We aren't yet done with this subject. There are still a few more stout blows left to be dealt to the deceased steed of renowned speed.
Why should people like Roy Thomas and Alan Moore be the only ones to partake of this fine exercise?
And so I say that to me it sounds like Joe E. Brown in the movie THE GLADIATOR seems somewhat closer to Superman than the character in the book as Joe E. Brown goes from "mild-mannered" to "super", while Hugo Danner doesn't sound so mild, it sounds as if he was smugly superior all along and only was more sneaky to begin with.
The mild-mannered type was represented in the movies by Harold Loyd, who seems to have been another likely source of inspiration for Superman as he not only played daredevils who climbed buildings, but wore glasses and resembled Clark Kent. But the mild-mannered character was also frequently essayed by Joe E. Brown.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Evans Brown (July 28, 1891 – July 6, 1973)
[1][2] 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 who 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.
Childhood
Joseph Evans Brown was born on July 28, 1891, in Holgate, Ohio, near Toledo. He spent most of his childhood in Toledo. He performed as a tumbler in vaudeville shots as a child. He was skilled baseball player and declined an opportunity to sign with the
New York Yankees to pursue his career as an entertainer.
Film career
In late 1928, Brown began making films, starting the next year with
Warner Bros.. He quickly shot to stardom after appearing in the first all-color all-talking musical comedy
On with the Show (1929). He starred in a number of lavish
Technicolor Warner Brothers musical comedies including:
Sally (1929),
Hold Everything (1930), and
Song of the West (1930),"
Going Wild (1930)". By 1931, Joe E. Brown had become such a star that his name began to appear alone above the title of the movies in which he appeared.
He followed in
Fireman, Save My Child (1932), a comedy in which he played a member of the
St. Louis Cardinals, with
Elmer, the Great (1933) with
Patricia Ellis and
Claire Dodd, and
Alibi Ike (1935) with
Olivia de Havilland, in both of which he portrayed ballplayers with the
Chicago Cubs.
In 1933 he starred in
Son of a Sailor with
Jean Muir and
Thelma Todd. In 1934, Brown starred in
A Very Honorable Guy with
Alice White and
Robert Barrat, and in
The Circus Clown again with Patricia Ellis and with
Dorothy Burgess and with Maxine Doyle in
Six-Day Bike Rider. Brown was one of the few
vaudeville comedians to appear in a Shakespeare film; he played
Francis Flute in the
Max Reinhardt/
William Dieterle film version of
Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), and was highly praised for his performance. He starred in
Polo Joe (1936) with
Carol Hughes and
Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, and
Sons O' Guns. In 1933 and 1936, he managed to become one of the top ten earners in films. He was sufficiently well known internationally by this point to be depicted in comic strips in the British comic
Film Fun for twenty years from 1933.
He left Warner Brothers to work for producer
David L. Loew, starring in
When's Your Birthday? (1937). In 1938, he starred in
The Gladiator, a loose film-adaptation of
Philip Gordon Wylie's 1930 novel
Gladiator, which influenced the creation of
Superman.
[3] He gradually switched to making "B" pictures.
World War II
In 1939, Brown testified before the House Immigration Committee in support of a bill that would allow 20,000
German Jewish refugee children into the US, and he later adopted two refugee children.
[4] In 1942 Brown's son, Captain Don E. Brown, was killed when his military plane crashed near
Palm Springs, California.
[5] During WWII, he spent a great deal of time entertaining troops, spending many nights working and meeting servicemen at the
Hollywood Canteen. He wrote of his experiences entertaining the troops in his book
Your Kids and Mine.
Joe E. Brown's own two sons were in the military service. At 50, he was too old to enlist. Likable and gregarious, Brown traveled thousands of miles at his own expense to entertain American troops. He was the first to do so, traveling to both the Carribean and Alaska before Bob Hope or the USO were organized.
On his return to the States he brought sacks of letters, making sure they were delivered by the Post Office Department. He gave shows in all weather conditions, many in hospitals, sometimes doing his entire show for a single dying soldier. He would sign autographs for everyone. Brown was one of only two civilians to be awarded the
Bronze Star in WWII.
Postwar work
In 1948, he was awarded a Special
Tony Award for his work in the touring company of
Harvey.
[6]
He had a
cameo appearance in
Around the World in 80 Days (1956), as a
stationmaster talking to Fogg (
David Niven) and his entourage in a small town in
Nebraska. In the similarly epic film
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), he cameoed as a union official giving a speech at a construction site in the climactic scene. He was the Mystery Guest on
What's My Line? during the January 11, 1953 episode.
