Timothy Brown (actor)

Last updated

Timothy Brown
Born
Thomas Allen Brown

May 24, 1937
Richmond, Indiana, U.S.
DiedApril 4, 2020(2020-04-04) (aged 82)
Palm Springs, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesTimmy Brown
Occupation(s)Actor, singer, professional football player
Years activeSinger: 1962 – 2016
Actor: 1967 – 2000
Football career
No. 2, 22, 25
Position: Running back / Kick returner
Personal information
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:198 lb (90 kg)
Career information
High school: Morton Memorial (IN)
College: Ball State
NFL Draft: 1959  / Round: 27 / Pick: 313
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Rushing yards:3,862
Yards per carry:4.3
Rushing touchdowns:31
Receptions:235
Receiving yards:3,399
Receiving touchdowns:26
Return yards:5,420
Player stats at PFR

Thomas Allen Brown (May 24, 1937 – April 4, 2020), known also as Timothy Brown and Timmy Brown, was an American actor, singer, and professional football player. [2] [3] He played in the National Football League (NFL) as a running back and kick returner.

Contents

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, Indiana. Selected late in the 1959 NFL draft, as a pro – when he was known mainly as "Timmy" Brown – he played a single game with the Green Bay Packers, eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, [4] and one season with the Baltimore Colts, all 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. He led the league twice in all-purpose yards (doing so in 1962 and 1963 with 2,306 and 2,428 yards respectively). He also led the league in kick returns and return yards twice, doing so in 1961 and 1963. [7]

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, the 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. While it was reported that was due to the producers learning there were no African American surgeons serving in Korea during the Korean War (which in fact was not true), the producers said it was due to not feeling they could come up with meaningful stories involving that character when they were concentrating on writing stories about the characters Hawkeye and Trapper John. [8] 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 three 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. [9]

In 1962, Brown recorded with Imperial Records (Travis Music Co. & Rittenhouse Music, Inc.) "I Got Nothin' But Time" and "Silly Rumors". [10] [11] [12] The songs were written by N. Meade and V. McCoy and produced and arranged by Jerry Ragavoy. [13] [14]

In 1964, he headed a stage show at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When his part of the show came up, Brown backed by a nine piece orchestra started off with "What'd I Say. Other songs he performed were "Do You Want to Know a Secret", "This Land Is Your Land", and "I've Got a Secret". [15] He made a guest appearance on I've Got a Secret, [16] during which he sang a song of the same name.

1970s

In addition to appearing in the 1975 film Nashville, his vocals appeared on the soundtrack. [17] [18]

Brown made a brief appearance on a 1970 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show ("Keep Your Guard Up"), opposite guest star and previous MASH co-star John Schuck. Both played retired NFL players vying for a job as sportscaster.

Discography

Singles
TitleRelease infoYearNotes
"Gabba Gabba" / "I'm Gonna Prove Myself"Marashel M-10021962
"I Got Nothin' But Time" / "Silly Rumors" Imperial 58981962
"Do The Crossfire" / "Love, Love, Love" Mercury 721751963
"Runnin' Late" / "If I Loved You"Mercury 722261963
"I Got A Secret (Gonna Keep It To Myself)" / "Baby, It's Okay" Ember E-11061964 [19] [20]
Various artist compilation appearances
TitleRelease infoYearTrack(s)Notes
Nashville, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ABC Records ABCD-8931974"Bluebird" [21] [22] [23]
Classic Soul Vol. 2TOTO 21997"Silly Rumors" [24]
Drummin' Up A Storm The Imperial Records StoryOne Day Music DAY3CD0222013"Silly Rumors" [25] [26]
Philly Boys of the 60sThat Philly Sound 56382631192014"If I Loved You" [27] [28]
The Imperial Records Story 1962Real Gone Music RGMCD2102016"Silly Rumors" [29]

