Neville Brand(1920-1992)
- Actor
Neville Brand joined the Illinois National Guard in 1939, bent on a career in the
military. His National Guard unit was activated into federal service shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. It was while he was in the army that he made his acting
debut, in Army training films, and this experience apparently changed
the direction of his life. Once a civilian again, he used his GI Bill
education assistance to study drama with the American Theater Wing and
then appeared in several Broadway plays. His film debut was in
Port of New York (1949). Among
his earliest films was the Oscar-winning
Stalag 17 (1953). His heavy features
and gravelly voice made Brand a natural tough guy (and he wasn't just a
"movie" tough guy--he was among the most highly decorated American
soldiers in World War II, fighting in the European Theater against the
Germans). "With this kisser, I knew early in the game I wasn't going to
make the world forget Clark Gable,"
he once told a reporter. He played Al Capone
in
Spin of a Coin (1961),
The Scarface Mob (1959),
and TV's
The Untouchables (1959).
Among his other memorable roles are the sympathetic guard in
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
and the representative of rioting convicts in
Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954).
Perhaps his best-known role was that of the soft-hearted, loud-mouthed,
none-too-bright but very effective Texas Ranger Reese Bennett of
Backtrack! (1969),
Three Guns for Texas (1968),
and TV's Laredo (1965).
