Johnny Brown (actor)

Johnny Brown
Johnny Brown
	Brown on Laugh-In in 1971
Born	June 11, 1937; St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.
Died	March 2, 2022 (aged 84); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	John Brown
Occupation(s)	Actor, singer
Years active	1961–2013
Children	2, including Sharon Brown

Johnny Brown (June 11, 1937 – March 2, 2022) was an American actor and singer. He was most famous for his role as building superintendent Nathan Bookman on the 1970s CBS sitcom, Good Times. Brown portrayed Bookman until the series was cancelled in 1979.

Life and career

A nightclub promoter and performer, his early best role was as a regular cast member of the television series

Laugh-in

. Brown is mostly remembered for his portly physique, beautiful smile, mobile facial expressions, and easy, pleasant joking style.

Brown made appearances on

The Wayans Bros, and Martin. He had a recurring role as building super Nathan Bookman in the 1970's TV series Good Times. He had a small role in the 1970 film The Out-of-Towners starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as a waiter on a railroad dining car. Brown went to school with Walter Dean Myers when he lived in Harlem, New York City

as a boy.

Brown also appeared in several television commercials, including ads for

Papermate

pen company in the 1970s. The commercial consisted of an elaborate musical number, "Write On, Brothers, Write On", led by Brown as a schoolteacher who encourages his chorus line of students to use this pen for their school assignments.

In 1997, Brown contributed his voice to the introduction of the compilation album Comedy Stew: The Best of Redd Foxx. In the introduction, Brown tells of how Norman Lear had considered Brown to play the role of Lamont in Sanford and Son, but was unavailable to do so because of his prior commitment to Laugh-In, leading Lear to give the role to Demond Wilson instead. He also had a one-off role as "Fat-Man" in the original The Ghost Busters television show.

In 1999, Brown appeared on two episodes of the Nickelodeon children's sitcom Kenan & Kel.

He played Wallace "Suitcase" Jefferson in the 2004 mockumentary The Old Negro Space Program.

Death

Brown died in

pacemaker and was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.^[3]

Records

Having toured with

Sam "The Man" Taylor since 1958, Johnny Brown began his own recording career. His first release was on Columbia Records, "Walkin', Talkin', Kissin' Doll" b/w "Sundown" in February 1961. He was only 23 at the time. The promotional release was accompanied with a special insert describing his background (see picture). His next record was released in early 1968 on Atlantic Records, "You're Too Much in Love With Yourself" b/w "Don't Dilly Dally, Dolly", the latter showing off his skilled impression of Louis Armstrong

. That release had initially been available on Crest Records.

References

^ "Johnny Brown Filmography". Fandango. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.
^ "'Good Times' And Broadway Star Johnny Brown Dies At 84". Shadow and Act. March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
^ Good Times Star Johnny Brown Dead at 84

External links

Johnny Brown at the Internet Broadway Database
Johnny Brown at
IMDb
Johnny Brown at AllMovie

[1] "Johnny Brown Filmography". Fandango. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.

[2] "'Good Times' And Broadway Star Johnny Brown Dies At 84". Shadow and Act. March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.

[3] Good Times Star Johnny Brown Dead at 84

[3]

Authority control databases
International	FAST ISNI VIAF
National	United States
Artists	MusicBrainz