Johnny Mack Brown
Acting • Born 1904-09-01 – Died 1974-11-14
Biography
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
176 credits
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
Movie • 2000
(archive footage)
The Secret Six
Movie • 1931
Hank Rogers
Our Dancing Daughters
Movie • 1928
Ben Blaine
Against the Law
Movie • 1934
Steve Wayne
After Midnight
Movie • 1927
Party Boy (uncredited)
Born to the West
Movie • 1937
Tom Fillmore
Fighting With Kit Carson
Movie • 1933
Kit Carson
Female
Movie • 1933
George P. Cooper
Mockery
Movie • 1927
Russian Officer (uncredited)
The Oregon Trail
Movie • 1939
Jeff Scott
Belle of the Nineties
Movie • 1934
Brooks Clayburn
Coquette
Movie • 1929
Michael Jeffery
Stampede
Movie • 1949
Sheriff Aaron Ball
The Crooked Trail
Movie • 1936
Jim Blake
Rawhide Rangers
Movie • 1941
Brand Calhoun
The Single Standard
Movie • 1929
Tommy Hewlett
Apache Uprising
Movie • 1965
Sheriff Ben Hall
The Last Flight
Movie • 1931
Bill Talbot
Montana Moon
Movie • 1930
Larry
Wells Fargo
Movie • 1937
Talbot Carter
The Valiant
Movie • 1929
Robert Ward
Stagecoach Buckaroo
Movie • 1942
Steve Hardin
Slide, Kelly, Slide
Movie • 1927
Johnny Mack Brown
Between Men
Movie • 1935
Johnny Wellington Jr.
Legends of the West
Movie • 1992
Billy the Kid in 'Billy the Kid' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Courageous Avenger
Movie • 1935
Kirk Baxter
Soft Living
Movie • 1928
Stockney Webb
Billy the Kid
Movie • 1930
Billy the Kid
Cross Streets
Movie • 1934
Adam Blythe
Branded a Coward
Movie • 1935
Johnny Hume
The Fair Co-Ed
Movie • 1927
Bob
Texas Lawmen
Movie • 1951
Marshal Johnny Mack Brown
A Lady of Chance
Movie • 1928
Steve Crandall
The Divine Woman
Movie • 1928
Jean Lery
Short Grass
Movie • 1950
Sheriff Ord Keown
Flames
Movie • 1932
Charlie
Malay Nights
Movie • 1932
Jim Wilson
Desert Phantom
Movie • 1936
Billy Donovan
Rogue of the Range
Movie • 1936
Dan Doran
The Texas Kid
Movie • 1943
Jack McKenzie
Partners of the Trail
Movie • 1944
Jack McKenzie
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Movie • 1976
(archive footage)
The Silver Bullet
Movie • 1942
Silver Jim Donovan
St. Louis Woman
Movie • 1934
Jim Warren
Lawless Land
Movie • 1937
Ranger Jeff Hayden
Bar-Z Bad Men
Movie • 1937
Jim Waters
Guns in the Dark
Movie • 1937
Johnny Darrel
A Lawman Is Born
Movie • 1937
Tom Mitchell
Boothill Brigade
Movie • 1937
Lon Cardigan
The Gambling Terror
Movie • 1937
Jeff Hayes
The Great Meadow
Movie • 1931
Berk Jarvis (as John Mack Brown)
Pony Post
Movie • 1940
Cal Sheridan
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground
Movie • 1943
Wade Benson
Flaming Frontiers
Movie • 1938
Tex Houston
Hurricane
Movie • 1929
Dan
Undertow
Movie • 1930
Paul Whalen
Chip of the Flying U
Movie • 1939
'Chip' Bennett
Land of Liberty
Movie • 1939
Billy the Kid (edited from 'Billy the Kid')
Jazz Heaven
Movie • 1929
Barry Holmes
A Woman of Affairs
Movie • 1928
David Furness
Wild West Days
Movie • 1937
Kentucky Wade
The Vanishing Frontier
Movie • 1933
Kirby Tornell
The Navajo Trail
Movie • 1945
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Law of the Range
Movie • 1941
Steve Howard
Man from Montana
Movie • 1941
Sheriff Bob Dawson
The Masked Rider
Movie • 1941
Larry Prescott
The Gentleman from Texas
Movie • 1946
Johnny Macklin
Annapolis
Movie • 1928
Bill
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Movie • 1941
Alabam' Brewster
Son of a Sailor
Movie • 1933
'Duke'
The Lone Star Trail
Movie • 1943
Blaze Barker
Stranger from Santa Fe
Movie • 1945
U.S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie, posing as Roy Ferris
Prairie Express
Movie • 1947
Johnny Hudson
Oklahoma Justice
Movie • 1951
Johnny Mack Brown
Blazing Bullets
Movie • 1951
Johnny Mack Brown
Whistling Hills
Movie • 1951
Johnny Mack Brown
Son of Roaring Dan
Movie • 1940
Jim Reardon (Posing as Horace McPhail)
Shadows on the Range
Movie • 1946
Steve Mason posing as Steve Saunders
Overland Trails
Movie • 1948
Johnny Murdock
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
Movie • 1994
Self (archive footage)
Six Gun Mesa
Movie • 1950
Johnny Mack Brown
Arizona Cyclone
Movie • 1941
Tom Baxter
Trigger Fingers
Movie • 1946
Sam Hurricane Benton
Valley of the Lawless
Movie • 1936
Bruce Reynolds
Ragtime Cowboy Joe
Movie • 1940
Steve Logan
Undercover Man
Movie • 1936
Steve McLain
Dead Man's Trail
Movie • 1952
Johnny Mack Brown
Over the Border
Movie • 1950
Johnny Mack Brown
Triggerman
Movie • 1948
Johnny Mack Brown
Valley of Fear
Movie • 1947
Johnny Williams
West of Carson City
