Johnny Mack Brown
Photos with Johnny Mack Brown
Biography
Dothan, Alabama, USA
An All-American halfback while attending the University of Alabama, Johnny Mack Brown chose the silver screen over the green grass of the football field when he graduated. Signed to a contract with MGM in 1926, Brown debuted in Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) with William Haines in a film about - baseball. This was followed by The Bugle Call (1927), which starred the fading Jackie Coogan. In 1928 he appeared in the last Norma Shearer silent film, A Lady of Chance (1928). After that, he worked with Greta Garbo, Marion Davies and Mary Pickford. Read more... in films, however, and by 1930 he had yet to find his place. At MGM Clark Gable was taking the roles that Brown was up for, so he went into a western for director King Vidor, Billy the Kid (1930). While Vidor did not want him for the part to begin with, the picture was successful; however, Brown's career at MGM soon ended. By 1933 he was still making westerns, but they were for low-rung studios like Mascot. More westerns at even lower-rung Supreme Pictures followed, as well as serials like Wild West Days (1937) at Universal. In 1943 Brown took his boots over to Monogram Pictures, where he made over 60 westerns. He started off as "Nevada Jack McKenzie" in the Rough Riders series, but the name soon changed to Johnny. As with most of the early cowboy stars, he was a hero to millions of young children and consistently among the top ten money-makers in westerns from 1942-50. The bubble burst, though, just as it did for Allan Lane, in 1953, as the days of the "B" western came to an end.
Actor

Character:
Ben Blaine
Our Dancing Daughters 1928
5

Character:
David
A Woman of Affairs 1928
2

Character:
Bill
Annapolis 1928
31

Character:
Michael Jeffery
Coquette 1929
5

Character:
Tommy Hewlett
The Single Standard 1929
16

Character:
Barry Holmes
Jazz Heaven 1929
1

Character:
Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid 1930
3

Character:
Bill Talbot
The Last Flight 1931
20

Character:
Hank
The Secret Six 1931
1

Character:
Miles Kincaid
Lasca of the Rio Grande 1931
1

Character:
Cooper
Female 1933
6

Character:
Brooks Claybourne
Belle of the Nineties 1934
5

Character:
Himself
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove 1934
4

Character:
Chuck Wells
Three on a Honeymoon 1934
1

Character:
Jim Warren
St. Louis Woman 1934
4

Character:
Tom Fillmore
Born to the West 1937
3

Character:
Talbot Carter
Wells Fargo 1937
2

Character:
Cal Sheridan
Pony Post 1940
3

Character:
Jim Bannister
West of Carson City 1940
2

Character:
Gils Brady / Buck Halliday
Bad Man from Red Butte 1940
3

Character:
Bill Ralston
Law and Order 1940
3

Character:
Jim Reardon
Son of Roaring Dan 1940
3

Character:
Steve Logan
Ragtime Cowboy Joe 1940
4

Character:
Lee Jamison
Riders of Pasco Basin 1940
2

Character:
Brand Calhoun
Rawhide Rangers 1941
5
3

Character:
Tom Baxter
Arizona Cyclone 1941
3

Character:
Steve Howard
Law of the Range 1941
4

Character:
Sheriff Bob Dawson
Man from Montana 1941
4

Character:
Larry Prescott
The Masked Rider 1941
4

Character:
Bill Fargo
Fighting Bill Fargo 1941
3

Character:
Alabam' Brewster
Ride 'Em Cowboy 1942
7

Character:
Johnny Mack Brown
Crazy House 1943
17

Character:
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Outlaws of Stampede Pass 1943
1

Character:
Blaze Barker
The Lone Star Trail 1943
3

Character:
Rocky Morgan aka The Black Rider
Raiders of San Joaquin 1943
4

Character:
Buck Brandon & Gils Brandon
Cheyenne Roundup 1943
4

Character:
Wade Benson
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground 1943
4

Character:
U.S. Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Law Men 1944
1

Character:
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Ghost Guns 1944
1

Character:
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
The Navajo Trail 1945
1

Character:
Johnny Mack Brown, Poker-Game Player
The Marshal's Daughter 1953
3

Character:
Himself
Hollywood My Home Town 1965
1

Character:
Actor in 'Billy the Kid'
Legends of the West 1992
2

Character:
Robert Ward
The Valiant 1929
0