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.
Acted in 169
2000s
- 2000
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
(archive footage)
1990s
- 1992
Legends of the West
Billy the Kid in 'Billy the Kid' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1970s
- 1976
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
(archive footage)
1960s
- 1965
Apache Uprising
Sheriff Ben Hall
Requiem for a Gunfighter
Enkoff
1950s
- 1957
- 1953
- 1952
Canyon Ambush
Johnny Mack Brown
Dead Man's Trail
Johnny Mack Brown
Texas City
Johnny Mack Brown
- 1951
Texas Lawmen
Marshal Johnny Mack Brown
Whistling Hills
Johnny Mack Brown
Montana Desperado
Johnny Mack Brown
Blazing Bullets
Johnny Mack Brown
Man from Sonora
Johnny Mack Brown
- 1950
Short Grass
Sheriff Ord Keown
Outlaw Gold
Johnny Mack Brown
Law of the Panhandle
U.S. Marshal Johnny Mack Brown
Six Gun Mesa
Johnny Mack Brown
Over the Border
Johnny Mack Brown
West of Wyoming
Johnny Mack Brown
1940s
- 1949
Western Renegades
Johnny Mack Brown
Range Justice
Johnny Mack Brown
West of El Dorado
Johnny Mack
Trails End
Johnny Mack
Law of the West
Federal Agent Johnny Mack
- 1948
Hidden Danger
Johnny Mack
Gunning for Justice
Johnny Mack
The Sheriff of Medicine Bow
Johnny Mack Brown
The Fighting Ranger
Johnny Brown
Back Trail
Johnny Mack
Frontier Agent
Johnny Mack Brown
Crossed Trails
Johnny Mack
Overland Trails
Johnny Murdock
- 1947
Gun Talk
Johnny McVey
Prairie Express
Johnny Hudson
Valley of Fear
Johnny Williams
Code of the Saddle
John Macklin
Trailing Danger
Johnny
The Law Comes to Gunsight
Johnny Mackey
Land of the Lawless
Johnny Mack
Raiders of the South
Captain Brownell posing Johnny Langdon
- 1946
Silver Range
Johnny Bronton
Shadows on the Range
Steve Mason posing as Steve Saunders
Trigger Fingers
Sam Hurricane Benton
The Gentleman from Texas
Johnny Macklin
Under Arizona Skies
Dusty Smith
The Haunted Mine
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Drifting Along
Steve Garner
- 1945
Frontier Feud
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
The Lost Trail
Marshal 'Nevada Jack' McKenzie
Flame of the West
Dr. John Poore
Stranger from Santa Fe
U.S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie, posing as Roy Ferris
Gun Smoke
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
The Navajo Trail
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
- 1944
Ghost Guns
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Law of the Valley
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Land of the Outlaws
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
West of the Rio Grande
U.S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Range Law
U. S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Law Men
U.S. Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Raiders of the Border
Nevada Jack McKenzie
- 1943
The Texas Kid
Jack McKenzie
Outlaws of Stampede Pass
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Crazy House
Johnny Mack Brown
The Lone Star Trail
Blaze Barker
Six Gun Gospel
Marshal Jack McKenzie
The Stranger From Pecos
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Raiders of San Joaquin
Rocky Morgan aka The Black Rider
Cheyenne Roundup
Buck Brandon & Gils Brandon
The Ghost Rider
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground
Wade Benson
- 1942
The Old Chisholm Trail
Dusty Gardner
Little Joe, the Wrangler
Neal Wallace
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Jim Mallory
Boss of Hangtown Mesa
Steve Collins
The Silver Bullet
Silver Jim Donovan
Stagecoach Buckaroo
Steve Hardin
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Alabam' Brewster
- 1941
Fighting Bill Fargo
Bill Fargo
Arizona Cyclone
Tom Baxter
The Masked Rider
Larry Prescott
Man from Montana
Sheriff Bob Dawson
Rawhide Rangers
Brand Calhoun
Law of the Range
Steve Howard
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Joe Henderson
- 1940
Pony Post
Cal Sheridan
Law and Order
Bill Ralston
Ragtime Cowboy Joe
Steve Logan
Son of Roaring Dan
Jim Reardon (Posing as Horace McPhail)
Bad Man from Red Butte
Gils Brady / Buck Halliday
Riders of Pasco Basin
Lee Jamison
Boss of Bullion City
Tom Bryant
West of Carson City
Jim Bannister
1930s
- 1939
Chip of the Flying U
'Chip' Bennett
Oklahoma Frontier
Jeff McLeod
Desperate Trails
Steve Hayden
The Oregon Trail
Jeff Scott
Land of Liberty
Billy the Kid (edited from 'Billy the Kid')
- 1938
Flaming Frontiers
Tex Houston
- 1937
Hell Town
Tom Fillmore
Boothill Brigade
Lon Cardigan
Wild West Days
Kentucky Wade
A Lawman Is Born
Tom Mitchell
Guns in the Dark
Johnny Darrel
Trail of Vengeance
Dude Ramsay
The Gambling Terror
Jeff Hayes
- 1936
Undercover Man
Steve McLain
Everyman's Law
Johnny- aka The Dog Town Kid
Valley of the Lawless
Bruce Reynolds
- 1935
The Courageous Avenger
Kirk Baxter
Between Men
Johnny Wellington Jr.
Branded a Coward
Johnny Hume
Rustlers of Red Dog
Jack Wood
- 1934
Against the Law
Steve Wayne
Belle of the Nineties
Brooks Clayburn
Cross Streets
Adam Blythe
Marrying Widows
The Husband
St. Louis Woman
Jim Warren
Three on a Honeymoon
Chuck Wells
- 1933
Son of a Sailor
'Duke'
Female
George P. Cooper
Saturday's Millions
Alan Barry
Fighting With Kit Carson
Kit Carson
The Vanishing Frontier
Kirby Tornell
- 1932
70,000 Witnesses
Wally Clark
Flames
Charlie
- 1931
Lasca of the Rio Grande
Miles Kincaid
The Last Flight
Bill Talbot
The Secret Six
Hank Rogers
The Great Meadow
Berk Jarvis
- 1930
Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
Montana Moon
Larry
Undertow
Paul Whalen
1920s
- 1929
Jazz Heaven
Barry Holmes
Hurricane
Dan
The Single Standard
Tommy Hewlett
The Valiant
Robert Ward
Coquette
Michael Jeffery
- 1928
A Lady of Chance
Steve Crandall
Annapolis
Bill
Our Dancing Daughters
Ben Blaine
The Play Girl
Bradley Lane
Soft Living
Stockney Webb
The Divine Woman
Jean Lery
- 1927
The Fair Co-Ed
Bob
After Midnight
Party Boy (uncredited)
Mockery
Russian Officer (uncredited)
The Bugle Call
Bit (uncredited)
Slide, Kelly, Slide
Johnny Mack Brown
Appearances5
1990s
- 1994
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
Self (archive footage)
1970s
- 1976
It's Showtime
Self (archive footage)
1950s
- 1952
1930s
- 1935
Starlit Days at the Lido
Self
- 1934
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
Self