Joe E. Brown

Joe E. Brown

Birth : 1891-07-27, Holgate, Ohio, USA

Death : 1973-07-06

History

Joseph Evans Brown (July 28, 1891 – July 6, 1973) was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous smile. In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville circuits. Later he became a professional baseball player. After three seasons he returned to the circus, then went into Vaudeville and finally starred on Broadway. He gradually added comedy into his act and transformed himself into a comedian. He moved to Broadway in the 1920s first appearing in the musical comedy Jim Jam Jems. Description above from the Wikipedia article Joe E. Brown , licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Joe E. Brown

Movies

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Self (archive footage)
Uncensored. Laugh along with Hollywood's brightest stars in this hilarious compilation of bloopers from some of the biggest movies in history . You'll see stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan, Marlene Dietrich, Boris Karloff, Edward G. Robinson, Errol Flynn and more. They're not so perfect after all when these flubbed moments are caught on film!
Nobody's Perfect - The Making of Some Like It Hot
Self
Documentary discussing the casting and making of "Some Like It Hot", the film voted as the Best Comedy ever made by the American Film Institute.
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually getting ready for another World War.
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Himself (archive footage)
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.
Showbiz Goes to War
Archive Footage
While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the American public through bond sales, morale-boosting USO tours, patriotic war dramas and escapist film fare. Comedian David Steinberg plays host for this star-studded, 90-minute documentary, which looks at the way Tinseltown helped the United States' war effort.
It's Showtime
Self (archive footage)
A collection of film clips profiling animal actors.
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
The Comedy of Terrors
Cemetery Keeper
An undertaker who hasn't had any 'customers' in a long time is forced to pay one year's back-rent. To get money he starts to kill people, which brings absurd results.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Union Official
A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.
Hollywood Without Make-Up
Self
A collection of behind the scenes and home movies from the golden age of Hollywood.
Some Like It Hot
Osgood Fielding III
Two musicians witness a mob hit and struggle to find a way out of the city before they are found by the gangsters. Their only opportunity is to join an all-girl band as they leave on a tour. To make their getaway they must first disguise themselves as women, then keep their identities secret and deal with the problems this brings - such as an attractive bandmate and a very determined suitor.
Around the World in Eighty Days
Stationmaster
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
Toast to Our Brother
Fraternity Alumnus
Short film documenting fraternity life at UCLA in the early 50's.
Show Boat
Cap'n Andy Hawks
A dashing Mississippi river gambler wins the affections of the daughter of the owner of the Show Boat.
The Tender Years
Will Norris
A progressive pastor takes on thoughtless brutality (and constitutional scruples against search and seizure) in order to promote animal cruelty protection laws.
Hollywood Canteen
Self
Two soldiers on leave spend three nights at a club offering free of charge food, dancing, and entertainment for servicemen on their way overseas. Club founders Bette Davis and John Garfield give talks on the history of the place.
Memo for Joe
Documentary short film extolling the virtues of the American Community Chest charity program and its value to the Allied war effort.
Pin Up Girl
Eddie Hall
Glamorous Lorry Jones, the toast of a Missouri military canteen, has become "engaged" to almost every serviceman she's signed her pin-up photo for. Now she's leaving home to go into government service (not, as she fantasizes, to join the USO). On a side trip to New York, her vivid imagination leads her to True Love with naval hero Tommy Dooley; but increasingly involved Musical Comedy Complications follow.
Casanova in Burlesque
Joseph M. Kelly Jr.
A stripper (June Havoc) discovers a professor (Joe E. Brown) spends summer teaching Shakespeare and winter as a burlesque comic.
Show-Business at War
Self
A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
Chatterbox
Rex Vane
While shooting a western on location, a Hollywood "cowboy" star--whose offscreen image is exactly the opposite of his onscreen one--is saved from disaster by a gregarious local girl. She winds up becoming not only his leading lady in the movie but, because of a set of nutty offscreen circumstances, his fiancé in real life.
The Daring Young Man
Jonathan Peckinpaw / Grandma Peckinpaw
Jonathan Peckinpaw feels he's failed in his patriotic duty when he's rejected by the army, but he sees a chance to redeem himself by exposing a secret ring of Nazi spies.
Joan of Ozark
Cliff Little
