Roscoe Lee Browne

Roscoe Lee Browne (May 2, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American actor, director, and narrator born in Woodbury, New Jersey, the fourth son of Baptist minister Sylvanus S. Browne and his wife, Lovie Lee (Usher). He graduated from Woodbury Junior-Senior High School in 1939 and went on to attend Lincoln University, a historically Black institution in Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor's degree in 1946 after his studies were interrupted by wartime service. During World War II, Browne served in Italy with the United States Army's 92nd Infantry Division and organized the Division's track and field team. Following the war, he pursued postgraduate study under the GI Bill at Middlebury College, Columbia University, and the University of Florence. A competitive middle-distance runner, he claimed two Amateur Athletic Union national indoor championships at 1,000 yards and toured Europe in 1950 and 1951 as a half-miler with a USA Track and Field team.

Between 1946 and 1952, Browne periodically returned to Lincoln University to teach English, French, and comparative literature. He subsequently spent several years selling wine for Schenley Import Corporation before leaving that position in 1956 to pursue acting professionally. That same summer, he secured the roles of the Soothsayer and Pindarus in Julius Caesar and a servant role in The Taming of the Shrew, both directed by Stuart Vaughan and produced by Joseph Papp for New York City's inaugural Shakespeare in the Park. Additional work with the New York Shakespeare Festival followed, including roles as Aaron in Titus Andronicus and Balthazar in Romeo and Juliet in 1957, and as the Fool in King Lear and Autolycus in The Winter's Tale in the early 1960s.

Browne's Broadway career spanned from 1960 to 1992. He made his Broadway debut playing Royal Baron in The Cool World at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in 1960. Subsequent Broadway credits included the role of Corporal in General Seeger at the Lyceum Theatre in 1962, the Narrator in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe at the Martin Beck Theatre in 1963, and appearances in Burning Bright and My One and Only, among other productions. His Broadway work earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1992. Beyond Broadway, he performed at venues including the American Place Theatre, Arena Stage, and the Theatre de Lys, and played Archibald Wellington in The Blacks: A Clown Show at St. Mark's Playhouse from 1961 to 1962.

In 1964, Browne joined the regular cast of producer Leland Hayward's satirical NBC television series That Was the Week That Was. That same year, he appeared in Babu in Benito Cereno at the American Place Theatre, later produced as part of a double-bill titled The Old Glory. In 1966, he wrote and made his directorial debut with A Hand Is on the Gate, a production of Negro poetry and folk music staged at the Delacorte Theatre and the Public Theatre, and subsequently produced at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway, featuring Cicely Tyson, James Earl Jones, and Moses Gunn. The production was revived at the Afro-American Studio in New York City from 1976 to 1977.

Browne was a consistent presence on American television from the late 1960s onward, guest-starring in both comedic and dramatic series including Mannix, All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, Sanford and Son, and A Different World. In 1980, he guest-starred in an episode of Benson with Robert Guillaume and subsequently joined the cast of Benson's parent series Soap, playing Saunders, the erudite butler who replaces Benson. He appeared as Professor Foster on The Cosby Show in 1986, a role for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. His film work included a role as a camp cook in The Cowboys (1972) with John Wayne and an appearance in The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) with John Amos and Jan-Michael Vincent. He also narrated the films Babe and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties, which grossed a combined $400 million. In 1977, he narrated The Story of Star Wars, a record album produced by George Lucas and Alan Livingston presenting an abridged version of the film using its original dialogue and sound effects.

Browne was deliberate in avoiding stereotypical roles routinely offered to Black actors, preferring work that allowed him to engage with classical and literary material. He and actor Anthony Zerbe toured the United States with Behind the Broken Words, a poetry performance piece that included readings of poetry, some written by Browne himself, as well as comedy and dramatic works. He also found sustained success performing in the plays of August Wilson, both on Broadway and at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. In 2003, four years before his death, he narrated a series of WPA slave narratives for the HBO film Unchained Memories.

Browne never married and had no children. He died of stomach cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on April 11, 2007, at the age of 84.