Bryan Neathway Brown (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor.
Early life
Brown was born in Sydney, the son of John (Jack) Brown and Molly Brown, a house cleaner and pianist in the early days of the Langshaw School of Ballet. He grew up in the south-western Sydney suburb of Bankstown, and began working at AMP as an actuarial student. He started to act in amateur theatre performances, where he discovered a passion for acting.
Career
Brown went to England in 1964, eventually winning minor roles at the Old Vic. He returned to Australia where he became a member of the Genesian Theatre, Sydney, appearing in Colleen Clifford's production of A Man for All Seasons, before joining the Queensland Theatre Company. He made his cinema debut in 1977 with a small role in The Love Letters from Teralba Road, and appeared in several more Australian films over the next two years.
In 1980 Brown became known to international audiences for his performance in Breaker Morant. While he continued appearing in Australian productions he also appeared in American TV mini-series, winning popularity in the United States in A Town Like Alice (1981).
He is best known to American television audiences for his Golden Globe and Emmy nominated role as Luke O'Neil in The Thorn Birds (1983), starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward, who he later married.
He starred in several international productions, including Tai-Pan, with Joan Chen, Gorillas in the Mist, with Sigourney Weaver, and Cocktail, with Tom Cruise.
He is one of the few Australian actors who regularly plays Australians, thereby retaining his accent. Two exceptions are Tai-Pan and his role in the TV series Against the Wind, which called for an Irish accent.
Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces firsthand.
After being discharged from the Army, Brian Flanagan moves back to Queens and takes a job in a bar run by Doug Coughlin, who teaches Brian the fine art of bar-tending. Brian quickly becomes a patron favorite with his flashy drink-mixing style, and Brian adopts his mentor's cynical philosophy on life and goes for the money.
Reuben Feffer is a guy who's spent his entire life playing it safe. Polly Prince is irresistible as a free-spirit who lives for the thrill of the moment. When these two comically mismatched souls collide, Reuben's world is turned upside down, as he makes an uproarious attempt to change his life from middle-of-the-road to totally-out-there.
When scam artist Harry Reynolds gets out of jail, he makes his way to the depressed coastal village of Beachport, where according to local myth, an old Portuguese treasure ship lies buried in the sand. Harry is an old pro at manipulating this situation to his best advantage, but never anticipates how deeply he will be affected by the relationship he develops with a young boy and his mother. A delightful tale of greed, gullibility and grandiose schemes, "Sweet Talker" is a romantic comedy for everyone in the family.
Love Birds is a hilarious charming romantic comedy that tells the story of a regular Kiwi bloke who finds himself on a quest to find true love – all with the help of a native New Zealand Shelduck. Comedian Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords, The Boat That Rocked) plays Doug – a road working employee and massive fan of the legendary band Queen, along with Golden-Globe Award winning actress Sally Hawkins (Made In Dagenham) who plays Holly the sassy animal specialist.
When a womanizing bookshop owner hears about the suicide of a former girlfriend, he tries to find out more and meets her friend, a prostitute. They hook up, but when she finds her friend's diary, she discovers she's repeating her mistakes.