An uninhibited Arkansas farmgirl discovers a group of Nazis operating in the United States. Director Joseph Santley's broad WWII comedy stars Judy Canova, Joe E. Brown, Eddie Foy Jr., Anne Jeffreys and Jerome Cowan.
Shut My Big Mouth
Wellington Holmes
A shy horticulturist becomes involved with a local criminal in the old west.
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2
Hedda Hopper plays hostess at a party for her (grown) son William (DeWolfe Jr.). Hopper, attends the dedication of the Motion Picture Relief Fund's country home and goes to the Mocambo. There is also a sequence dedicated to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin world premiere of the first short in this series attended by more that a few film stars.
Polo with the Stars
Self - Polo Player
A short in the WB Hollywood Novelty series (production number 7301) about the training of polo ponies. Buddy Rogers buys one of the ponies in training, and later uses him in a match where Jack Holt and Joe E. Brown are among the players. Edward G. Robinson and Jack Oakie are among the spectators who see Joe. E. Brown knock in the winning score.
Rodeo Dough
Joe E. Brown
After a trip to Hollywood, two young ladies attempt to hitchhike home but end up at a star filled rodeo.
So You Won't Talk?
Whiskers / Brute Hanson
A shy book reviewer is confused with a notorious gangster who has just been release from prison.
Beware Spooks!
Roy L. Gifford
A bumbling detective chases an escaped convict in an amusement park haunted house in Coney Island.
$1,000 a Touchdown
Marlowe Mansfield Booth
A couple inherits a college and to generate revenue offers a thousand dollars to players for each touchdown they score.
Hollywood Hobbies
Himself (uncredited)
In this short film, two starstruck movie fans hire a tour guide and see a plethora of Hollywood stars.
Flirting with Fate
Dan Dixon
A troupe of traveling entertainers become stranded in Paraguay.
The Gladiator
Hugo Kipp
A man returns to college and is talked into joining he football team and is a real joke on the team, until he is given a drug that gives him super strength.
Wide Open Faces
Wilbur Meeks
A small town soda jerk discovers a gang of criminals staying at a local hotel. Comedy.
Fit for a King
Virgil Ambrose Jeremiah Christopher 'Scoop' Jones
Newspaper reporter "Scoops" is sent out on assignment, to investigate the failed assassination attempts on Archduke Julio. Trying to get the story, he runs into Jane Hamilton who is really Princess Helen. He doesn't realize that she is the story: a princess in exile, in danger of assassination; and, falling in love with "Scoops", while engaged to a prince.
Riding on Air
Elmer Lane
Smugglers are using a device for controlling airplanes in flight, and newspaper reporters from Chicago are vying for the story. Reporter Elmer Lane is out to scoop rival reporter Betty Harrison, and capture her heart in the process.
Hollywood Party
Himself
Elissa Landi and Charley Chase (playing Asian Charley Chan Chase) host an East Asian themed garden tea party in Hollywood. After introducing a few Hollywood luminaries who are attending the party, they present a number of musical and/or dance performances to entertain the crowd. This set of performances also includes ethnic Chinese actress Anna May Wong modeling some fashions she brought back from her first ever trip to China. Through it all, one of the guests, already inebriated, is having a few problems mixing and serving the cocktails he wants.
When's Your Birthday?
Dustin Willoughby
Some shady characters discover that a sad sack nightclub bus boy has the ability to predict outcomes of races and other events through astrology.
Breakdowns of 1936
Himself
Time marches on.
Polo Joe
Joe Bolton
A young man allergic to horses decides he has to learn to play polo in order to impress the girl he loves. Comedy.
Earthworm Tractors
Alexander Botts
A salesman tries to sell a tractor to a customer who hates tractors while falling for the girl.
Sons o' Guns
Jimmy Canfield
Broadway star Jimmy Canfield stars in a patriotic show on the great white way during WWI. He plays the heroic soldier, but he is doesn't want to join the Army. To evade some troubles with fellow actress Berenice, he acts like joining the forces going over there, but that turns out to be real. In France he falls in love with a French barmaid and is arrested as spy. He escapes from prison, only to end in the uniform of a German officer leading "his" soldiers in an Allied trap. But being escaped from prison and wearing the enemy's uniform isn't that healthy in wartime.
A Dream Comes True
Himself (uncredited)
A promotional short to hype the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935).
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Flute
A film adaptation by Max Reinhardt of his popular stage productions of Shakespeare's comedy. Four young people escape Athens to a forest where the king and queen of the fairies are quarreling, while meanwhile a troupe of amateur actors rehearses a play. When the fairy Puck uses a magic flower to make people fall in love, the whole thing becomes a little bit confused...
Bright Lights
Joe Wilson
Husband-and-wife vaudeville stars separate when success goes to his head.
Alibi Ike
Frank "Ike" Farrell
