Actor Robert Brown, best known for his numerous appearances on the small screen, has passed away. Among his numerous TV roles, Brown was best recognized for his role as Jason Bolt in the long-running ABC TV series Here Come the Brides which was set in post-Civil War America. The actor, whose active years spanned from the 40s through to the mid-90s, was 95 years old at the time of his passing.
Brown died last month on September 19 in Ojai, California. His death was confirmed to the media by his friend Kiki Bremont, however, his cause of death was not revealed. Atypical of most nonagenarian actors of his era, Brown had been living out of the public eye, beginning from the late '70s when his career slowed.
In the western comedy Here Come the Brides, Brown shined as the charismatic boss of a logging company whose employees threaten to leave and relocate due to a dearth of women to tend to their emotional needs. In an effort to keep his company afloat, Brown successfully convinces his employees to stay by promising to bring about a hundred bachelorettes from other cities. Within its dramatic and comic elements, the series attempted to confront serious issues such as racism, business ethics, as well as the treatment of physically challenged and mentally impaired people.
Here Come the Brides was inspired by true events involving the Mercer Girls project where Washington senator Asa Mercer sought to amplify the civilization of Seattle by importing young women from the war-torn east coast states that had lost most of their men to the war. The women ultimately relocated to Seattle and were mostly employed as teachers. The western series that featured no gunslingers was equally inspired by the 1954 musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The show was a success for ABC TV, airing 52 episodes across two seasons. It was also responsible for the career breakthrough of actors Bobby Sherman and David Soul, who both played the younger brothers of Brown's character.
Brown was born Robin Adair MacKenzie Brown on November 17, 1926, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, and the Bronx. He had a brief stint in the US Navy before enrolling at the Dramatic Workshop where he studied alongside Lee Strasberg, Rod Steiger, Harry Belafonte, and Walter Matthau. He launched his acting career in the late 1940s performing in Broadway productions. He would then move to City of Angels and began auditioning for onscreen roles, his first of which included The Flame Barrier (1958), Tower of London (1962), and The Lawless Years.
Brown was famously cast as Lazarus in a 1967 Star Trek episode after John Drew Barrymore failed to appear on set for shooting. Here Come the Brides followed after as he did a series of other small screen roles. While Brown lost his leading role in the original Hawaii Five-O to Jack Lord in a last-minute change of heart by producer, Leonard Freeman, he still commanded the 60s and 70s with roles in Bewitched, Primus, Fantasy Island, Archie Bunker's Place, and In the Heat of the Night. In addition to acting, Robert Brown was also a writer and photographer. He occasionally did voiceover work on radio and television.