Film

TitleYearRoleNotes
MASH 1970Cpl. Judson
Sweet Sugar 1972Mojo
A Place Called Today 1972Steve Smith
Bonnie's Kids 1973Digger
Black Gunn 1972Larry
Girls Are for Loving1973Clay Bowers
Dynamite Brothers 1974Stud Brown
Nashville 1975Tommy Brown
Zebra Force 1976Lt. Johnson
Black Heat 1976Kicks
Gus 1976Calvin Barnes
Pacific Inferno1979Zoe
Porky 31983Assistant coach
Code Name Zebra1987Jim Bob Cougar
Midnight Ride 1990Jordan
Life of a Woman1993
Frequency 2000Roof Man Billy(final film role)

Later years

In later years, Brown worked as a correctional officer in Los Angeles. In the 2000s, he had retired and was residing in Palm Springs, California. [30] Brown died on April 4, 2020, of complications from dementia at the age of 82. [31] [32]

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References

  1. ↑ Fleischman, Bill (November 20, 1990). "Tim Brown Will Become Next Addition To Eagles Honor Roll". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Interstate General Media. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ Simonberg, Larry (July 6, 1973). "Tim, not Jim Brown now scoring on different kind of screen play". Gettysburg Times. Pennsylvania. Associated Press. p. 12.
  3. ↑ Bernstein, Ralph (August 25, 1966). "Tim Brown usually gets what he wants". Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. Associated Press. p. 34.
  4. ↑ "Tim Brown, Packer castoff, rated gold nugget by the Philly Eagles". Milwaukee Journal. December 9, 1961. p. 2, part 2.
  5. ↑ "Timmy Brown traded to Colts". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. United Press International. January 31, 1968. p. 59.
  6. ↑ "Timmy Brown wins his battle with Colts, both try win war". Washington Afro-American. August 20, 1968. p. 14.
  7. ↑ "NFL Records & Fact Book – Kickoff returns". National Football League . Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  8. ↑
    • Whitebols, James H. Watching M*A*S*H, Watching America: A Social History of the 1972–1983 Television Series, pg 17
  9. ↑ Billboard, July 4, 1964 Page 12, Talent, TIMMY BROWN, Football Star Pro Vocalist Brown Scores As Singer, Too – Gil Faggen
  10. ↑ Billboard, December 8, 1962 Page 30,* Reviews of New Singles
  11. ↑ 45cat Timmy Brown – Discography
  12. ↑ Discogs Timmy Brown, Timmy Brown Discography
  13. ↑ 45cat Record Details, Catalogue: 5898
  14. ↑ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series 4218 EU517980
  15. ↑ Billboard, July 4, 1964 Page 12, Talent, TIMMY BROWN, Football Star Pro Vocalist Brown Scores As Singer, Too – Gil Faggen
  16. ↑ Imdb I've Got a Secret (TV Series) Episode dated 26 October 1964 (1964)
  17. ↑ Critics at Large, Tuesday, December 24, 2013 An Ear to the Ground: The Criterion Collection Release of Robert Altman's Nashville
  18. ↑ Discogs Various – Nashville – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  19. ↑ 45cat Timmy Brown – Discography
  20. ↑ Discogs Timmy Brown, Timmy Brown Discography
  21. ↑ Discogs Various – Nashville – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  22. ↑ Robert Altman's Soundtracks: Film, Music, and Sound from M*A*S*H to A Prairie Home Companion, By Gayle Sherwood Magee CHAPTER, A New Hollywood Musical –
  23. ↑ The High Hat Nashville Sounds, Altman's masterwork, song-by-song, By Ethan Alter
  24. ↑ toto Records Category : Soul Compilations
  25. ↑ iTunes Drummin' up a Storm: The Imperial Records Story, Various Artsits
  26. ↑ Discogs Various – Drummin' Up A Storm (The Imperial Records Story)
  27. ↑ iTunes Philly Boys of the '60s, Various Artists
  28. ↑ All Music Various Artists, Philly Boys of the 60s
  29. ↑ Discogs Various – The Imperial Records Story 1962
  30. ↑ Game of My Life Philadelphia Eagles: Memorable Stories of Eagles Football, By Bob Gordon The Game of My Life, November 6, 1966
  31. ↑ Bowen, Les (April 7, 2020) "1960s Eagles great Timmy Brown dies at 82" The Philadelphia Inquirer
  32. ↑ Staff (April 7, 2020) "Former Philadelphia Eagles star running back, return specialist Timmy Brown dies at 82" USA Today
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