Idiosyncratic new recruit Francis "Ike" Farrell tries to help the Cubs to the pennant with his pitching and hitting.
6 Day Bike Rider
Wilfred
To get his girl back, that has fallen for a biker, a worker and one of his friends enter a six day race.
The Circus Clown
Happy Howard / Chuckles
A man who wants to join the circus against the wishes of his ex-circus clown father.
A Very Honorable Guy
'Feet' Samuels
Well respected local good guy, "Feet" Samuels finds himself heavily in debt due to an uncharacteristic gambling binge. Feet decides the only way to settle the bill is by selling his body to an ambitious doctor who agrees to allow him one last month to live life to the fullest, then kill himself.
Hollywood Newsreel
Himself
A potpourri of features involving Hollywood celebrities. The Columbia University football team, winner of the 1934 Rose Bowl game, visits the Warner Bros. Studios and is greeted by several stars; Margaret Lindsay, Guy Kibbee, and Dick Powell work at a gold mine; Joan Blondell, recovered from a recent illness, thanks her fans; songs from the movie Harold Teen (1934) are performed by the songwriters and the film's stars.
Hollywood on Parade No. B-4
Self
Songwriter Mack Gordon introduces flagpole sitter Shipwreck Kelly, who hoists some girls aloft with him and shows them sights around Hollywood.
Son of a Sailor
Handsome
A lovesick fool bumbles into espionage and finds a stolen plane.
How to Break 90 #1: The Grip
Bobby Jones instructs Joe E. Brown and the other members of their foursome in proper club grip.
Elmer, the Great
Elmer Kane
Elmer does not want to leave Gentryville, because Nellie is the one that he loves. Even when Mr. Wade of the Chicago Cubs comes to get him, it is only because Nellie spurns him that he goes. As always, Elmer is the king of batters and he wins game after game. When Nellie comes to see Elmer in Chicago, she sees him kissing Evelyn and she wants nothing to do with him anymore. So Healy takes him to a gambling club, where Elmer does not know that the chips are money. He finds that he owes the gamblers $5000 and they make him sign a note for it. Sad at losing Nellie, mad at his teammates and in debt to the gamblers, Elmer disappears as the Cubs are in the deciding game for the Series.
You Said a Mouthful
Joe Holt
Two men bear the name Joe Holt. One is a shipping clerk, the other a champion Canadian swimmer. When a socialite gets them confused, thinking the clerk is the inventor of an unsinkable swim suit, she enters him in a 20 mile swim race.
The Tenderfoot
Calvin Jones
Calvin Jones is a cowboy who wants to invest in a Broadway play. Joe Lehman's secretary Ruth learns that her boss is attempting to swindle Jones and pulls a successful coup d'etat producing a play that she stars in.
Fireman, Save My Child
'Smokey' Joe Grant
Joe Grant is an inventor, fireman and baseball player in his small hometown. He gets an offer to play in a big team and hopes to get more money for his inventions. But Joe's invited to present his invention to a fire extinguisher company at the same time when he is supposed to play. Will he be able to show the effectiveness of his invention and win the game?
Local Boy Makes Good
John Augustus Miller
John is a timid student who works at the University Book Store. He is studying to be a botanist and has a secret crush on the lovely Julia. One day, one of his letters gets accidentally mailed and Julia receives it. When the letter says that he is a fraternity man and a big track star, Julia rushes right over to see him. But John is neither and Spike, Julia's boyfriend, is a track star at a nearby College. John does not want to enter the track meet so Julia tries to use psychology on him. That and a good wrestling hold makes John timidly agree to enter the race, but Spike still scares him.
How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 10: 'Trouble Shots'
Golf legend Bobby Jones gives his take on trouble shots.
Broadminded
Ossie Simpson
Jack's father lowers the boom when his irresponsible rich-kid ends up in jail after a night of debauchery. The father appoints Ossie, Jack's cousin, as guardian, not realizing that Ossie is just as bad. They set off on a transcontinental trip with mischief on their minds.
Screen Snapshots (Series 10, No. 8)
Himself
Pola Negri, Bebe Daniels, Mitzi Green, Polly Moran, Mack Sennett and Marjorie Beebe are seen relaxing at Palm Springs, a California winter resort; Barbara Stanwyck and Ricardo Cortez play golf; other celebrities are shown in Malibu Beach.
How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 1: 'The Putter'
Bobby Jones gives Frank Craven some helpful tips on his short game.
The Stolen Jools
Robbery Suspect
Famous actress Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen… (Star-packed promotional short film intended to raise funds for the National Variety Artists Tuberculosis Sanatorium.)
Sit Tight
Jojo
