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Harry Joe Brown

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Harry Joe Brown
Born
Henry Joseph Brown

(1890-09-22)September 22, 1890
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedApril 28, 1972(1972-04-28) (aged 81)
Palm Springs, California, U.S.
OccupationsFilm producer, film director
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1933; div. 1943)​

Dorothy Gray
​
(m. 1953)​
Children1

Harry Joe Brown (born Henry Joseph Brown; September 22, 1890 – April 28, 1972) was an American film producer, and earlier a theatre and film director.

Early years

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Harry Joe Brown was born in 1890 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] He grew up in Benton Harbor, Michigan,[2] and graduated from Benton Harbor High School.[3] He graduated with a bachelor of law degree from Syracuse University[4] after attending the University of Michigan,[5] where he studied dentistry for one year. His involvement with theatrical productions at Syracuse turned his career interests from law to entertainment.[3] He was a captain in the infantry in World War I.[6]

Career

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Brown worked with newspapers[2] before he began working in films in 1920.[5] After producing for the Equity Company he went to Hollywood to make Westerns for Monogram Pictures.[6]

As a producer, he had a partnership with director Budd Boetticher, actor Randolph Scott and screenwriter Burt Kennedy, which generated a series of five westerns between 1957 and 1960 (The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station) via a company he created with Scott which eventually became known as Ranown Pictures Corp. He produced the American debut films of both Errol Flynn in Captain Blood and Sean Flynn in Son of Captain Blood.

Brown earlier directed a number of films, among them Knickerbocker Holiday, Sitting Pretty and Madison Square Garden.[7]

Personal life and death

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He married actress Sally Eilers on September 24, 1933, in Yuma, Arizona,[5] and they had a son.[8] They were divorced on August 26, 1943.[9] He married Dorothy Gray in 1953.[4][10] They resided in a mansion located at 625 Mountain Drive, Beverly Hills, California.[10]

Brown died of a heart attack on April 28, 1972, aged 78, in Palm Springs, California.[4]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ↑ "Harry Joe Brown - Hollywood Star Walk". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Harry Joe Brown, former local boy, directs Bijou film". The News-Palladium. May 22, 1933. p. 3. Retrieved July 31, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Fame And Fortune Fail To Change Harry Joe Brown's Pride In Town Of His Early Start". The News-Palladium. August 17, 1940. p. 3. Retrieved July 31, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 "HARRY JOE BROWN, 78, FILM PRODUCER, DIES". The New York Times. 1972-04-29. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  5. 1 2 3 "Sally Eilers is Wed to Picture Director: Flies From Hollywood to Yuma, Ariz., to Become Bride of Harry Joe Brown". The New York Times. Associated Press. September 25, 1933. p. 18. Retrieved July 31, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Thomas, Bob (June 17, 1965). "At 72, Harry Joe Brown can attack a script with gusto; been at it 45 years". The Birmingham News. p. 35. Retrieved July 31, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Harry Joe Brown". MUBI. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  8. ↑ "Catherine Elizabeth Nelson Is Wed To Coco Brown, an Investor, on L.I". The New York Times. July 9, 1989. p. 42. Retrieved July 31, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Sally Eilers Divorced From Harry Joe Brown". The Paterson Morning Call. Associated Press. August 27, 1943. p. 10. Retrieved July 31, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 Victoria Talbot, "Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission Splits 2 To 2 on Mountain Drive Landmark Vote", The Beverly Hills Courier, October 3, 2014, Vol. XXXXVIIII, No. 39, p. 4
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