Johnny Mack Brown
Acting
177 titles
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
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
2000
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
1994
Legends of the West
1992
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
1976
It's Showtime
1976
Apache Uprising
1965
The Bounty Killer
1965
Requiem for a Gunfighter
1965
Perry Mason
1957
Official Detective
1957
The Marshal's Daughter
1953
Canyon Ambush
1952
This Is Your Life
1952
Dead Man's Trail
1952
Man from the Black Hills
1952
Texas City
1952
Texas Lawmen
1951
Whistling Hills
1951
Oklahoma Justice
1951
Montana Desperado
1951
Blazing Bullets
1951
Man from Sonora
1951
Colorado Ambush
1951
Short Grass
1950
Outlaw Gold
1950
Law of the Panhandle
1950
Six Gun Mesa
1950
Over the Border
1950
West of Wyoming
1950
Western Renegades
1949
Range Justice
1949
West of El Dorado
1949
Stampede
1949
Trails End
1949
Law of the West
1949
Hidden Danger
1948
Gunning for Justice
1948
The Sheriff of Medicine Bow
1948
The Fighting Ranger
1948
Back Trail
1948
Triggerman
1948
Frontier Agent
1948
Crossed Trails
1948
Overland Trails
1948
Gun Talk
1947
Prairie Express
1947
Valley of Fear
1947
Flashing Guns
1947
Code of the Saddle
1947
Trailing Danger
1947
The Law Comes to Gunsight
1947
Land of the Lawless
1947
Raiders of the South
1947
Silver Range
1946
Shadows on the Range
1946
Trigger Fingers
1946
The Gentleman from Texas
1946
Under Arizona Skies
1946
The Haunted Mine
1946
Drifting Along
1946
Border Bandits
1946
Frontier Feud
1945
The Lost Trail
1945
Flame of the West
1945
Stranger from Santa Fe
1945
Gun Smoke
1945
Forever Yours
1945
The Navajo Trail
1945
Ghost Guns
1944
Law of the Valley
1944
Land of the Outlaws
1944
West of the Rio Grande
1944
Range Law
1944
Partners of the Trail
1944
Law Men
1944
Raiders of the Border
1944
The Texas Kid
1943
Outlaws of Stampede Pass
1943
Crazy House
1943
The Lone Star Trail
1943
Six Gun Gospel
1943
The Stranger From Pecos
1943
Raiders of San Joaquin
1943
Cheyenne Roundup
1943
The Ghost Rider
1943
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground
1943
The Old Chisholm Trail
1942
Little Joe, the Wrangler
1942
Deep in the Heart of Texas
1942
Boss of Hangtown Mesa
1942
The Silver Bullet
1942
Stagecoach Buckaroo
1942
Fighting Bill Fargo
1941
Ride 'Em Cowboy
1941
Arizona Cyclone
1941
The Masked Rider
1941
Man from Montana
1941
Rawhide Rangers
1941
Law of the Range
1941
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
1941
Pony Post
1940
Law and Order
1940
Ragtime Cowboy Joe
1940
Son of Roaring Dan
1940
Bad Man from Red Butte
1940
Riders of Pasco Basin
1940
Boss of Bullion City
1940
West of Carson City
1940
Chip of the Flying U
1939
Oklahoma Frontier
1939
Desperate Trails
1939
The Oregon Trail
1939
Land of Liberty
1939
Flaming Frontiers
1938
Wells Fargo
1937
Born to the West
1937
Hell Town
1937
Boothill Brigade
1937
Wild West Days
1937
A Lawman Is Born
1937
Guns in the Dark
1937
Bar-Z Bad Men
1937
Lawless Land
1937
Trail of Vengeance
1937
The Gambling Terror
1937
Undercover Man
1936
The Crooked Trail
1936
Everyman's Law
1936
Rogue of the Range
1936
Desert Phantom
1936
Valley of the Lawless
1936
The Courageous Avenger
1935
Between Men
1935
Starlit Days at the Lido
1935
Branded a Coward
1935
Rustlers of Red Dog
1935
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
1934
Against the Law
1934
Belle of the Nineties
1934
Cross Streets
1934
Marrying Widows
1934
St. Louis Woman
1934
Three on a Honeymoon
1934
Son of a Sailor
1933
Female
1933
Saturday's Millions
1933
Fighting With Kit Carson
1933
The Vanishing Frontier
1933
Malay Nights
1932
70,000 Witnesses
1932
Flames
1932
Hollywood Halfbacks
1931
Lasca of the Rio Grande
1931
The Last Flight
1931
The Secret Six
1931
The Great Meadow
1931
Billy the Kid
1930
Montana Moon
1930
Undertow
1930
Jazz Heaven
1929
Hurricane
1929
The Single Standard
1929
The Valiant
1929
Coquette
1929
A Woman of Affairs
1928
A Lady of Chance
1928
Annapolis
1928
Our Dancing Daughters
1928
The Play Girl
1928
Square Crooks
1928
Soft Living
1928
The Divine Woman
1928
The Fair Co-Ed
1927
After Midnight
1927
Mockery
1927
The Bugle Call
1927
Slide, Kelly, Slide
1927