Joseph Evans Brown (July 28, 1891 – July 6, 1973) was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous elastic-mouth smile.[1] He was one of the most popular American comedians in the 1930s and 1940s, with successful films like A Midsummer Night's Dream, Earthworm Tractors, and Alibi Ike. In his later career Brown starred in Some Like It Hot (1959), as Osgood Fielding III, in which he utters the famous punchline, "Well, nobody's perfect."

Contents

1 Early life 2 Film career 3 World War II - USO
USO tours 4 Postwar work 5 In popular culture 6 Later life and family 7 Death and legacy 8 Selected filmography 9 Television roles 10 Books published 11 References 12 External links

Early life[edit] Brown was born on July 28, 1891, in Holgate, Ohio, near Toledo, into a large family largely of Welsh descent. He spent most of his childhood in Toledo. In 1902, at the age of ten, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons, who toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville circuits. Later he became a professional baseball player. Despite his skill, he declined an opportunity to sign with the New York Yankees
New York Yankees to pursue his career as an entertainer. After three seasons he returned to the circus, then went into Vaudeville
Vaudeville and finally starred on Broadway. He gradually added comedy to his act, and transformed himself into a comedian. He moved to Broadway in the 1920s, first appearing in the musical comedy Jim Jam Jems. Film career[edit]

with June Travis
June Travis in Earthworm Tractors
Earthworm Tractors (1936)

In late 1928, Brown began making films, starting the next year with Warner Bros.. He quickly became a favorite with child audiences,[1] and shot to stardom after appearing in the first all-color all-talking musical comedy On with the Show (1929). He starred in a number of lavish Technicolor
Technicolor Warner Brothers
Warner Brothers musical comedies including: Sally (1929), Hold Everything (1930), Song of the West
Song of the West (1930), and Going Wild (1930). By 1931, Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown had become such a star that his name was billed above the title in the films in which he appeared. He appeared in Fireman, Save My Child (1932), a comedy in which he played a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, and in Elmer, the Great (1933) with Patricia Ellis
Patricia Ellis and Claire Dodd
Claire Dodd and Alibi Ike
Alibi Ike (1935) with Olivia de Havilland, in both of which he portrayed ballplayers with the Chicago Cubs. In 1933 he starred in Son of a Sailor with Jean Muir and Thelma Todd. In 1934, Brown starred in A Very Honorable Guy
A Very Honorable Guy with Alice White
Alice White and Robert Barrat, in The Circus
Circus Clown again with Patricia Ellis
Patricia Ellis and with Dorothy Burgess, and with Maxine Doyle in Six-Day Bike Rider. Brown was one of the few vaudeville comedians to appear in a Shakespeare
Shakespeare film; he played Francis Flute
Francis Flute in the Max Reinhardt/William Dieterle film version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) and was highly praised for his performance.[1] He starred in Polo Joe (1936) with Carol Hughes and Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, and in Sons o' Guns. In 1933 and 1936, he became one of the top ten earners in films. He was sufficiently well known internationally by this point to be depicted in comic strips in the British comic Film Fun for twenty years from 1933. He left Warner Brothers
Warner Brothers to work for producer David L. Loew, starring in When's Your Birthday?
When's Your Birthday? (1937). In 1938, he starred in The Gladiator, a loose film adaptation of Philip Gordon Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator that influenced the creation of Superman.[2] He gradually switched to making "B" pictures. World War II - USO
USO tours[edit]