His best known postwar role was that of aging millionaire Osgood Fielding III in
Some Like It Hot (1959), the comedy directed by
Billy Wilder. Fielding falls for Daphne (Jerry), played by
Jack Lemmon in drag, and gets to say one of the most celebrated punchlines in film history. Another of his notable postwar roles was that of "Cap'n Andy Hawkes" in
MGM's 1951
remake of
Show Boat, a role that he reprised onstage in the 1961
New York City Center revival of the musical, and on tour. The musical film version included such prominent costars as
Ava Gardner,
Howard Keel and
Kathryn Grayson. Brown performed several dance routines in the film, and famed choreographer
Gower Champion appeared along with first wife
Marge.
Brown was a sports enthusiast, both in film and personally. Some of his best films were the "baseball trilogy" which consisted of
Fireman, Save My Child (1932),
Elmer the Great (1933) and
Alibi Ike (1935). He was also a television and radio broadcaster for the
New York Yankees in 1953. His son,
Joe L. Brown, inherited an interest in baseball, becoming the
general manager of the
Pittsburgh Pirates for more than twenty years. Brown also spent
Ty Cobb's last days with him before he died, discussing his life.
Brown's sports enthusiasm also led to him becoming the first president of
PONY Baseball and Softball (at the time named Pony League) when the organization was incorporated in 1953. He continued in the post until late 1964 when he retired. Later he traveled additional thousands of miles telling the story of PONY League, hoping to interest adults in organizing baseball programs for young people. He was also a fan of
Thoroughbred horse racing, a regular at
Del Mar Racetrack and the races at
Santa Anita.
In popular culture
He was caricatured in the
Disney cartoons
Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933),
Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), and
The Autograph Hound (1939). All of them contain a scene in which he is seen laughing so loud that his mouth opens extremely wide.
He was impersonated by
Daws Butler for the title character of the
Peter Potamus cartoon.
Later life, family, and legacy
He had four children: two sons, Don Evan Brown (December 25, 1916 — October 8, 1942, Captain United States Army Air Force, killed during pilot training) and
Joe LeRoy "Joe L." Brown (September 1, 1918 — August 15, 2010), and two daughters, Mary Katherine Ann (b. 1930) and Kathryn Francis (b. 1934). Both daughters were adopted as infants.
His final film appearance was in
The Comedy of Terrors (1964). Weeks earlier he had appeared with
Joan Blondell and
Buster Keaton in an episode of
Jack Palance's
ABC circus drama,
The Greatest Show on Earth. Brown died at his home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California from arteriosclerosis on July 6, 1973. He began having heart problems in 1968 after suffering a severe heart attack and underwent cardiac surgery.
Bowling Green State University dedicated one of its three theaters to him (the one in which he appeared in
Harvey in the 1950s) as The Joe E. Brown Theatre.
Joe E. Brown has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1680 Vine Street.
[7]
Selected filmography
Books published
- Your Kids and Mine (1944)
- Laughter is a Wonderful Thing (1956)
Death
Brown died in 1973 in
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, three weeks before his 82nd birthday.
[8] He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
References
- ^ California Deaths, 1940–1997 Joe E. Brown
- ^ The Grave of Joe E. Brown, separate monument and family monument pictured together, separate monument up close, family monument up close (Find a Grave)
- ^ Jones, Gerard. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. New York: Basic Books, 2004 (ISBN 0465036562), p.80. Also see Moskowitz, Sam Explorers of the Infinite: Shapers of Science Fiction, Cleveland, Ohio: The World Publishing Co., 1963 (ISBN 0-88355-130-6), pp.278–295
- ^ The Holocaust Chronicle. Publications International Ltd., 2000 (ISBN 0-7853-2963-3), p.162
- ^ "Capt. Don Brown, Actor's Son, Dies In Bomber Crash.". Chicago Tribune. October 9, 1942. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/468627642.html?dids=468627642:468627642&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=Oct+09%2C+1942&author=&pub=Chicago+Daily+Tribune&desc=CAPT.+DON+BROWN%2C+ACTOR'S+SON%2C+DIES+IN+BOMBER+CRASH&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^ 1948 Tony Award Winners
- ^ Hollywood Walk of Fame
- ^ "Joe E. Brown, Comedian Of Movies and Stage, Dies.". New York Times. July 7, 1973. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B17FE3859137A93C5A9178CD85F478785F9. Retrieved 2007-08-21. "Joe E. Brown, the beloved elastic-mouth comedian, died at his home here today. He was 81 years old. Mr. Brown was incapacitated by a stroke several years ago, and he had also suffered from severe arthritis."
External links
* * *
What do I think about the business about how great Joe E. Brown was in SOME LIKE IT HOT? I would have said that Joe E. Brown's part in that movie was not particularly noteworthy. SHOWBOAT has been singled out as his most notable later role in other sources and I would agree with that view.
