Neville Brand

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Neville Brand

in D.O.A. (1950)
Born August 13, 1920(1920-08-13)
Griswold, Iowa, United States
Died April 16, 1992 (aged 71)
Sacramento, California, United States
Spouse(s) Jean Brand

Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992), was an American television and movie actor.

Gravel-voiced Neville Brand was born in Griswold, Iowa. He started his big screen career in D.O.A. (1950) as a henchman named Chester. He became well known as a villain when he killed the character played by Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender. He played the villain in so many movies, his self-image became affected, culminating in a television interview on Entertainment Tonight with the actor moving about in agitation repeating, "I'm a loser. I'm a loser."

However, he played a very romantic lead in the movie Return From the Sea with Jan Sterling and a heartwarming character who was brain damaged and misunderstood in an episode of the TV show Daniel Boone. He played Hoss Cartwright's (Dan Blocker) Swedish uncle "Gunnar Borgstrom" on Bonanza in the episode "The Last Viking".

Of the hundreds of roles he has played, he is probably most well known as Al Capone in the TV show The Untouchables. The characterization caused an outcry from the Italian American community over stereotypes.

Many will remember him as Bull Ransom, the prison guard of Birdman of Alcatraz, and as the antagonistic and untrusting, yet dedicated POW, "Duke", in Stalag 17.

Known also for his cowboy roles, he starred in his own TV series, Laredo, with William Smith, Peter Brown, and Philip Carey.

One of the most heart-rending scenes on TV showed Brand's character, Reese Bennet, waiting in torment when he realizes he has been stood up by the love of his life.

In one episode, the gruff and dusty Reese has an immaculate and proper lookalike that confounds the other Texas Rangers.

Brand was a real life hero. He served in the US Army during World War II. It should be pointed out that, according to the IMDb, the claim that he was the fourth most decorated soldier (Actor Audie Murphy being the first) is often repeated but is incorrect, though that same article does list a lot of decorations that he did receive.

In a November 1979 interview with author William R. Horner for his book "Bad at the Bijou", Brand related that he was a highly decorated soldier in World War II , winning a Silver Star, but that he wasn't the fourth most decorated. He attributed it to someone in Hollywood, and said that when he would deny it people thought he was just being modest. Brand was also an insatiable reader, who amassed a collection of 30,000 books over the years, many of which were destroyed in a 1978 fire at his Malibu home.

Brand co-starred with George Takei in "The Encounter", an episode of the original Twilight Zone series. Ironically, Brand (a genuine war hero in real life) portrays a phony war hero: a coward whose prize trophy (a Japanese soldier's sword) was obtained through theft. After its initial airing, "Encounter" triggered complaints from Japanese-Americans due to the backstory of the character played by Takei: he portrays a Nisei (the U.S.-born son of Japanese immigrants) whose father spied for the Japanese navy during the Pearl Harbor attack. There is no evidence of any Japanese-American disloyalty to the U.S.A. during that war. Although "Encounter" is a taut drama with excellent performances by Brand and Takei, this historical inaccuracy (and the complaints it engendered) has caused this episode to be omitted from syndicated broadcasts of The Twilight Zone.

Neville Brand died from emphysema in 1992.

[edit] Partial Movie/TV List

[edit] External links

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