johnny Mack Brown, Max Terhune, Reno Browne, Teddy Infuhr, Milburn Morante and Terry Frost. The film was released on ...

'' with

Max Terhune Max Terhune (February 12, 1891 – June 5, 1973) was an American film actor born in Franklin, Indiana. He appeared in nearly 70 films, mostly B-westerns, between 1936 and 1956. Among these, Terhune starred in ''The Three Mesquiteers'' and ' ...

and

Johnny Mack Brown John Brown (September 1, 1904 – November 14, 1974) was an American college football player and film actor billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career. He acted and starred mainly in Western (genre), Western films. Early lif ...

. In total, she starred in fourteen westerns of the period, at times with

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

and

Jimmy Wakely Jimmy Wakely (February 16, 1914 – September 23, 1982) was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies ...

. She and

Dale Evans Dale Evans Rogers (born Frances Octavia Smith; October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers. Early life Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on ...

were the only westerns actresses to have their own

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s based on their character. Browne had four issues published in 1950 by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. In 1950, Bill Haley and His Saddlemen recorded a single, "My Palomino and I"/"My Sweet Little Girl from Nevada", for

Cowboy Records Cowboy Records was a record label in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Buddy DeSylva and Johnny Mercer in 1942. It was later owned by Jimmy DeKnight and Jack Howard. Artists who recorded for the label included Bill Haley, who made his ...

(CR 1701). It was released as by "Reno Browne and Her Buckaroos", even though Browne had no connection with the recording (though her photo did appear on the sheet music for the latter song). Also in 1951, she was crowne
Clovis Rodeo
Queen in Clovis, California.''102nd Clovis Rodeo Official Souvenir Program'', p. 12

Personal life

For a period, she was married to western actor

Lash LaRue Alfred "Lash" LaRue (June 15, 1917 – May 21, 1996) was a popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Early life and education Born Alfred LaRue in Gretna, Louisiana in 1917, he was reared in various towns th ...

. She retired to Reno, and during the 1980s she attended several western film festivals.

Death

Browne was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, and died in Physicians' Hospital for Extended Care in Reno on May 15, 1991.

Selected filmography

* '' The Law Comes to Gunsight'' (1947) * ''

Raiders of the South ''Raiders of the South'' is a 1947 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Johnny Mack Brown, Evelyn Brent, Raymond Hatton, Reno Browne, Marshall Reed and John Hamilton. The film was r ...

'' (1947) * ''

Frontier Agent ''Frontier Agent'' is a 1948 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, Reno Browne, Kenneth MacDonald, Dennis Moore and Riley Hill. The film was relea ...

'' (1948) * '' Across the Rio Grande'' (1949) * ''

'' (1949) * ''

Shadows of the West ''Shadows of the West'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by Ray Taylor and written by Adele Buffington. The film stars Whip Wilson, Andy Clyde, Riley Hill, Reno Browne, Bill Kennedy and Pierce Lyden. The film was released on January ...

'' (1949) * ''

Range Land ''Range Land'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Adele Buffington. The film stars Whip Wilson, Andy Clyde, Reno Browne, Leonard Penn, Reed Howes and Kenne Duncan. The film was released on December 24, 194 ...

'' (1949) * '' Red Rock Outlaw'' (1949) * ''

Gunslingers Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...

'' (1950)

References

External links

* *
Reno Browne/Blair
at b-westerns.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Ren Actresses from Reno, Nevada Actresses from Nevada American film actresses 1921 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American actresses