| Georgia Brown | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lillian Claire Laizer Getel Klot 21 October 1933 East End, London, England, UK |
| Died | 5 July 1992 (aged 58) London, England, UK |
| Occupation | Singer, actress |
| Years active | 1956–1992 |
Georgia Brown (21 October 1933 – 5 July 1992) was a British singer and actress.
Born Lillian Claire Laizer Getel Klot in the East End of London to Mark and Annie Kirschenbaum Klot, Jewish immigrants to the United Kingdom, she was dispatched to Wales during the Blitz to escape the bombings in London. A lover of jazz, she selected her professional name from the 1925 tune "Sweet Georgia Brown" by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard and Kenneth Casey. She also had a brother called Henry Kent (changed his surname).
Brown starred alongside Pamela Green in Bernard Delfont's Follies Bergere at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, but she first came to prominence as Lucy in the 1956 London revival of The Threepenny Opera at London's Royal Court Theatre, a role she repeated the following year when she joined the cast of the highly successful off-Broadway production. Three years later she received critical and public acclaim for her portrayal of Nancy in Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! in the West End. She reprised the role in the 1963 Broadway production, earning a Tony Award nomination for her performance. The role of Nancy was originally written with Lionel Bart's friend Alma Cogan in mind, but Cogan was unable to commit to the role, although she did record a studio cast album of Oliver!, which was released before the musical opened on Broadway, but years after it had opened in London. Brown lost out in the film version to friend Shani Wallis.
After a stint in Bart's Maggie May in 1965, Brown concentrated on screen work in mostly forgettable films, with the exception of The Raging Moon (for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award) and The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, for more than a decade.
Brown returned to Broadway to join the cast of the long-running revue Side By Side By Sondheim in 1977. Two years later, she created the title role in Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane's flop musical Carmelina. She toured Britain in Georgia Brown and Friends, then brought the revue to New York City for a limited run in 1982. Five years later, the Gilbert Becaud musical Roza, under the direction of Hal Prince, closed after only twelve performances, but her performance of Mrs. Peachum in the 1989 revival of The Threepenny Opera earned her another Tony nomination.
On 9 February 1964, she appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show with 16-year old Davy Jones (pre-Monkees) recreating two scenes from the Broadway show Oliver!.[1] It was the same night as The Beatles made their premiere appearance in America on the same show.[2]
In the 1980s, Brown took the lead role of Dorothy Brock in Gower Champion's musical 42nd Street at Drury Lane, London and Shani Wallis took over the role.
In her later years, Brown limited herself to concerts, cabaret appearances, and guest spots on such television series as Great Performances, Murder, She Wrote, Cheers, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination and two appearances in Star Trek: The Next Generation in which she played Helena Rozhenko, Worf's adoptive mother.
In addition to a number of original cast albums, Brown recorded several solo albums, including Georgia Brown Sings Kurt Weill and Georgia Brown Sings Gershwin.
A permanent resident of the United States, Brown died at age 58 during a visit to London from complications during emergency surgery to remove an intestinal obstruction.