Clarence Brown
Known for Directing
Details
Birthday: May 10, 1890
Deathday: August 17, 1987
Place of birth: Clinton, Massachusetts, USA
Biography
Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director.
After serving as a fighter pilot and flight instructor in the United States Army Air Service during World War I, Brown was given his first co-directing credit (with Tourneur) for The Great Redeemer (1920). Later that year, he directed a major portion of The Last of the Mohicans after Tourneur was injured in a fall.
Brown moved to Universal in 1924, and then to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he remained until the mid-1950s. At MGM he was one of the main directors of their major female stars, he directed Joan Crawford six times and Greta Garbo seven.
Brown was nominated five times for six films (see below) for an Academy Award as a director, but he never received an Oscar. However, he won Best Foreign Film for Anna Karenina, starring Garbo at the 1935 Venice International Film Festival.
Brown's films gained a total of 38 Academy Award nominations and earned nine Oscars. Brown himself received five Academy Award nominations for six films and in 1949, he won the British Academy Award for the film version of William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust.
In 1957, Brown was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film. Brown retired a wealthy man due to his real estate investments, but refused to watch new movies, as he feared they might cause him to restart his career.
The Clarence Brown Theater, on the campus of the University of Tennessee, is named in his honor. He holds the record for most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director without a win, with six.
Actor
1988
1931
1929
1924
Director
1952
1952
1951
1950
1949
1947
1946
1945
1943
1941
1941
1940
1939
1939
1938
1937
1936
1936
1935
1935
1934
1934
1933
1933
1932
1932
1932
1931
1931
1931
1930
1930
1929
1929
1928
1928
1926
1926
1925
1925
1925
1924
1924
1923
1921
1920