About Me
Ironically, often compared to his idols Montgomery Clift and James Dean, Barry Brown (April 19, 1951 – June 25, 1978), also known as Donald Barry Brown, was an American actor, and brother of the late actress Marilyn Brown and the writer James Brown.Born in San Jose, California, Brown began his acting career as a child of five and took part in many television and live performances. He was a gifted young man born with a genius I.Q. and exerted himself in the manner of a child prodigy, early on appearing with Van Johnson in a stage production of "The Music Man" at the age of ten. He was 18 when he made his first major screen debut in "Halls Of Anger" (1969). Brown's breakthrough role was as the American Civil War draft dodger Drew Dixon in the 1972 critically acclaimed sleeper Bad Company, in which he co-starred with Jeff Bridges. The 70's rock would take their name and pen their hit single "Bad Company", directly from this film.Barry's superb portrayl of Frederick Winterbourne in Peter Bogdanovich's 1974 film "Daisy Miller",should have made him a superstar,but the film was released at the wrong time(20 years later,similiar films came into vogue), and many shunned the usage of Bogdonavich's girlfriend, Cybill Shepherd in the title role. At the time, a critical and boxoffice failure, the film has since been recognized by the New York Times as one of the greatest films of all time. Personal demons and the failure of this ambitious film made have led to a standstill in Barry's career. His followup film, "The Ultimate Thrill" was a B thriller, far below his talents. At least, he and costar Britt Ekland made a gorgeous couple.In 1976, Barry did an unforgettable,Monty Clift type of turn(only 10 minutes) in the TV movie, Disappearance of Aimee, that even overshadowed his superb costars,Faye Dunaway and Bette Davis. His last performance was a cameo in the cult film, Piranha , released in 1978. He kept up his correspondence and his unanimously recognized expertise on film history throughout his life and was a leading authority on acting and its players. Fortune took an ever decreasing turn for the very sensitive young man, and in June of 1978, Brown committed suicide, by means of a gun, in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California.Barry Brown was also the author of a critical, unpublished book called "Unsung Heroes of the Horrors" - a compendious work dedicated to memorializing the lives of certain well-known (although not famous) B-movie actors and actresses. This multitalented young man also penned several plays.Barry's brother, James Brown is also a brillant writer. He has written several novels,amongst them Final Performance, which is based on Barry's life, and the autobiographical Los Angeles Diaries, detailing the tragic lives of the two and sister,Marilyn...
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