Peter Brown (actor)

Brown was born in New York City. His mother, Mina Reaume, was a stage and radio actress, playing the "Dragon Lady" on the Terry and the Pirates radio serial. He had an older brother, Phillip, and two younger half brothers, Paul and Michael. Peter took the name Brown from his stepfather, Albert Brown.

During his United States Army service in Alaska with the 2nd Infantry Division, Brown became involved in writing, directing and acting in plays to entertain the other troops. Upon his discharge, Brown studied Drama at the University of California, Los Angeles and soon was appearing in plays and on NBC Matinee Theatre.

He supported himself by working in a gasoline station on the Sunset Strip. One night a man paid for his purchase with a credit card reading "Jack L. Warner". Brown asked the customer whether he was one of the Warner Brothers, the man replied "I'm the last one left".[3] The next day Brown was offered a screen test at the studio.

As a contract player for Warner Brothers, Brown appeared in the films Red Nightmare and Darby's Rangers. Though his role in Onionhead was cut from the completed film, the producer Julius Schermer hired him for Deputy Johnny McKay in Lawman, an important part that lasted from 1958 to 1962. Brown was the last surviving member of the series. Brown also appeared in the 1962 film, Merrill's Marauders.

Brown appeared in dozens of other television shows and did several crossovers with other western series as Johnny McKay, including Maverick, in the 1961 episode "Hadley's Hunters," featuring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, along with a host of characters from other Warner Brothers. westerns, including Cheyenne (Clint Walker), Bronco (Ty Hardin), and Sugarfoot (Will Hutchins). In 1957 Brown appeared as Clay Conover in Cheyenne in the episode titled "Top Hand." In 1958 he appeared as Billy Younger in Cheyenne in the episode titled "Ghost of the Cimarron." In the Cheyenne episode "Renegades" (1958), Brown at twenty-two was cast as 17-year-old Jed Wayne, who enlists in the United States Army after his father is killed in an attack by Comanche renegades. Olive Sturgess played Kathy Donovan, who takes an interest in young Wayne and is the daughter of the fort commander, Colonel Ralph Donovan (Bartlett Robinson), who distrusts the Indians. The episode also focuses on the spirit and endurance of Wayne's mortally lame horse and the wisdom of the Comanche chief, Little Elk (Steve Darrell).

Brown twice guest-starred in another ABC/WB western, Colt .45, with Wayde Preston. He appeared as Dave with Andrew Duggan and Bob Steele, who were cast as Jim Rexford and Sergeant Granger respectively in "The Peacemaker" or "Judgment Day", the series premiere in 1957. Thereafter that same season, he was cast as Jimmy Benedict opposite Charles Bronson as the outlaw Danny Arnold in the episode "Young Gun". In the story line, Benedict, who wants to make a name for himself, challenges Arnold to a gunfight.[4]

After his contract with Warner Brothers lapsed, Brown made two films for Walt Disney Studios, including Summer Magic with Hayley Mills and Burl Ives. He appeared in other television series too, such as Redigo, starring Richard Egan as a New Mexico rancher. He contracted to Universal Pictures for the 1965 NBC western television series Laredo, set on the Mexican border in and about Laredo, Texas.

Brown appeared in the pilot for Police Woman, starring Angie Dickinson. Brown appeared in several exploitation films such as Foxy Brown, Chrome and Hot Leather, and Act of Vengeance.

Brown was married five times. His wives were:

• Diane Jergens, an actress; they wed on 6 August 1958 and divorced in June 1960.
• Sandy Edmundson, a fashion model; they wed on 26 May 1964 and divorced in March 1971.
• Liliane Alice Yvette Safargy, a fashion model; they wed on 14 November 1971 and divorced in September 1974.
• Mary Kathleen Gauba, a tennis player; they wed on 29 November 1986 and divorced in 1999.
• Kerstin Kern; they wed on 6 September 2008 and the marriage lasted until his death in 2016.

Brown had three children as follows:

• Matthew (born 1965) by his second wife Sandy Edmundson.
• Joshua (born 1977), by Amber Karlson, with whom Brown lived from 1974 until 1979.
• Christi (born 1961), by Merle Pertile.[5]

Brown's brother, Phil, worked as an NBC Television West Coast operations coordinator in Burbank, California.

Brown died on March 21, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona, from complications of Parkinson's disease, aged 80.[6]

• Brown, Peter; Stuart, Alexx (2014). The Fastest Gun in Hollywood: The Life Story of Peter Brown. Wild Horse Press. ASIN B00HRHANJ2.

• Peter Brown at IMDb
• Peter Brown at AllMovie
• Obituary - Hollywood Reporter