Roscoe Lee Browne (May 2, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his many guest appearances on TV series from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as movies like The Cowboys (1972) with John Wayne, and The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) with John Amos and Jan-Michael Vincent, but his biggest roles were as narrator in Babe and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties, which grossed $400 million combined.
He resisted playing stereotypically black roles, instead performing in several productions with New York City's Shakespeare Festival Theater, Leland Hayward's satirical NBC series That Was the Week That Was, and a poetry performance tour of the United States in addition to his work in television and film. He was the recipient of a Primetime Emmy and a NAACP Image Award, and was nominated for a Tony Award.
Early life and education
Born in Woodbury, New Jersey, Browne was the fourth son of Baptist minister Sylvanus S. Browne and his wife, Lovie Lee (Usher). He graduated from Woodbury Junior-Senior High School in 1939. Browne attended historically black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he was an All-American for the Lincoln Lions track and field team. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1946, his college career being interrupted by his wartime service. After the war, he undertook postgraduate work under the GI Bill at Middlebury College, Columbia University, and the University of Florence. A middle-distance runner, he won two Amateur Athletic Union 1,000-yard national indoor championships.
He occasionally returned to Lincoln University between 1946–52 to teach English, French, and comparative literature. Upon leaving academia, he earned a living for several years selling wine for Schenley Import Corporation. In 1956, he left his job with Schenley to become a full-time professional actor.
In 1950 and 1951 he toured Europe (as a half-miler) with a USA Track and Field team.
Career
Acting
Browne was determined not to accept the stereotypical roles routinely offered to African-American actors. He also wanted to do more than act and narrate. Despite the apprehensions of his friends, in the summer of 1956, Browne managed to land the roles of The Soothsayer and Pindarus in Julius Caesar, and one of Petruchio's servants in The Taming of the Shrew directed by Stuart Vaughan and produced by Joseph Papp for New York City's first Shakespeare in the Park. More work with the NY Shakespeare Festival Theater followed.
left|thumb|Browne with Kate Rickman, [[Peter Bonerz, and Sally Smaller performing a reading of the Watergate tapes on KPFK radio in Los Angeles in 1974]]
Starting in the late 1960s, Browne was a frequent guest star on TV in both comedy and dramatic shows such as Mannix, All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, Sanford and Son, A Different World and dozens of others.
In The Cowboys (1972), in a role as a camp cook, he led a group of young cowhands avenging the death of John Wayne's character in the movie.
Browne was much in demand for narration and voice-over parts in film and on commercial sound recordings. In 1977, Browne narrated a record album, The Story of Star Wars, which presented an abridged version of the events depicted in the first released film using the dialogue and sound effects. The recording was produced by George Lucas and Alan Livingston.
In 1980, he guest-starred in an episode of Benson with Robert Guillaume. Later that year, he joined the regular cast of Bensons parent show Soap
Browne found additional success performing in the plays of August Wilson, both on Broadway and at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. He was described as having "a baritone voice like a sable coat", speaking with a strong mid-Atlantic accent. To someone who once said he sounded "too white", Browne replied, "I'm sorry, I once had a white maid." Four years before his death, Browne narrated a series of WPA slave narratives in the HBO film, Unchained Memories (2003).
Directing
Browne's directorial credits include a piece called An Evening of Negro Poetry and Folk Music at the Delacorte Theatre and the Public Theatre in New York City in 1966. It was also produced as A Hand Is on the Gate at the Longacre Theatre in New York City in 1966. The production was revived at the Afro-American Studio in New York City, running from 1976 to 1977.
Birth year
thumb|Browne in 1999
Some year-of-birth records, including the Social Security Death Index, Los Angeles Times, Variety, the Associated Press and several others, including a Congressional Resolution.
In an interview with Camille Cosby for the National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP), Browne confirmed that he was born in 1922.
Death
Browne died of stomach cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on the morning of April 11, 2007, aged 84. He never married and had no children.
Awards and recognition
- Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award – Best Actor Award, for his performance as "Makak" in Derek Walcott's The Dream on Monkey Mountain, 1970
- Bronze Wrangler, the Western Heritage Award – a shared award with the production, for Theatrical Motion Picture, for "The Cowboys," a Warner Brothers film, 1972
- Primetime Emmy Award nomination – Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series, for ABC's Barney Miller: The Escape Artist, 1976
- Inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, 1977
- Primetime Emmy Award – Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series, for The Cosby Show: The Card Game, 1986
- Soap Opera Digest Award nomination – Outstanding Villain: Prime Time, for Falcon Crest, 1989
- Tony Award nomination – Best Featured Actor in a Play, for his performance as "Holloway" in August Wilson's Two Trains Running, directed by Lloyd Richards, 1992
- Helen Hayes Award – Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production, for Two Trains Running, 1992
- Daytime Emmy Award nomination – Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, for his performance as "The Kingpin" in Spider-Man, 1995
- Inducted posthumously into the American Theater Hall of Fame, 2008
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1961
|The Connection
|J.J. Burden
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1964
|Pie in the Sky
|Preacher
|
|-
|Black Like Me
|Christopher
|
|-
|1967
|The Comedians
|Petit Pierre
|
|-
|1968
|Uptight
|Clarence
|
|-
|1969
|Topaz
|Philippe Dubois
|
|-
|1970
|The Liberation of L.B. Jones
|L.B. Jones
|
|-
|1971
|The Cowboys
|Jebediah Nightlinger
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1972
|Cisco Pike
|Music Store Owner
|
|-
|Ra
|Narrator (voice)
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1973
|The World's Greatest Athlete
|Gazenga
|
|-
|Super Fly T.N.T.
|Lamine Sonko
|
|-
|1974
|Uptown Saturday Night
|Congressman Lincoln
|
|-
|1976
|Logan's Run
|Box (voice)
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1977
|Twilight's Last Gleaming
|James Forrest
|
|-
|The Story of Star Wars
|Narrator (voice)
|
|-
|1980
|Nothing Personal
|Paxton
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1986
|Legal Eagles
|Judge Dawkins
|
|-
|Jumpin' Jack Flash
|Archer Lincoln
|
|-
|1988
|Oliver & Company
|Francis (voice)
|
|-
|1990
|Moon 44
|Chairman Hall
|Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="3" |1992
|Noel
|Brutus (voice)
|
|-
|The Mambo Kings
|Fernando Perez
|
|-
|Eddie Presley
|Doc
|
|-
|1993
|Naked in New York
|Mr. Ried
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1995
|Last Summer in the Hamptons
|Freddy
|
|-
|The Pompatus of Love
|Leonard Folder
|
|-
|Babe
|Narrator (voice)
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1996
|Dear God
|Idris Abraham
|
|-
|Forest Warrior
|Clovis Madison
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1998
|Babe: Pig in the City
|Narrator (voice)
|
|-
|Judas Kiss
|Chief Bleeker
|
|-
|2001
|Morgan's Ferry
|Peabo
|
|-
|2002
|Treasure Planet
|Mr. Arrow (voice)
|