Joe E. Brown had been one of the most popular comedians of the 1930's, and in his heyday he worked with Thelma Todd,
( with Bela Lugosi, Marjorie White, and Ona Munson )
and Lyda Roberti,
( With Lucien Littlefield again, in back )
As well as Alice White,
Patricia Ellis,
Carole Hughes,
Martha Raye,
Judy Canova,
and Marilyn Monroe.
Resolved:
What you go to the show for is dames.
Lucine Littlefield, who played the scientist in THE GLADIATOR, would later appear on television's THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN as "Professor Hinkle" |
|---|
|
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895,
San Antonio, Texas — June 4, 1960,
Hollywood, California) was an
American actor in the
silent film era. He later made numerous cameo appearances on
television series.
His role of the doctor in
The Cat and the Canary (1927) is one of his more notable performances. He appeared with
Laurel and Hardy, first as an eccentric professor in
Dirty Work, and finally as a vet in their classic feature
Sons of the Desert, both made in 1933. He also played
Mary Pickford's father in
My Best Girl in 1927. Other roles include
Tumbleweeds, with
William S. Hart,
Ruggles of Red Gap, with
Charles Laughton, and
Johnny Come Lately, with
James Cagney.
He played an eccentric inventor in an early
Adventures of Superman episode called "The Runaway Robot". Littlefield played many character roles in other TV shows of the 1950s, such as
Blondie,
Lassie,
Dragnet and
Peter Gunn.
He died of natural causes in 1960, and was buried in Glendale's
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Selected filmography
External links
* * *
Lucien Littlefield had a long and distinguished career both as an actor and as a portrayer of mad scientists on screen. He was a mad doctor in THE CAT AND THE CANARY with Laura La Plante:
A mad scientist in DIRTY WORK with Laurel and Hardy:
And he finally even got a chance to do an actual Superman story as a mad scientist.
The character of "Horatio Hinkle" was also used in the Superman comic strip and the radio show.
"Percival Popp" in THE SPECTRE appears to be another version of the same character.
While the cop on the right had been a character on the radio show, he doesn't seem to have been used in the comics.
Casting Man Mountain Dean in the movie version of GLADIATOR gave the hero a notable opponent to fight with in a contest, giving a reason for the title that seemed to be lacking in the original story.
Man Mountain Dean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Man Mountain Dean (June 30, 1891 – May 29, 1953), born
Frank Simmons Leavitt, was a
professional wrestler of the early 1900s.
He was born in
New York City, the son of John McKenney and Henrietta N. (Decker) Leavitt. From childhood, Frank Leavitt was remarkably large in stature. This trait led to a lifelong interest in competitive sport, and also made it easy for him to lie about his age in order to join the
Army at the age of fourteen. While enlisted he saw duty on the
Mexican-U.S. border with
John J. Pershing, and was later sent to
France where he participated in combat during
World War I. Also during this period (1914) he began his wrestling career using the ring name of "Soldier Leavitt".
After the war, Leavitt embarked on a career in athletics. Although signed for a brief time (1919–20) with the
New York Brickley Giants of the
National Football League, he concentrated most of his efforts toward the less lucrative field of professional wrestling. He competed in the ring for a time under the name "Hell's Kitchen Bill-Bill" (a "
hillbilly" reference which was suggested to him by the writer
Damon Runyon) but eventually settled on the moniker of "Stone Mountain".
Leavitt wrestled with limited success at first, and after an injury took a job as a police officer in
Miami, Florida. It was here he met his wife, Doris Dean, who also became his manager. After her idea, he adopted the nickname "Man Mountain" and substituted the more Anglo-Saxon-sounding last name of Dean. At well over six feet in height and weighing in excess of 300 pounds, Dean was an imposing figure. To this he added a long, full beard as part of his ring persona. Dean was one of the first professional wrestlers to emphasize showmanship in the sport, and it worked to his advantage.
After a highly successful wrestling tour of
Germany which had been booked by his wife, he was invited to take a job in the
UK as stunt-double for
Charles Laughton in the movie
The Private Life of Henry VIII. This would be the beginning of a subsidiary movie career for Dean, who would appear in various roles in twelve other movies, playing himself in five of them. One of the movies in which he portrayed himself was the Joe E. Brown comedy
The Gladiator, a 1938 adaptation of
Philip Gordon Wylie's 1930 novel
Gladiator.
Meanwhile he continued a fairly successful wrestling career, participating altogether in 6,783 professional bouts and commanding fees upwards of $1,500 for each match. In 1937 he retired from the ring to a farm outside of
Norcross, Georgia.
Dean ran for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1938 but withdrew his candidacy, citing discomfort with the political process. During
World War II he again joined the Army despite his age, and finally left with the rank of master sergeant. In the 1940s he was the First Sergeant of the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Md. Afterward he studied at the
University of Georgia's school of journalism. He appeared as a guest on the December 29, 1944 episode of the radio program
It Pays to be Ignorant. During the program, broadcast from New York City, Dean gave his weight as 280 pounds (127 kg).
