Timothy Brown (actor)

Thomas Allen Brown (born May 24, 1937), known also as Timothy Brown and Timmy Brown, is an American singer, former professional American football player, and actor.^[2][3]

Early life

Born in Richmond, Indiana, Brown was raised in Knightstown, east of Indianapolis. Brown is a 1955 graduate of Morton Memorial High School at the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home.

Football career

Brown played college football in state at Ball State College in Muncie. Selected late in the 1959 NFL draft, as a pro (when he was known mainly as "Timmy" Brown), he played only a single game with the Green Bay Packers, eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles,^[4] and one season with the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League (NFL).^[5][6] He scored the last touchdown in the 1968 NFL Championship Game and his final game was two weeks later in Super Bowl III with the Colts.

Brown went to the Pro Bowl in 1962, 1963, and 1965. He is the only player in Philadelphia history to return a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown, and the only Eagle (and the first of nine NFL players ever) to return two kickoffs, 90- and 93-yarders, for touchdowns in the same game.^[7]

The Professional Football Researchers Association named Brown to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2008 ^[8]

Brown also served as a color analyst for CBS NFL telecasts in 1973.

Acting career

Brown used the name "Timothy Brown" as an actor, to make it easier to distinguish him from Jim Brown, Cleveland Browns running back who also became an actor.

Brown's acting career began while he was still an active player, with a guest appearance on the Season 3 premiere of The Wild Wild West as Clint Cartwheel in the episode titled "The Night of the Bubbling Death", which originally aired on September 8, 1967.

Following his retirement from the NFL, he became a full-time actor, appearing in such films as MASH (1970), Sweet Sugar (1972), Black Gunn (1972), Bonnie's Kids (1973), Girls Are for Loving (1973), Dynamite Brothers (1974), Nashville (1975), Zebra Force (1976), Black Heat (1976), Gus (1976) and Midnight Ride (1990). He also appeared in a half-dozen episodes of the first season of the M*A*S*H television series as Dr. Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones, but was dropped from the show reportedly because the producers learned there were no African American surgeons serving in Korea during the Korean War.^[9] Along with Gary Burghoff, G. Wood, and Corey Fischer, he is one of only four actors who appeared in both the original MASH movie and the spin-off television series.

He made two guest appearances in the 1960s-1970s TV show Adam-12 and appeared in a Season 1 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Music

1960s

Brown began singing when he was attending Ball State College. He also took up tap dancing.^[10]

In 1962, Brown recorded with Imperial Records (Travis Music Co. & Rittenhouse Music, Inc.) "I Got Nothin' But Time" and "Silly Rumors".^[11][12][13] The songs were written by N. Meade and V. McCoy and produced and arranged by Jerry Ragavoy.^[14][15]

In 1964, he headed a stage show at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. When his part of the show came up, Brown backed by a nine piece orchestra he started off with "What'd I Say. Other songs he performed to an appreciative audience were "Do You Know A Secret", "This Land Is Your Land", and "I've Got A Secret".^[16] He made a guest appearance on I've Got A Secret,^[17] during which he sang a song of the same name.

1970s

In addition to appearing in the 1975 film Nashville, his vocal appeared on the soundtrack.^[18][19]

Discography

Later years

In later years, he worked as a correctional officer in Los Angeles. In the 2000s, he had retired and was residing in Palm Springs.^[31]

References

External links

• Timothy Brown on IMDb
• Timothy Brown at AllMovie
• Career statistics and player information from NFL.com • Pro-Football-Reference • Databasefootball.com