Clarence Brown

Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director.[1]

For other people named Clarence Brown, see Clarence Brown (disambiguation).

Clarence Brown
Brown in 1921
Born
Clarence Leon Brown

(1890-05-10)May 10, 1890
Clinton, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedAugust 17, 1987(1987-08-17) (aged 97)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Years active1915–1953
Spouse(s)
Paul Herndon Pratt
​
(
m. 1913; div. 1920)

Ona Wilson
​
(
m. 1922; div. 1927)

​
(
m. 1933; div. 1945)

Marian Spies
​
(
m. 1946)
Children1

Early life

Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when he was 11 years old. He attended Knoxville High School[2] and the University of Tennessee, both in Knoxville, Tennessee, graduating from the university at the age of 19 with two degrees in engineering.[3] An early fascination in automobiles led Brown to a job with the Stevens-Duryea Company, then to his own Brown Motor Car Company in Alabama.[4] He later abandoned the car dealership after developing an interest in motion pictures around 1913. He was hired by the Peerless Studio at Fort Lee, New Jersey, and became an assistant to the French-born director Maurice Tourneur.[5]

Career

After serving in World War I, Brown was given his first co-directing credit (with Tourneur) for The Great Redeemer (1920). Later that year, he directed a major portion of The Last of the Mohicans after Tourneur was injured in a fall.

Brown moved to Universal in 1924, and then to MGM, where he stayed until the mid-1950s. At MGM he was one of the main directors of their female stars; he directed Joan Crawford six times and Greta Garbo seven.

He was nominated five times (see below) for the Academy Award as a director and once as a producer, but he never received an Oscar. However, he won Best Foreign Film for Anna Karenina, starring Garbo at the 1935 Venice International Film Festival.[6]

Brown's films gained a total of 38 Academy Award nominations and earned nine Oscars. Brown himself received six Academy Award nominations and in 1949, he won the British Academy Award for the film version of William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust.

In 1957, Brown was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.[7] Brown retired a wealthy man due to his real estate investments, but refused to watch new movies, as he feared they might cause him to restart his career.

The Clarence Brown Theater, on the campus of the University of Tennessee, is named in his honor.[8] He holds the record for most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director without a win, with six.[9]

Personal life

Clarence Brown was married four times. His first marriage was to Paul Herndon Pratt in 1913, which lasted until their divorce in 1920.[10] The couple produced a daughter, Adrienne Brown, in 1917.[11]

His second marriage was to Ona Wilson, which lasted from 1922 until their divorce in 1927.[12]

He was engaged to Dorothy Sebastian[13] and Mona Maris, although he did not marry either of them, with Maris later saying she ended their relationship because she had her "own ideas of marriage then."[14]

He married his third wife, Alice Joyce, in 1933 and they divorced in 1945.[15][16]

His last marriage was to Marian Spies in 1946, which lasted until his death in 1987.[17]

Death

Brown died at the Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California from kidney failure on August 17, 1987, at the age of 97.[18] He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[19]

On February 8, 1960, Brown received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1752 Vine Street, for his contributions to the motion pictures industry[20][21]

Selected filmography
Journalist Dorothy Thompson is entertained on the set of The Rains Came (1939) by director Clarence Brown (left) and Louis Bromfield, author of the novel on which the film was based.

Director

Actor
  • The Signal Tower (1924) – Switch Man
  • Ben-Hur (1925) – Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
  • Navy Blues (1929) – Roller Coaster Rider (uncredited)
  • Possessed (1931) – Man on Merry-Go-Round (uncredited) (final film role)

Notes
  1. In 1929/1930, Brown received one Academy Award nomination for two films. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "As allowed by the award rules for this year, a single nomination could honor work in one or more films."
  2. In 1929/1930, Brown received one Academy Award nomination for two films. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "As allowed by the award rules for this year, a single nomination could honor work in one or more films."
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References
  1. Little, Lexie (July 10, 2019). "A Roustabout Career: The Forgotten Celebrity of Clarence Brown". Torchbearer. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  2. John Shearer, Famous alumni from Knoxville High School, Knoxville News Sentinel, May 28, 2010
  3. "Clarence Brown Collection – Special Collections – Libraries – The University of Tennessee, Knoxville". lib.utk.edu. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  4. "Clarence Brown Collection – Special Collections – Libraries – The University of Tennessee, Knoxville". lib.utk.edu. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  5. "Clarence Brown - About This Person - Movies & TV". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  6. "Clarence Brown". IMDb. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  7. Tarbell, Molly. "George Eastman Award". George Eastman Museum. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  8. "History | Clarence Brown Theatre". clarencebrowntheatre.com. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  9. "Clarence Brown". IMDb. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  10. Young, Gwenda (September 13, 2018). Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. ISBN 9780813175966.
  11. Young, Gwenda (September 13, 2018). Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. ISBN 9780813175966.
  12. Young, Gwenda (September 13, 2018). Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. ISBN 9780813175966.
  13. Young, Gwenda (September 13, 2018). Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. ISBN 9780813175966.
  14. Young, Gwenda (September 13, 2018). Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. ISBN 9780813175966.
  15. Young, Gwenda (September 13, 2018). Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. ISBN 9780813175966.
  16. Young, Gwenda (September 13, 2018). Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. ISBN 9780813175966.
  17. Young, Gwenda (September 13, 2018). Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. ISBN 9780813175966.
  18. JR, TED THACKREY (August 19, 1987). "Clarence Brown, Director of Garbo, Gable, Dies at 97". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  19. Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2. McFarland & Company (2016) ISBN 0786479922
  20. "Clarence Brown | Hollywood Walk of Fame". www.walkoffame.com. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  21. "Clarence Brown". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 16, 2016.

Sources
  • Brownlow, Kevin. "Clarence Brown" in The Parade's Gone By New York: Knopf (1968)
  • Estrin, Allen. "The Hollywood Professionals, Vol. 6: Frank Capra, George Cukor, Clarence Brown", AS Barnes (1980)
  • Bastarache, A.J. An Extraordinary Town, How one of America's smallest towns shaped the world – A Historical Marketing Book by A. J. Bastarache.
  • Young, Gwenda. 'Clarence Brown: From Knoxville to Hollywood and Back'. Journal of East Tennessee History', pp. 53–73 (2002)
  • Young, Gwenda (April 2003). "Star Maker: The Career of Clarence Brown". Sight and Sound. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on May 14, 2007.
  • Young, Gwenda. Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2018
  • Neely, Jack. "Clarence Brown: The Forgotten Director", Metro Pulse (March 2008)
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