Brown and Irving Leroy Ress
Irving Leroy Ress (right) c. 1950

In 1939, Brown testified before the House Immigration Committee in support of a bill that would allow 20,000 German Jewish refugee children into the US. He later adopted two refugee children.[3] During WWII, he spent a great deal of time entertaining troops, spending many nights working and meeting servicemen at the Hollywood Canteen.[1] He wrote of his experiences entertaining the troops in his book Your Kids and Mine. Joe E. Brown's other two sons were in the military service. In 1942 Brown's son, Captain Don E. Brown, was killed when his A-20 Havoc crashed near Palm Springs, California.[4] At 50, Brown himself was too old to enlist, but he traveled thousands of miles at his own expense to entertain American troops. He was the first to do so, traveling to both the Caribbean and Alaska before Bob Hope
Bob Hope had, and before the USO was organized. "While big USO
USO names like Bob Hope
Bob Hope did not visit the Leyte, Philippine area my father was in (housing was not good), Leyte received any number of entertainers during the war. Dad said the entertainers were all just a bunch of nice people. One group in particular was the top actors from a very popular and large musical of the times. Dad and a few of his buddies would walk back to the tents that housed the USO performers and would visit with them. Mostly, the USO
USO performers were curious about the events on the islands and how the men were handling things. One performer, a "wonderful comedian" named Joe E. Brown, would commandeer a military vehicle and be driven around the island. The entertainer would stop military pedestrians, "ream" them for some inconsequential matter, start laughing, then invite them into the cab so they could be driven to their destinations. Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown was greatly appreciated." (Memories of Capt. Donald Courtright, told to his daughter Mary in 2011.)[citation needed] On his return to the States, he brought sacks of letters, making sure they were delivered by the Post Office Department. He gave shows in all weather conditions, many in hospitals, sometimes doing his entire show for a single dying soldier. He would sign autographs for everyone. Brown was one of only two civilians to be awarded the Bronze Star in WWII. Postwar work[edit] His concern for the troops continued into the Korean War, as evidenced by a newsreel featuring his appeal for blood donations to aid the US and UN troops there that was featured in the season 4 episode of M*A*S*H titled "Deluge".[5] In 1948, he was awarded a Special
Special Tony Award
Tony Award for his work in the touring company of Harvey.[1][6] He had a cameo appearance in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), as the Fort Kearney
Fort Kearney stationmaster talking to Fogg (David Niven) and his entourage in a small town in Nebraska. In the similarly epic film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), he cameoed as a union official giving a speech at a construction site in the climactic scene. On television, he was the mystery guest on What's My Line?
What's My Line? during the January 11, 1953, episode. His best known postwar role was that of aging millionaire Osgood Fielding III in Billy Wilder's 1959 comedy, Some Like It Hot. Fielding falls for Daphne (Jerry), played by Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon in drag; at the end of the film, Lemmon takes off his wig and reveals to Brown that he is a man, to which Brown responds; "well, nobody's perfect", one of the most celebrated punchlines in film history. Another of his notable postwar roles was that of "Cap'n Andy Hawkes" in MGM's 1951 remake of Show Boat, a role that he reprised onstage in the 1961 New York City Center
New York City Center revival of the musical and on tour. The musical film version included such prominent costars as Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson. Brown performed several dance routines in the film, and famed choreographer Gower Champion
Gower Champion appeared along with first wife Marge. Brown's final film appearance was in The Comedy of Terrors (1964). Weeks earlier, he had appeared as Diamond "Dimey" Vine in an episode of Jack Palance's ABC circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth.

Brown with Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton in the "Journey to Ninevah" episode of Route 66 from 1962.

Brown was a sports enthusiast, both in film and personally. Some of his best films were the "baseball trilogy" which consisted of Fireman, Save My Child (1932), Elmer the Great (1933) and Alibi Ike
Alibi Ike (1935). He was also a television and radio broadcaster for the New York Yankees in 1953. His son, Joe L. Brown, inherited an interest in baseball, becoming the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates for more than twenty years. Brown also spent Ty Cobb's last days with him before he died, discussing his life. Brown's sports enthusiasm also led to him becoming the first president of PONY Baseball and Softball
PONY Baseball and Softball (at the time named Pony League) when the organization was incorporated in 1953. He continued in the post until late 1964, when he retired. Later he traveled additional thousands of miles telling the story of PONY League, hoping to interest adults in organizing baseball programs for young people. He was also a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing, a regular at Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack and the races at Santa Anita. In popular culture[edit] He was caricatured in the Disney
Disney cartoons Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933), Mother Goose Goes Hollywood
Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), and The Autograph Hound (1939); all of them contain a scene in which he is seen laughing so loud that his mouth opens extremely wide. According to the official autobiography Daws Butler: Characters Actor, Daws Butler
Daws Butler used Joe E. Brown as inspiration for the voices of two Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters: Lippy the Lion
Lippy the Lion (1962) and Peter Potamus (1963–1966).[7] Later life and family[edit] Brown married Kathryn Francis McGraw in 1915. The marriage would last until his death in 1973. The couple had four children: two sons, Don Evan Brown (December 25, 1916 – October 8, 1942; Captain in the United States Army Air Force, who was killed in the crash of an A-20B Havoc bomber while serving as a ferry pilot)[8] and Joe LeRoy "Joe L." Brown (September 1, 1918 – August 15, 2010), and two daughters, Mary Katherine Ann (b. 1930) and Kathryn Francis (b. 1934). Both daughters were adopted as infants. Joe L. Brown
Joe L. Brown shared his father's love of baseball, serving as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1976, and briefly in 1985, also building the 1960 and 1971 World Series
World Series champions. Brown's '71 Pirates featured baseball's first all-black starting nine. Death and legacy[edit]

