Joe E. Brown (comedian)
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Joseph Evans Brown (July 28, 1892 – July 6, 1973) was an actor and comedian from Holgate, Ohio. In 1902 at the age of 10, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvellous Astons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville circuits. He gradually added comedy into his act and transformed himself into comedian. He moved to Broadway in the 1920s first appearing in the musical comedy "Jim Jam Jems".
In late 1928, he began making films. In 1929, he started making films for Warner Brothers. Joe E Brown quickly shot to stardom after appearing in the first all-color all-talking musical comedy On with the Show (1929). Warner Brothers quickly starred him in a number of lavish Technicolor musical comedies including: Sally (1929), Hold Everything (1930) and Song of the West (1930). By 1931, Joe E. Brown had become such a star that his name began to appear alone above the title of the movies in which he appeared. In 1933 and 1936, he managed to become one of the top ten earners in films. In 1937, he left Warner Brothers to work for David Loew. He gradually switched to making "B" pictures. During World War II, he spent a great deal of time entertaining troops, spending many nights meeting personally with servicemen at the famous USO Hollywood Canteen.
His most well known postwar role was in Some Like It Hot, a 1959 comedy directed by Billy Wilder in which he played the aging millionaire, Osgood Fielding III. The character of Fielding falls for Daphne (Jerry), played by Jack Lemmon in drag, and gets to say one of the most famous, and funniest, punchlines in film history. Another of his notable postwar roles was that of Cap'n Andy in MGM's 1951 remake of Show Boat. Brown is also one of the few vaudeville comedians to appear in a Shakespeare film; he played Francis Flute in Max Reinhardt's film version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935 film), and contrary to what might be expected, was highly praised for his performance.
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 (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 for more than twenty years.
Brown died of a stroke in 1973 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. The comedian was three weeks shy of his 81st birthday.
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