Johnny Mack Brown

JM Brown.jpg

Title

Johnny Mack Brown

Subject

Brown, Johnny Mack, 1904-1974
Foster, Henry Bacon, 1863-1939
Actors

Description

Johnny Mack Brown is shown having tea with his wife Connie at the home of Snow Hinton on Queen City Avenue in Tuscaloosa.

Johnny Mack Brown was born on September 1, 1904, in Dothan. His expertise on the footfall field earned him a football scholarship to the University of Alabama where his efforts in the 1926 Alabama Rose Bowl win against the University of Washington Huskies brought him notoriety and some say that he gained the notice of Hollywood from this game.

Others say that following his playing days, Brown became friends with George Fawcett on a film location in Alabama. Fawcett encouraged Brown to try films.

When Alabama returned to the Rose Bowl in 1927, Brown went along and contacted Fawcett, who showed him around the studios. Brown went on to a successful career as an actor in film and television, starring in light comedies and romantic roles until he settled into the cowboy role in western films, of which he made dozens.

Brown was counted among the greats of western films along with Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Lash Larue.

Brown married his college sweetheart, Frances Cornelia "Connie" Foster, in 1926 and they were together until his death in 1974 in California. Connie was the daughter of Henry Bacon Foster and Jennie Hester Foster.

Henry Bacon Foster was a mayor of Tuscaloosa and a Tuscaloosa County solicitor, University of Alabama trustee and state legislator who fought as a Major in the Spanish-American War.

Source

Dayton Hale Jr.

Date

Circa 1945

Contributor

Betty Slowe (Description)

Type

Photograph

Identifier

2579

Coverage

Tuscaloosa (AL)

Original Format

Photograph

Physical Dimensions

8 inches by 10 inches