Clancy (I) Brown filmography and biography

Date of birth: 5 January 1959, Urbana, Ohio, USA

Clancy (I) Brown biography

Son of former Congressman from Ohio. Graduated from prestigious St. Albans Prep School in Washington DC, and earned scholarship to Northwestern. A tall, wavy-haired US actor with a deep, resonant voice, Clancy Brown has proved himself a versatile performer with first-class contributions to theater, feature films, TV series and even animation. Born in Urbana, Ohio, he is the son of former US representative Clarence J. Brown, which meant Clancy spent much of his youth in close proximity to Washington, DC. he plied his dramatic talents in the Chicago theater scene before moving onto feature film with a sinister debut performance bullying Sean Penn (I) inside a youth reformatory in Bad Boys. He portrayed "Viktor the Monster" in the unusual spin on the classic Frankenstein story in The Bride, before scoring one of his best roles to date as the evil "Kurgan" hunting fellow immortals Christopher Lambert (I) and Sean Connery across four centuries of time in Highlander.

Brown played a corrupt US soldier in the Walter Hill (I)-directed hyper-violent actioner Extreme Prejudice, another deranged killer in Shoot to Kill and a brutal prison guard, who eventually somewhat "befriends" wrongfully convicted banker Tim Robbins (I), in the moving The Shawshank Redemption.

His superb vocal talents were in demand, and he contributed voices to animated shows, including _"Mortal Kombat: The Animated Series" (1995)_, Street Sharks, Gargoyles and Superman. Brown then landed two more plum roles, one as a "tough-as-nails" drill sergeant in the sci-fi thriller Starship Troopers, and the other alongside Robin Williams (I) in the Disney comedy Flubber.

The video gaming industry took notice of Clancy's vocal abilities, too, and he has contributed voices to several top selling video games, including Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (2001) (VG), Lands of Lore III (1999) (VG), Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (2002) (VG) and Crash Nitro Kart (2003) (VG). His voice is also the character of cranky crustacean "Mr. Eugene H. Krabs" in the highly successful SpongeBob SquarePants animated series and films, and he contributed voices to The Batman, Jackie Chan Adventures and Justice League animated TV series. A popular and friendly personality, Clancy Brown continues to remain busy both through his vocal and acting talents in Hollywood.

Clancy (I) Brown trivia

- Went to Northwestern University, where he was in the theater program.
- For Highlander, he said that he made a lifelong friend in Bob Anderson (III), the swordmaster for that film as well as the "Star Wars" trilogy. He said if he hadn't been an actor, he would have been (in order) a fireman, an aristocrat, an archaeologist/anthropologist, a scuba diver, and a circus acrobat.
- On August 20, 2002, he was named chairman of the board of Brown Publishing, a newspaper company owned by his family. He has been a board member since 1987.
- Was hospitalized after becoming sick from the prosthetic make up he wore as Viktor in The Bride. He was reluctant to don prosthetics for his role in Highlander.
- Claims to have been introduced to acting by a neighbor who got him into William Shakespeare (I) at a young age.
- Collects animation art.
- Describes himself as an avid reader who particularly enjoys the works of Frank Herbert (I).
- Although his character Rawhide dies in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, he is still under contract to appear in a sequel to the film.
- Due to his role of Kurgan in Highlander, his voice was featured on the Queen (I) song "Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme)". An alternate version appeared in the film itself, but samples of his voice are included on the 1986 studio album "A Kind of Magic".
- Has three times played senior prison officers in movies dealing with miscarriages of justice: in The Shawshank Redemption, the tyrannical Capt. Hadley; in The Hurricane, the sympathetic Lt. Williams; and in Last Light (1993) (TV) as Lt. McMannis.
- Member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
- Both his grandfather and father (Clarence J. Brown, Sr. & Jr.) were United States Representatives from the 7th District of Ohio. Clarence Sr. served from 1939 to 1965; Clarence Jr. from 1965 to 1983. Both were also candidates for governor of Ohio, both unsuccessful.
- Often cast as a villain, but has been described as a very friendly man in real life.
- According to the trivia track on the DVD of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, his character, Rawhide, did not die but went into a deep coma, and that he was expected to recover very soon.
- In 1999 he spearheaded a charity campaign to raise funds for J. Madison Wright, the young girl who played his screen daughter in the TV show Earth 2. Madison, then aged 15, had developed cardiomyopathy and was in dire need of a heart transplant, a very costly operation which exceeded her family's lifetime health insurance policy. Clancy offered to assist the Wrights in their plight. He also bought young Madison a laptop computer for Christmas in 1999. Tragically, Madison died seven years later, in July 2006, of a heart attack.
- Is a patron of the Beth Brown Memorial Fund, a scholarship programme designed to assist poorer students who wish to study in the field of paediatric healthcare. The charity is in honour of his elder sister who died in childhood of leukaemia in 1964. It has since expanded to also offer the Clarence J. Brown Scholarship for students interested in pursuing careers in government and public service as well as the Robert Townsley Scholarship for students of journalism.
- Originally auditioned for the role of Superman/Clark Kent on Bruce W. Timm's Superman The Animated Series, but Timm felt his voice was better suited to Lex Luthor, bringing the arch villain a smooth combination of menacing brute and charming manipulator. Tim Daly (I) was then cast as Superman/Clark Kent instead.
- First acted on stage during a 7th grade school play of "The Mouse That Roared".
- His mother was a concert pianist.
- Originally attended Northwestern University on a track scholarship as a discus-thrower, but switched majors after two seasons.
- Has played two characters named Capt. Hadley: The Guardian (2006/I) and The Shawshank Redemption.
- Both he and Highlander co-star Christopher Lambert have portrayed the Mortal Kombat character Rayden. Lambert played Rayden in the 1995 movie, Mortal Kombat, while Brown portrayed Rayden in the Mortal Kombat Animated Series.
- Daughter Rose Beth Brown (born in October 1995). He also has a son born in 2003.
- Designated as a Significant Sig by the Sigma Chi General Fraternity in 2010.

Clancy (I) Brown quotes

- [on the making of Highlander] For the scene we did in the church there could have been a wonderful dialogue - "God, this doesn't compare to the Greek Orthodox Church," or "I liked it better when they did it in Latin," or any type of thing. There's all sorts of twists that could have been done. I like the little twists like that because they make the audience think. "Highlander" still has its action and everything, but that's really all we went for here, the good guy/bad guy, cops-and-robbers type of thing.
- [on The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension] I think it could have done well, but it got mixed up in one of those Hollywood studio game things, where they all change places. "Buckaroo Banzai" was just so strange that nobody really knew how to approach it. It really is way ahead of its time.
- All the movies where I play nice guys don't seem to do very well.

Clancy (I) Brown filmography