Lobby card for Son of a Sailor (1933)

Brown began having heart problems in 1968, after suffering a severe heart attack, and underwent cardiac surgery. He died from arteriosclerosis on July 6, 1973,[9][10] at his home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, three weeks before his 82nd birthday.[1] He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. For his contributions to the film industry, Brown was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 with a motion pictures star located at 1680 Vine Street.[11] In 1961, Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University renamed the theatre in which Brown appeared in Harvey in the 1950s as the " Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown Theatre". It was closed in 2011.[12] Holgate, Ohio
Holgate, Ohio has a street named after Brown. Toledo, Ohio, has a city park named the " Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown Park" at 150 W Oakland St. Rose Naftalin's popular 1975 cookbook includes a cookie named the "Joe E. Brown".[13][14] Brown was a frequent customer of Naftalin's Toledo restaurant. Flatrock Brewing Company in Napoleon, Ohio
Napoleon, Ohio offers several brown ales such as Joe E. Coffee And Vanilla Bean Brown Ale, Joe E. Brown Hazelnut, Chocolate Peanut Butter Joe E. Brown, Joe E Brown Chocolate Pumpkin, and Joe E. (Brown Ale). Selected filmography[edit]

Crooks Can't Win (1928) as Jimmy Wells Hit of the Show (1928) as Twisty The Circus
Circus Kid (1928) as King Kruger Take Me Home (1928) as Bunny Molly and Me (1929) as Jim Wilson My Lady's Past (1929) as Sam Young On with the Show! (1929) as Joe Beaton Painted Faces (1929) as Hermann / Beppo Sally (1930) as Grand Duke Connie Song of the West
Song of the West (1930) as Hasty Hold Everything (1930) as Gink Schiner Top Speed (1930) as Elmer Peters Maybe It's Love
Maybe It's Love (1930) as Yates The Lottery Bride
The Lottery Bride (1930) as Hoke Going Wild
Going Wild (1930) as Rollo Smith Sit Tight
Sit Tight (1931) as Jojo Broadminded (1931) as Ossie Simpson Local Boy Makes Good
Local Boy Makes Good (1931) as John Augustus Miller Fireman, Save My Child (1932) as Joe Grant The Tenderfoot (1932) as Calvin Jones You Said a Mouthful
You Said a Mouthful (1932) as Joe Holt Elmer, the Great
Elmer, the Great (1933) as Elmer Son of a Sailor (1933) as 'Handsome' Callahan A Very Honorable Guy
A Very Honorable Guy (1934) as 'Feet' Samuels The Circus
Circus Clown (1934) as Happy Howard 6 Day Bike Rider
6 Day Bike Rider (1934) as Wilfred Simpson Alibi Ike
Alibi Ike (1935) as Frank X. Farrell Bright Lights (1935) as Joe Wilson A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) as Flute - the Bellows-Mender Sons o' Guns
Sons o' Guns (1936) as Jimmy Canfield Earthworm Tractors
Earthworm Tractors (1936) as Alexander Botts Polo Joe (1936) as Joe Bolton When's Your Birthday?
When's Your Birthday? (1937) as Dustin Willoughby Riding On Air (1937) as Elmer Lane Fit for a King
Fit for a King (1937) as Virgil Ambrose Jeremiah Christopher 'Scoop' Jones Wide Open Faces (1938) as Wilbur Meeks The Gladiator (1938) as Hugo Kipp Flirting with Fate (1938) as Dan Dixon $1000 a Touchdown (1939) as Marlowe Mansfield Booth Beware Spooks! (1939) as Roy L. Gifford So You Won't Talk
Talk (1940) as Whiskers / 'Brute' Hanson Shut My Big Mouth (1942) as Wellington Holmes Joan of Ozark (1942) as Cliff Little Daring Young Man (1942) as Jonathan Peckinpaw / Grandma Peckinpaw Chatterbox (1943) as Rex Vane Casanova in Burlesque
Casanova in Burlesque (1944) as Joseph M. Kelly Jr. Pin Up Girl
Pin Up Girl (1944) as Eddie Hall Hollywood Canteen
Hollywood Canteen (1944) as Joe E. Brown The Tender Years
The Tender Years (1948) as Rev. Will Norris Show Boat
Show Boat (1951) as Cap'n Andy Hawks Around the World in 80 Days (1956) as the Fort Kearney
Fort Kearney stationmaster Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot (1959) as Osgood Fielding III It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) as the union official giving a speech at a construction site The Comedy of Terrors
The Comedy of Terrors (1964) as Cemetery Keeper

