Roscoe Lee Browne

If his face isn't familiar, his voice probably is. Boasting a distinctive, authoritative timbre, this stage-trained character actor used his vocal skills to great effect in animated projects he was the dastardly Kingpin on the '90s Spider-Man series and as a narrator for the Babe movies and documentaries like Galapagos: Beyond Darwin. A product of the radical off-Broadway theater scene of the '60s, Browne was past 30 when he decided to become an actor, having previously enjoyed success as an athlete (he won the 1951 world championship in the 800-yard dash) teacher (he taught comparative literature and French at his alma mater Lincoln University) and salesman. Despite joining the biz late in the game, he found instant success: The day after quitting his sales job in 1956 to pursue his dream, he snagged a role in a New York Shakespeare Festival show. Browne went on to appear in numerous NYSF productions and on Broadway, but he thrived in downtown theater, originating a role in Jean Genet's controversial and confrontational race play The Blacks and winning raves for his searing work in Benito Cereno. Browne also began to infiltrate Hollywood with supporting roles in B-movies like Black Like Me and Super Fly T.N.T. But TV was his true medium. Over 40 years, he made dozens of small-screen appearances, usually playing privileged, educated African-Americans on diverse series including All in the Family, Falcon Crest and Law & Order. Notably, he was Robert Guillaume's dry-witted replacement on Soap and he won an Emmy for his recurring role as a college professor on The Cosby Show and A Different World. Even in his sixties and seventies, Browne remained a sought-after stage and screen player, earning his sole Tony nod for his performance in August Wilson's Two Trains Running and touring with fellow actor Anthony Zerbe in Behind the Broken Words. He slowed down in the '00s due to a long battle with cancer and in April 2007, he finally succumbed to the disease. Although he wasn't as famous as other African-American actors of his generation (James Earl Jones, Ossie Davis), he counted most of them among his friends and admirers.

Collapse Full Bio