Johnny Mack Brown

An All-American halfback while attending the University of Alabama, Johnny Mack Brown chose the silver screen over the green grass of the football field when he graduated. Signed to a contract with MGM in 1926, Brown debuted in Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) with William Haines in a film about - baseball. This was followed by The Bugle Call (1927), which starred the fading Jackie Coogan. In 1928 he appeared in the last Norma Shearer silent film, A Lady of Chance (1928). After that, he worked with Greta Garbo, Marion Davies and Mary Pickford. His muscular good looks only carried him so far in films, however, and by 1930 he had yet to find his place. At MGM Clark Gable was taking the roles that Brown was up for, so he went into a western for director King Vidor, Billy the Kid (1930). While Vidor did not want him for the part to begin with, the picture was successful; however, Brown's career at MGM soon ended. By 1933 he was still making westerns, but they were for low-rung studios like Mascot. More westerns at even lower-rung Supreme Pictures followed, as well as serials like Wild West Days (1937) at Universal. In 1943 Brown took his boots over to Monogram Pictures, where he made over 60 westerns. He started off as "Nevada Jack McKenzie" in the Rough Riders series, but the name soon changed to Johnny. As with most of the early cowboy stars, he was a hero to millions of young children and consistently among the top ten money-makers in westerns from 1942-50. The bubble burst, though, just as it did for Allan Lane, in 1953, as the days of the "B" western came to an end.

Filmography (177 Appearances)

Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs

Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her

Legends of the West

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

It's Showtime

Apache Uprising

The Bounty Killer

Requiem for a Gunfighter

Perry Mason

Official Detective

The Marshal's Daughter

Canyon Ambush

This Is Your Life

Dead Man's Trail

Man from the Black Hills

Texas City

Texas Lawmen

Whistling Hills

Oklahoma Justice

Montana Desperado

Blazing Bullets

Man from Sonora

Colorado Ambush

Short Grass

Outlaw Gold

Law of the Panhandle

Six Gun Mesa

Over the Border

West of Wyoming

Western Renegades

Range Justice

West of El Dorado

Stampede

Trails End

Law of the West

Hidden Danger

Gunning for Justice

The Sheriff of Medicine Bow

The Fighting Ranger

Back Trail

Triggerman

Frontier Agent

Crossed Trails

Overland Trails

Gun Talk

Prairie Express

Valley of Fear

Flashing Guns

Code of the Saddle

Trailing Danger

The Law Comes to Gunsight

Land of the Lawless

Raiders of the South

Silver Range

Shadows on the Range

Trigger Fingers

The Gentleman from Texas

Under Arizona Skies

The Haunted Mine

Drifting Along

Border Bandits

Frontier Feud

The Lost Trail

Flame of the West

Stranger from Santa Fe

Gun Smoke

Forever Yours

The Navajo Trail

Ghost Guns

Law of the Valley

Land of the Outlaws

West of the Rio Grande

Range Law

Partners of the Trail

Law Men

Raiders of the Border

The Texas Kid

Outlaws of Stampede Pass

Crazy House

The Lone Star Trail

Six Gun Gospel

The Stranger From Pecos

Raiders of San Joaquin

Cheyenne Roundup

The Ghost Rider

Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground

The Old Chisholm Trail

Little Joe, the Wrangler

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Boss of Hangtown Mesa

The Silver Bullet

Stagecoach Buckaroo

Fighting Bill Fargo

Ride 'Em Cowboy

Arizona Cyclone

The Masked Rider

Man from Montana

Rawhide Rangers

Law of the Range

Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

Pony Post

Law and Order

Ragtime Cowboy Joe

Son of Roaring Dan

Bad Man from Red Butte

Riders of Pasco Basin

Boss of Bullion City

West of Carson City

Chip of the Flying U

Oklahoma Frontier

Desperate Trails

The Oregon Trail

Land of Liberty

Flaming Frontiers

Wells Fargo

Born to the West

Hell Town

Boothill Brigade

Wild West Days

A Lawman Is Born

Guns in the Dark

Bar-Z Bad Men

Lawless Land

Trail of Vengeance

The Gambling Terror

Undercover Man

The Crooked Trail

Everyman's Law

Rogue of the Range

Desert Phantom

Valley of the Lawless

The Courageous Avenger

Between Men

Starlit Days at the Lido

Branded a Coward

Rustlers of Red Dog

Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove

Against the Law

Belle of the Nineties

Cross Streets

Marrying Widows

St. Louis Woman

Three on a Honeymoon

Son of a Sailor

Female

Saturday's Millions

Fighting With Kit Carson

The Vanishing Frontier

Malay Nights

70,000 Witnesses

Flames

Hollywood Halfbacks

Lasca of the Rio Grande

The Last Flight

The Secret Six

The Great Meadow

Billy the Kid

Montana Moon

Undertow

Jazz Heaven

Hurricane

The Single Standard

The Valiant

Coquette

A Woman of Affairs

A Lady of Chance

Annapolis

Our Dancing Daughters

The Play Girl

Square Crooks

Soft Living

The Divine Woman

The Fair Co-Ed

After Midnight

Mockery

The Bugle Call

Slide, Kelly, Slide

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