Television roles[edit]

Schlitz Playhouse, episode "Meet Mr. Justice" (1955) The Christophers, episodes "Washington as a Young Man" (1955) and "Basis of Law and Order (1964) (final television appearance) The People's Choice in "Sox and the Proxy Marriage", with Jackie Cooper (1956) as Charles Hollister General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater in "The Golden Key" (1956) as Earl Hall General Electric Summer Originals in "The Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown Show" (1956) as Joe Brown The Ann Sothern Show
The Ann Sothern Show in "Olive's Dream Man" (1960) as Mitchell Carson Route 66 in "Journey to Nineveh" (1962) as Sam Butler

Books published[edit]

Your Kids and Mine (1944) Laughter is a Wonderful Thing (1956)

References[edit]

^ a b c d e f "Joe E. Brown, Comedian Of Movies and Stage, Dies". New York Times. July 7, 1973. Retrieved August 21, 2007. Joe E. Brown, the beloved elastic-mouth comedian, died at his home here today. He was 81 years old. Mr. Brown was incapacitated by a stroke several years ago, and he had also suffered from severe arthritis.  ^ Jones, Gerard. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. New York: Basic Books, 2004 (ISBN 0465036562), p.80. Also see Moskowitz, Sam Explorers of the Infinite: Shapers of Science Fiction, Cleveland, Ohio: The World Publishing Co., 1963 (ISBN 0-88355-130-6), pp.278–295 ^ The Holocaust Chronicle. Publications International Ltd., 2000 (ISBN 0-7853-2963-3), p.162 ^ "Capt. Don Brown, Actor's Son, Dies In Bomber Crash". Chicago Tribune. October 9, 1942. Retrieved April 17, 2008.  ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638293/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast ^ "1948 Tony Award
Tony Award Winners (BroadwayWorld.com)". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved April 11, 2015.  ^ Daws Butler, Characters Actor: Ben Ohmart, Joe Bevilacqua: 9781593930158: Amazon.com: Books. amazon.com. ASIN 1593930151. CS1 maint: ASIN uses ISBN (link) ^ Associated Press, "Flying Son Of Film Star Crash Victim", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Friday 9 October 1942, Volume 49, page 1. ^ California
California Deaths, 1940–1997 Joe E. Brown ^ The Grave of Joe E. Brown, separate monument and family monument pictured together, separate monument up close, family monument up close (Find a Grave) ^ " Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame - Joe E. Brown". walkoffame.com. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved December 28, 2017.  ^ Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown Theatre closes after 50 years of entertainment (December 14, 2011). BGNews.com. Retrieved July 16, 2015. ^ Naftalin, Rose (1975). Grandma Rose's Book of Sinfully Delicious Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Cheese Cakes, Cake Rolls & Pastries. New York: Random House, Inc. p. 102. ISBN 0-394-49492-X.  ^ Powell, Mary Alice (July 8, 1981). "Grandma Rose Just as Sweet as Ever". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. p. 17. 

External links[edit]

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Joe E. Brown Visits DePauw University; February 17, 1948

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WorldCat Identities VIAF: 17486263 LCCN: n85005571 ISNI: 0000 0001 1281 6611 GND: 133298965 BNF: cb14671245z (data) SN