Joe E. Brown(1891-1973)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Joe E. Brown happily claimed that he was the only youngster in show
business who ran away from home to join the circus with the blessings of
his parents. In 1902, the ten-year-old Brown joined a circus tumbling
act called the Five Marvellous Ashtons that toured various circuses
and vaudeville theaters. Joe later began adding comedy bits into his
vaudeville act and added more as it became popular. In 1920 he debuted
on Broadway in an all-star review called "Jim Jam Jems". As he
developed skits and comedy routines throughout the 1920s, he built up
his confidence and his popularity soared. The same could not be said
for his debut in movies. Hired for a non-comedy role in
The Circus Kid (1928),he played a
lion tamer whose fate is death. He didn't register with the public
until he signed with Warner Brothers in 1929 to do comedy roles in the
film adaptations of Broadway shows such as
Sally (1929)and
Top Speed (1930).Joe would be well
known for his loud yell, his infectious grin and his cavernous mouth.
Since many of his films revolved around sports, his natural athletic
ability, combined with the physical comedy, made them hits. In
Local Boy Makes Good (1931),
Joe played a botanist who becomes a track star. As he had briefly
played semi-pro baseball, he was a natural for films like
Fireman, Save My Child! (1932),
in which he played a pitcher who was also a fireman. Two of his biggest
hits also involved the game of baseball,
Elmer, the Great (1933)and
Alibi Ike (1935).In his contract with
Warners, he had it written that he would have his own baseball team at
the studio to play when he was able. Joe was one of the top ten
moneymaking stars for 1933 and 1936. In 1937, he left Warners to make
films forDavid L. Loew,and it was a
disaster. Most of the films were cheaply made with poor production
values, and only a few were successful. Two of the better ones were
Riding on Air (1937)and
The Gladiator (1938).Brown always
called signing with Loew his biggest professional mistake, and with Loew
his popularity fell. By the end of the 1930s he was working in "B"
material, which would have been unimaginable less than five years
earlier. With the advent of World War II, Joe worked tirelessly to
entertain the troops while his film career floundered. Their
enthusiastic response enabled Joe to overcome the death of his son,
Captain Donald Brown, on a training flight. In 1947 Joe was back in the
biz and back on stage in a road company tour of the comedy "Harvey".
His first movie role in three years was as a small-town minister in the
dramaThe Tender Years (1948).
Even though he gave a good performance, it would be another three years
before he was again on the big screen, in the big-budget 1951 remake of
Show Boat (1951),in which he played
Cap'n Andy Hawks. When his film career became almost nonexistent, Joe
worked on radio and in television. He starred as the clown in the drama
The Buick Circus Hour (1952)
from 1952 to 1953 and made guest appearances on a number of other shows
in the 1950s and early 1960s. His peers regarded him as one of the few
truly nice people in Hollywood. After a few small movie roles in
the 1950s, he was discovered by a new generation as the millionaire
Osgood Fielding III inBilly Wilder's
classicSome Like It Hot (1959),
uttering the immortal last line of the film, "Well, nobody's perfect."
