Roscoe Lee Browne has died (1 Viewer)

[Henry Gale]

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Actor Roscoe Lee Browne, whose rich voice and dignified bearing brought him an Emmy Award and a Tony nomination, has died. He was 81.

Browne died early Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a long battle with cancer.

Browne's career included classic theater to TV cartoons. He also was a poet and a former world-class athlete.

In movies, he was a spy in the 1969 Alfred Hitchcock feature "Topaz" and a camp cook in 1972's "The Cowboys," which starred John Wayne.

"Some critics complained that I spoke too well to be believable" in the cook's role, Browne told The Washington Post in 1972. "When a critic makes that remark, I think, if I had said, 'Yassuh, boss' to John Wayne, then the critic would have taken a shine to me."

On television, he had several memorable guest roles. He was a snobbish black lawyer trapped in an elevator with bigot Archie Bunker in an episode of the 1970s TV comedy "All in the Family" and the butler Saunders in the comedy "Soap." He won an Emmy in 1986 for a guest role as Professor Foster on "The Cosby Show."

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Gotta remember that voice as Box from Logan's Run.

 

[Craig S]

I had no idea he was in his 80s. He was always a welcome presence in anything he did. R.I.P. Mr. Browne.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I was familar with him from the 1990's Spiderman series, where he was the voice of the Kingpin.

 

[LarryDavenport]

I will always remember him for his roles in The Cowboys and All In The Family. He was a classic.

 

[Rhett_Y]

Oh man.. I had to look him up, but once I saw who he was.... I agree... sad day....

RIP Mr. Browne....

 

[Nkosi]

God bless his soul and may he rest in peace.

 

[Steve Christou]

Sad news. Loved him in the The Cowboys. Great voice. Rest in Peace.

 

[Henry Gale]

Until I read his obit I didn't realize that Mr. Browne narrated Babe & Babe: Pig in the City.

BTW, if you've never watched that second film, do yourself a favor. I love that movie.

 

[Steve Christou]

Henry, I didn't watch the first movie.

Box: Fish, and plankton. And sea greens, and protein from the sea. It's all here, ready. Fresh as harvest day. Fish and sea greens, plankton and protein from the sea. And then it stopped coming. And they came instead. So I store them here. I'm ready. And you're ready. It's my job. To freeze you!

 

[ScottR]

He was in some horror movie when I was a toddler, and I remember being totally spooked by his presence! (A credit to his acting and wonderful, deep voice.)

 

[TonyD]

 

[Ocean Phoenix]

Cool...The Kingpin on the 90s Spider-Man series was white, but voiced by a black actor, then the live action Kingpin was played by Michael Clarke Duncan in Daredevil. I think the 90s Spider-Man series was often very cheesy and doesn't date well (certainly doesn't have the timelessness of the 90s Batman animated series), but there was some perfect voice casting, and Roscoe Lee Browne was an example. The same goes for Ed Asner at Jameson...I couldn't hear their voices in anything else without thinking of them as their Spider-Man characters.

 

[Kevin M]

Yes, as a kid growing up in the 70's I remember him best as the voice of Box: "Overwhelming, am I not?"

R.I.P. Mr. Brown.

 

[Dave Mack]

Wow, just saw this.
We have been watching all the SOAP eps. in order and we are in S4 and the other nite we watched an ep. where Billy's ex tries to blow everyone up with a grenade. The colonel takes it into the kitchen to "disarm it", it explodes and Saunders, (Roscoe..) said a line that almost had us in tears...
"Madam, dinner is on the stove. Unfortunately, the stove is in the swimming pool..." delivered so perfectly and dryly...

What a talent.

RIP, sir. d