Phil Brown was born on April 1, 1916 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.
His father was a doctor and his work took him and his family all around the United States.
Brown attended Stanford University where he majored in
dramatics (he was president of the Ram's Head Theatrical Society), he graduated
in 1937.
Shortly thereafter he found himself in New York taking part in some of his earliest stage work,
having been accepted at New York's Group Theater.
When the Group Theater went under Brown and some of his fellow actors moved to Hollywood where Brown and those fellow actors helped found the Actors' Laboratory.
Unfortunately Brown's association with the Actors' Laboratory caused unwanted trouble.
The House of Un-American Activities honed in on the group, blacklisting the actor in 1952 (a dark time in American history).
Brown felt it necessary to re-locate to London* with his family where he ably
continued working on stage, TV and film as both an actor and as a director and
in this time he and his wife owned two very nice houseboats on the Thames.
* Brown had moved to London to star in a production of The
Glass Menagerie with actress Helen Hayes in 1948. In 1949 he returned to
the US to direct films and work with The Group Theater and Actors' Laboratory.
Brown returned to the US in 1992 and still continued to work
as an actor. After having a heart-attack and a stroke, he retired from
acting but was still making convention appearances. Due to health issues
Mr. Brown no longer makes appearances, he does though continue to sign
autographs and is working on his memoirs.
Brown lived in Hollywood with his wife, Ginny (1941 - 2006), until his death
on February 9, 2006 of pneumonia. They have
two sons, Jed and Kevin.
Film
Battlestar Galactica - The Second Coming~1999 - council Elder
Chaplin~1992 - Projectionist
Superman~1978 - State Senator (see
Actor Connections - Film)