Movie • 1940
Jim Bannister
West of El Dorado
Movie • 1949
Johnny Mack
Trail of Vengeance
Movie • 1937
Dude Ramsay
Border Bandits
Movie • 1946
Marshal Nevada
The Lost Trail
Movie • 1945
Marshal 'Nevada Jack' McKenzie
The Marshal's Daughter
Movie • 1953
Johnny Mack Brown - Poker-Game Player
Riders of Pasco Basin
Movie • 1940
Lee Jamison
Crossed Trails
Movie • 1948
Johnny Mack
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Movie • 1942
Jim Mallory
Gun Smoke
Movie • 1945
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Outlaw Gold
Movie • 1950
Johnny Mack Brown
Man from Sonora
Movie • 1951
Johnny Mack Brown
Everyman's Law
Movie • 1936
Johnny- aka The Dog Town Kid
The Bounty Killer
Movie • 1965
Sheriff Green
Forever Yours
Movie • 1945
Maj. Tex O'Connor
Oklahoma Frontier
Movie • 1939
Jeff McLeod
Boss of Bullion City
Movie • 1940
Tom Bryant
Bad Man from Red Butte
Movie • 1940
Gils Brady / Buck Halliday
Law and Order
Movie • 1940
Bill Ralston
Law Men
Movie • 1944
U.S. Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Movie • 1941
Joe Henderson
Desperate Trails
Movie • 1939
Steve Hayden
Silver Range
Movie • 1946
Johnny Bronton
Flashing Guns
Movie • 1947
Johnny Mack
Canyon Ambush
Movie • 1952
Johnny Mack Brown
Requiem for a Gunfighter
Movie • 1965
Enkoff
Little Joe, the Wrangler
Movie • 1942
Neal Wallace
The Old Chisholm Trail
Movie • 1942
Dusty Gardner
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
Movie • 1934
Self
The Play Girl
Movie • 1928
Bradley Lane
Colorado Ambush
Movie • 1951
Johnny Mack Brown
Montana Desperado
Movie • 1951
Johnny Mack Brown
Law of the Panhandle
Movie • 1950
U.S. Marshal Johnny Mack Brown
Raiders of San Joaquin
Movie • 1943
Rocky Morgan aka The Black Rider
Cheyenne Roundup
Movie • 1943
Buck Brandon & Gils Brandon
Man from the Black Hills
Movie • 1952
Johnny Mack Brown
Boss of Hangtown Mesa
Movie • 1942
Steve Collins
Texas City
Movie • 1952
Johnny Mack Brown
Fighting Bill Fargo
Movie • 1941
Bill Fargo
Outlaws of Stampede Pass
Movie • 1943
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Six Gun Gospel
Movie • 1943
Marshal Jack McKenzie
The Stranger From Pecos
Movie • 1943
Nevada Jack McKenzie
The Ghost Rider
Movie • 1943
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Ghost Guns
Movie • 1944
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Land of the Outlaws
Movie • 1944
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Law of the Valley
Movie • 1944
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Raiders of the Border
Movie • 1944
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Range Law
Movie • 1944
U. S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie
West of the Rio Grande
Movie • 1944
U.S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Flame of the West
Movie • 1945
Dr. John Poore
Frontier Feud
Movie • 1945
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Under Arizona Skies
Movie • 1946
Dusty Smith
Drifting Along
Movie • 1946
Steve Garner
The Haunted Mine
Movie • 1946
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Gun Talk
Movie • 1947
Johnny McVey
Raiders of the South
Movie • 1947
Captain Brownell posing Johnny Langdon
Trailing Danger
Movie • 1947
Johnny
Code of the Saddle
Movie • 1947
John Macklin
Land of the Lawless
Movie • 1947
Johnny Mack
The Law Comes to Gunsight
Movie • 1947
Johnny Mackey
Law of the West
Movie • 1949
Federal Agent Johnny Mack
Range Justice
Movie • 1949
Johnny Mack Brown
Back Trail
Movie • 1948
Johnny Mack
The Fighting Ranger
Movie • 1948
Johnny Brown
Frontier Agent
Movie • 1948
Johnny Mack Brown
Gunning for Justice
Movie • 1948
Johnny Mack
Hidden Danger
Movie • 1948
Johnny Mack
The Sheriff of Medicine Bow
Movie • 1948
Johnny Mack Brown
Trails End
Movie • 1949
Johnny Mack
Western Renegades
Movie • 1949
Johnny Mack Brown
West of Wyoming
Movie • 1950
Johnny Mack Brown
Rustlers of Red Dog
Movie • 1935
Jack Wood
Three on a Honeymoon
Movie • 1934
Chuck Wells
Saturday's Millions
Movie • 1933
Alan Barry
The Bugle Call
Movie • 1927
Bit (uncredited)
Starlit Days at the Lido
Movie • 1935
Self
70,000 Witnesses
Movie • 1932
Wally Clark
Crazy House
Movie • 1943
Johnny Mack Brown
It's Showtime
Movie • 1976
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Halfbacks
Movie • 1931
Lasca of the Rio Grande
Movie • 1931
Miles Kincaid
Marrying Widows
Movie • 1934
The Husband
Hell Town
Movie • 1937
Tom Fillmore
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Warner Griffith
This Is Your Life
TV • 1952
Self
Official Detective
TV • 1957