[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 25, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H4162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORY OF ROSCOE LEE BROWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness and a deep sense of 
loss that we received the word of the passing of Roscoe Lee Brown on 
April 11, 2007. Mr. Brown was a distinguished Californian whose deeds 
and life merit the grateful acknowledgment of his community, his State, 
the Nation and the world.
  Roscoe was born on May 2, 1925, in Woodbury, New Jersey. He graduated 
from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1946, earned his post-
graduate degree at Middlebury College, and did graduate studies at 
Columbia University.
  In college, Roscoe was also a star athlete, winning the world 
championship in the 800 meters in 1951. After finishing his college and 
post-graduate career, Roscoe returned to Lincoln, where he taught 
French and comparative literature.
  At a dinner party in 1956, Roscoe announced his decision to become an 
actor, auditioned for and won a role in Julius Caesar the next day at 
the newly formed New York Shakespeare Festival, and found his life-long 
artistic passion, performing five more roles with that company.
  In 1961, Roscoe appeared with James Earl Jones in the original off-
Broadway cast of Jean Genet's landmark play, ``The Blacks.'' He won an 
Obie for his role in ``The Old Glory,'' received the Los Angeles Drama 
Critics Circle Award for both ``The Dream on Monkey Mountain'' in 1970, 
and ``Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' in 1989.
  He wrote and directed ``An Evening of Negro Poetry and Folk Music,'' 
1966, returned to Broadway in Tommy Tune's 1983 ``Kicking the Clouds 
Away,'' and earned a Tony nomination in August Wilson's ``Two Trains 
Running.'' That was 1992.
  In 1962, Roscoe made his debut in films, appearing in ``The 
Connection.'' He has also appeared in ``The Comedians'' in 1967; ``Up 
Tight!'' in 1968, Hitchcock's ``Topaz'' in 1969, ``The Liberation of 
L.B. Jones,'' ``Superfly,'' ``Uptown Saturday Night,'' ``Logan's Run,'' 
``Legal Eagles,'' ``The Mambo Kings'' and ``Dear God.''
  Roscoe's television career included memorable appearances on all the 
top 1970 sitcoms, including ``All in the Family,'' ``Maude,'' ``Sanford 
and Son,'' ``Good Times,'' and ``Barney Miller.'' He replaced Robert 
Guillaume on ``Soap,'' and in 1986 he won an Emmy guesting on ``The 
Cosby Show.''
  His resonant baritone was heard in documentaries, live-action fare 
and animated films, as well as the spoken-word arena with such symphony 
orchestras as the Boston Pops and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. For 
many years he and actor Anthony Zerbe toured the United States in 
``Behind the Broken Words,'' an evening of poetry and dramatic 
readings.
  Roscoe Lee Brown was a person of exceptional talent and 
accomplishments. He was among the first generation of African-American 
actors who sought to ply their craft during a period that rarely 
acknowledged or provided opportunity to persons of color.
  It can truly be said that the Denzel Washingtons and other younger 
black actors in movies and television stood on the backs of giants like 
Roscoe Lee Brown, who blazed a trail for them through perseverance, 
hard work, and uncommon displays of exceptional talent.
  May he rest in peace.

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