Roscoe Lee Browne (1925 - 2007)

(Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com)

Actor Roscoe Lee Browne, whose resumé covered everything from classic theatre to voicing The Kingpin in Spider-Man, died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 81.

Browne's biggest asset as an actor was his cultured baritone, which won him the role of the Narrator in 1995's Babe, 2006's Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties and 2007's Epic Movie. However, it sometimes hurt his career. Some moviegoers thought the actor's delivery was too cultured when he portrayed a camp cook in the live-action John Wayne movie The Cowboys.

"Some critics complained that I spoke too well to be believable" in the cook's role, Browne told the Washington Post in 1972. "When a critic makes that remark, I think, if I had said, 'Yassuh, boss' to John Wayne, then the critic would have taken a shine to me." Despite that, Browne won the Western Heritage Bronze Wrangler Award for his role.

Browne was born May 2, 1925 in Woodbury, New Jersey. He graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he later returned to teach Comparative Literature and French. He was also highly athletic: in 1951, he set a world's record in Paris for the 800 metre dash.

He was selling wine for an import company when he suddenly decided to become a full-time actor. Despite his friends' concerns, he won two roles in the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1956 presentation of Julius Caesar. That prompted him to take the leap into acting.

Browne got into television and movies in the 1960's, as well as winning greater acclaim on the stage. In 1965, he won the Obie Award for his protrayal of a rebellious slave in the off-Broadway production of Benito Cereno.

On the small screen, Browne played a memorable role as a snobbish black lawyer, stuck in an elevator with Archie Bunker in Normal Lear's All in the Family. In 1976, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his appearance on Barney Miller, and won in 1986 for his portrayal of Dr. Barnabus Foster on The Cosby Show. He also won the 1981 Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Villain for his work on Falcon Crest.

Despite being best known for his television and stage work, Browne also did a fair amount of animated movies and shows. He voiced Merklyn in Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, Francis in Disney's Oliver and Company, and appeared on The Real Ghostbusters, The Wild Thornberrys and Batman. His biggest animated series role was that of Wilson Fisk / The Kingpin in the 1990's version of Spider-Man. He also portrayed Mr. Arrow in Disney's 2002 animated flick Treasure Planet.

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