Winnie Lightner is the head of a health clinic and has Joe E. Brown as one of her employees. Brown is a wrestler named JoJo and he is forced to enter the ring and face down a musclebound masked opponent (Frank S. Hagney). Making matters worse, the masked marauder is convinced that his wife has been fooling around with JoJo. JoJo is knocked out early in the proceedings, whereupon he dreams he's a sultan surrounded by harem girls. A romantic subplot involves Paul Gregory and Claudia Dell. Gregory works for Dell's father and Dell asks her father to give Gregory a promotion so that she can spend more time with him. When Gregory refuses to be promoted without earning the position, she threatens to have him fired and Gregory quits his job. Gregory attempts to start a new career as a championship wrestler and is trained by Lightner and Brown. When Dell finds out about this, she attempts to stop him and asks for his forgiveness. She pleads with him to not fight but he has already promised...
Going Wild
Rollo Smith
Rollo and Lane just happen to be tossed off the train at White Beach where Robert Story -Air ace and writer- is supposed to stop. It is a case of mistaken identity as no one knows what Story looks like. So they get free room and meals at the Palm Inn and everything is going well until they want Story to fly in the race on Saturday. Rollo has never even be up in a plane, never mind fly one, so he must figure a way out. But the girls have everything bet on his winning the race. Written by Tony Fontana
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5
Joe E. Brown
Andy Clyde plays football with the Sennett girls; Mary Pickford's miniature golf course is shown.
Maybe It's Love
Yates
A very young Joan Bennett tops the cast as Nan Sheffield, the daughter of a college president. The nominal leading man is Tommy Nelson, the black-sheep son of a wealthy alumnus. Though Nelson is an ace football player, President Sheffield refuses to enroll the boy because of his bad reputation, whereupon Tommy's father withdraws his financial backing and bars his son from ever setting foot on Sheffield's campus. Falling in love with Nan, Tommy signs up with the college under an assumed name, giving up his wastrel ways to lead the football team to victory. Joe E. Brown steals the show as Speed Hanson, a goofy gridiron star who emits a loud and long yell whenever scoring a touchdown (this was, in fact, the first film in which Brown's famous "Yeeeeowww" was heard -- but certainly not the last).
The Lottery Bride
Hoke
Sundered lovers meet again amid tragic irony at a mining camp in northern Norway.
Top Speed
Elmer Peters
An order clerk poses as a millionaire.
An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee
Himself
Mr. and Mrs. Warner Bros. Pictures and their precocious offspring, Little Miss Vitaphone, host a dinner in honor of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee, attended by most of the major players and song writers under contract to WB at that time.
Hold Everything
Gink Schiner
A man is mistaken for a champion fighter.
Song of the West
Hasty
Captain Stanton, who because of a misunderstanding over a woman with Major Davolo, has been cited for a court martial. As a scout, he is sent to escort a wagon train which is under military escort. It turns out that this escort is his own former regiment. When he meet Davolo, there is another fight and between Stanton and Davolo in which Davolo is killed.
Sally
Grand Duke Connie
Sally is an orphan who was named by the telephone exchange where she was abandoned as a baby. In the orphanage, she discovered the joy of dancing. Working as a waitress, she serves Blair (Alexander Gray), and they both fall for each other, but Blair is engaged to socialite Marcia. Sally is hired to impersonate a famous Russian dancer named Noskerova, but at that engagement, she is found to be a phoney. Undaunted, she proceeds with her life and has a show on Broadway, but she still thinks of Blair.
Painted Faces
Hermann / Beppo
After a vaudeville performer is murdered backstage, framed-up evidence lead the police to arrest a troupe member. At his trial, Hermann, a Scandinavian clown known as Beppo, is the lone juror holding out against conviction and pleading for his innocence and acquittal.
On With the Show!
Joe Beaton
With unpaid actors and staff, the stage show Phantom Sweetheart seems doomed. To complicate matters, the box office takings have been robbed and the leading lady refuses to appear. Can the show be saved?
My Lady's Past
The BFI holds a complete copy.
Molly and Me
Take Me Home
Bunny
Chorus girl Peggy Lane, finds a small part in a new show for David North, a stages-truck country boy. At rehearsal, David meets Delerys Devore, the show's star, and she quickly offers him a larger part in her act. Quite taken with David, Delerys invites him to her home on the pretext that Peggy will be there; when Peggy does not show up, David leaves, infuriating his hostess. Derelys has Peggy fired the next day, and in reprisal Peggy goads her into a Carmenesque fight backstage just before the show. Derelys is unable to go on stage, and Peggy takes her place, becoming the hit of the show. Peggy and David are later married and give up show business, finding contentment living on a farm.
The Circus Kid
King Kruger
In 'The Circus Kid', Buddy, an orphan who runs away from a a harsh orphanage, joins Cadwallader's Circus.
Twinkle, Twinkle
P.T. Robinson
Directing a want to be actor, P. T. Robinson to visually portray emotions, after he told the lady he just met. He tries to emote a variety of human actions for the actress after she asks him to portray some emotions. What an actor.