Roscoe Lee Browne facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roscoe Lee Browne
Browne in 1979
Born	(1922-05-02)May 2, 1922 Woodbury, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	April 11, 2007(2007-04-11) (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Lincoln University Middlebury College Columbia University University of Florence
Occupation	Actor, stage director
Years active	1956–2007

Roscoe Lee Browne (born May 2, 1922 – died April 11, 2007) was an American actor and director. He was known for his amazing voice and for choosing roles that were not typical for Black actors at the time.

He acted in many plays, including those at New York City's Shakespeare Festival Theater. He also appeared on TV shows like That Was the Week That Was and Soap, where he played Saunders. He also toured the U.S. performing poetry.

Roscoe Lee Browne won an Emmy Award in 1986 for his guest role on The Cosby Show. He was also nominated for a Tony Award in 1992 for his part in the play Two Trains Running. In 1995, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for his voice work as The Kingpin in the Spider-Man cartoon.

He was honored by being added to the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1977. After he passed away, he was also added to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2008.

Early Life and School

Roscoe Lee Browne was born in Woodbury, New Jersey. He was the fourth son of a minister named Sylvanus S. Browne. He finished high school in 1939.

He then went to Lincoln University, a college that was historically for Black students. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1946.

During World War II, Browne served in Italy with the United States Army. He even helped organize the army division's track and field team. After the war, he continued his studies at other colleges like Middlebury College and Columbia University. He was a good runner and won two national indoor championships.

Before becoming a full-time actor in 1956, he taught English and French at Lincoln University for a few years. He also worked selling wine.

Acting Career

Roscoe Lee Browne started his acting career in plays. He performed in Julius Caesar for New York City's first Shakespeare Festival Theater. His first movie role was in The Connection in 1961. He also played a camp cook in the Western movie The Cowboys (1972).

Browne was very popular for narrating and doing voice-over work. In 1977, he narrated The Story of Star Wars, which was a record album telling the story of the first Star Wars movie. He was also the narrator for the popular movie Babe (1995) and its sequel.

He made sure not to take roles that were unfair or stereotypical for Black actors. He also wanted to do more than just act. In 1966, he wrote and directed a play called A Hand Is On The Gate. Famous actors like Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones were in it. He believed he could make a bigger difference through art than through public protests.

Browne with Kate Rickman, Peter Bonerz, and Sally Smaller performing a reading of the Watergate tapes on KPFK radio in Los Angeles in 1974

His success in theater led him to TV. In 1964, he joined the cast of the TV show That Was the Week That Was. From the late 1960s, he was a frequent guest star on many TV shows. These included comedies and dramas like All in the Family, Good Times, Sanford and Son, and The Cosby Show. He was also a regular on Soap from 1979 to 1981, playing Saunders, the smart butler.

He and actor Anthony Zerbe traveled around the U.S. with their show Behind the Broken Words. It featured poetry readings, some written by Browne himself, along with comedy and drama.

Browne also found success in plays by August Wilson. People often described his voice as deep and smooth. He narrated a series of old slave stories in the HBO film Unchained Memories (2003).

Directing Work

Roscoe Lee Browne also directed plays. One of his notable directing works was An Evening of Negro Poetry and Folk Music in New York City in 1966. This play was later known as A Hand Is on the Gate.

His Birth Year

There are different records about Roscoe Lee Browne's birth year. Some records, like the Social Security Death Index, say he was born on May 2, 1922. However, other sources, including newspapers like The New York Times, say he was born on May 2, 1925.

In an interview, Browne himself said, "I was born, Camille, so they say, May 2, 1922, in Woodbury, New Jersey."

Death

Roscoe Lee Browne passed away on April 11, 2007, at the age of 84. He died from stomach cancer in Los Angeles. He never married and did not have any children.

Awards and Honors

Film Roles

Television Roles

Theatre Performances (Selected)

• The Taming of the Shrew, New York Shakespeare Festival, 1956
• Julius Caesar, New York Shakespeare Festival, 1956
• The Blacks: A Clown Show, St. Mark's Playhouse, 1961–62
• King Lear, New York Shakespeare Festival, 1962
• The Winter's Tale, New York Shakespeare Festival, 1963
• Benito Cereno, American Place Theatre, 1963
• Danton's Death, Lincoln Center, 1965
• The Dream on Monkey Mountain, Mark Taper Forum, 1970
• My One and Only, St. James Theatre, 1983–84
• Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Los Angeles Theatre Center, 1989
• Two Trains Running, Walter Kerr Theatre, 1992

Other Work

Recordings (Selected)

Radio Appearances

• The Endless Road, CBS Radio Workshop, 1956.
• Performed Shakespearean roles for CBC Radio.

Writings

• An Evening of Negro Poetry and Folk Music (readings), 1966 (later A Hand Is on the Gate)
• Behind the Broken Words (poetry reading), 1974

See also

In Spanish: Roscoe Lee Browne para niños