Johnny Mack Brown
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. His muscular good looks only carried him so far 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.
Acting
TV
Perry Mason
as Warner Griffith
1957
Movie
Our Dancing Daughters
as Ben Blaine
1928
Movie
Female
as George P. Cooper
1933
Movie
Coquette
as Michael Jeffery
1929
Movie
Ride 'Em Cowboy
as Alabam' Brewster
1941
Movie
Born to the West
as Tom Fillmore
1937
Movie
A Woman of Affairs
as David Furness
1928
Movie
The Secret Six
as Hank Rogers
1931
Movie
The Valiant
as Robert Ward
1929
Movie
Montana Moon
as Larry
1930
Movie
Belle of the Nineties
as Brooks Clayburn
1934
Movie
Apache Uprising
as Sheriff Ben Hall
1965
Movie
Wells Fargo
as Talbot Carter
1937
Movie
The Last Flight
as Bill Talbot
1931
Movie
Billy the Kid
as Billy the Kid
1930
TV
This Is Your Life
as Self
1952
Movie
The Bounty Killer
as Sheriff Green
1965
Movie
Mockery
as Russian Officer (uncredited)
1927
Movie
The Courageous Avenger
as Kirk Baxter
1935
Movie
The Divine Woman
as Jean Lery
1928
Movie
The Single Standard
as Tommy Hewlett
1929
Movie
Flaming Frontiers
as Tex Houston
1938
Movie
Jazz Heaven
as Barry Holmes
1929
Movie
Law Men
as U.S. Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
1944