He died of a heart attack in his home in
Norcross, Georgia, at the age of 63 in 1953, and is buried in Marietta National Cemetery under a military marker bearing his birth name and an erroneous year of birth (1889)
[citation needed].
In wrestling
External links
Helping patients at Wakeman General Hospital, Camp Atterbury IN during WW2.
| Persondata |
|---|
| Name | Frank Simmons Leavitt |
| Alternative names | Man Mountain Dean |
| Short description | Professional wrestler |
| Date of birth | June 30, 1891 |
| Place of birth | New York City |
| Date of death | May 29, 1953 |
| Place of death | Norcross, Georgia |
How he got to be a man mountain.
June Travis as the girlfriend is a great improvement to this version. Hugo Danner had no girlfriend in the original story.
June Travis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| June Travis |
|---|
| Born | June Dorothea Grabiner
(1914-08-07)August 7, 1914
Chicago, Illinois |
|---|
| Died | April 14, 2008(2008-04-14) (aged 93)
Chicago, Illinois |
|---|
| Other names | June Travis Friedlob |
|---|
| Years active | 1935-1965 |
|---|
| Spouse(s) | Fred Friedlob |
|---|
June Travis (August 7, 1914 – April 14, 2008) was an American film
actress.
Background
Born as
June Dorothea Grabiner, she was the daughter of
Harry Grabiner, vice-president of the
Chicago White Sox in the 1930s.
She had dark brown hair and green eyes. She stood 5'4" tall. She attended Parkside Grammar School in Chicago and later
UCLA. When she returned to
Illinois she matriculated at the
University of Chicago.
Marriage
On January 3, 1940, June married Fred Friedlob. They had two daughters, Cathy and June. Friedlob died in May 1979 in
Chicago.
Screen Actress
A
Paramount Pictures vice-president noticed her in
Miami, Florida at a White Sox exhibition game. He offered Travis a screen test when she came to
Pasadena, California, where the major league baseball team trained. The first time she was presented with a screen contract, she suffered from
screen fright and turned it down. She returned to Chicago and school. The next winter she accepted a film studio offer in
Palm Springs, California.
Travis made her screen debut in
Stranded (1935), a film which starred
Kay Francis and
George Brent. She played the role of "Mary Rand". She followed this with a part in
Not On Your Life (1935), with
Warren William and
Claire Dodd.
Howard Hawks directed her in
Ceiling Zero (1936), a
Warner Bros. feature. In preparation for her role, Travis learned flying, navigation, and parachute jumping from
Amelia Earhart. The aviatrix gave her instructions in September 1935. The film co-starred
James Cagney and
Pat O'Brien. In
1936, she played secretary
Della Street to
Perry Mason as played by
Ricardo Cortez in
The Case of the Black Cat.
Her most notable film role was likely the one she played in
The Star (1952) starring
Bette Davis.
Travis became known as the
Queen of the B-movies on the Warner Bros. lot. Later she said that if she had remained in
Hollywood two more years, she would have been a star. However, following three years, she came home to Chicago for Christmas with her parents. She did not return to making motion pictures. She stopped regularly appearing in films after 1938, though she later had minor appearances in
The Star and
Monster a Go-Go.
Later Career-Stage Acting
By the late 1970s Travis was performing on stage.
[citation needed] She admitted that the transition from acting on film was a difficult one.
[citation needed]
Death
Travis died in 2008 in a hospital of complications from a
stroke she suffered weeks earlier. She was 93 years old.
External links
June Travis co-starred with Joe E. Brown in EARTHWORM TRACTORS as well as THE GLADIATOR.
Carol Hughes ( left ) and Marie Wilson with June Travis. Carol Hughes was also in EARTHWORM TRACTORS, and later played Dale Arden in FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE. Marie Wilson is best known for MY FRIEND IRMA.
The old press photographers commonly used wide-angle lenses,
which presumably is why this photo looks distorted.
CEILING ZERO with Jimmy Cagney
With Amelia Earhart during the production of CEILING ZERO.
FINALLY,
Popeye, and not "The Gladiator" was the first superhero, and the first superhero in comics as well.
Popeye cover swipe of the first Superman comic book.
Superman would even meet a Popeye character in some of the more recent comics. So you could even say that the characters have met as well as having certain similarities.
You can do anything in comics. You can even have your characters go back in time and meet someone who is no longer among the living.
But somehow, I just don't think there would be much point in having Superman meet Hugo Danner.
THE END
JOE E. BROWN:
Joe E. Brown Pictures:
http://photos.lucywho.com/joe-e-brown-photos-t53433.html
