An All-American halfback while attending the University of Alabama, Johnny Mack Brown chose the silver screen over the green grass of the football field when he graduated. Signed to a contract with MGM in 1926, Brown debuted in Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) with William Haines in a film about - baseball. This was followed by The Bugle Call (1927), which starred the fading Jackie Coogan. In 1928 he appeared in the last Norma Shearer silent film, A Lady of Chance (1928). After that, he worked with Greta Garbo, Marion Davies and Mary Pickford. His muscular good looks only carried him so far in films, however, and by 1930 he had yet to find his place. At MGM Clark Gable was taking the roles that Brown was up for, so he went into a western for director King Vidor, Billy the Kid (1930). While Vidor did not want him for the part to begin with, the picture was successful; however, Brown's career at MGM soon ended. By 1933 he was still making westerns, but they were for low-rung studios like Mascot. More westerns at even lower-rung Supreme Pictures followed, as well as serials like Wild West Days (1937) at Universal. In 1943 Brown took his boots over to Monogram Pictures, where he made over 60 westerns. He started off as "Nevada Jack McKenzie" in the Rough Riders series, but the name soon changed to Johnny. As with most of the early cowboy stars, he was a hero to millions of young children and consistently among the top ten money-makers in westerns from 1942-50. The bubble burst, though, just as it did for Allan Lane, in 1953, as the days of the "B" western came to an end.
Movies
Colorado Ambush
Johnny Mack Brown
Six Gun Mesa
Johnny Mack Brown
The Secret Six
Hank Rogers
Our Dancing Daughters
Ben Blaine
Born to the West
Tom Fillmore
Fighting With Kit Carson
Kit Carson
Female
George P. Cooper
Mockery
Russian Officer (uncredited)
The Oregon Trail
Jeff Scott
Belle of the Nineties
Brooks Clayburn
Coquette
Michael Jeffery
Stampede
Sheriff Aaron Ball
The Crooked Trail
Jim Blake
Rawhide Rangers
Brand Calhoun
The Single Standard
Tommy Hewlett
The Last Flight
Bill Talbot
Montana Moon
Larry
Wells Fargo
Talbot Carter
The Valiant
Robert Ward
Stagecoach Buckaroo
Steve Hardin
Between Men
Johnny Wellington Jr.
Boss of Bullion City
Tom Bryant
The Courageous Avenger
Kirk Baxter
Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
Cross Streets
Adam Blythe
Branded a Coward
Johnny Hume
The Fair Co-Ed
Bob
A Lady of Chance
Steve Crandall
Texas Lawmen
Marshal Johnny Mack Brown
The Divine Woman
Jean Lery
Flames
Charlie
Malay Nights
Jim Wilson
Desert Phantom
Billy Donovan
Rogue of the Range
Dan Doran
The Texas Kid
Jack McKenzie
Partners of the Trail
Jack McKenzie
The Silver Bullet
Silver Jim Donovan
St. Louis Woman
Jim Warren
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
(archive footage)
The Gambling Terror
Jeff Hayes
Lawless Land
Ranger Jeff Hayden
Bar-Z Bad Men
Jim Waters
Guns in the Dark
Johnny Darrel
A Lawman Is Born
Tom Mitchell
Boothill Brigade
Lon Cardigan
The Great Meadow
Berk Jarvis (as John Mack Brown)
Pony Post
Cal Sheridan
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground
Wade Benson
Flaming Frontiers
Tex Houston
Undertow
Paul Whalen
Chip of the Flying U
'Chip' Bennett
Jazz Heaven
Barry Holmes
Wild West Days
Kentucky Wade
The Navajo Trail
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Law of the Range
Steve Howard
Man from Montana
Sheriff Bob Dawson
The Masked Rider
Larry Prescott
The Gentleman from Texas
Johnny Macklin
Annapolis
Bill
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Alabam' Brewster
Son of a Sailor
'Duke'
The Lone Star Trail
Blaze Barker
Arizona Cyclone
Tom Baxter
Short Grass
Sheriff Ord Keown
Crossed Trails
Johnny Mack
Riders of Pasco Basin
Lee Jamison
Gun Smoke
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Blazing Bullets
Johnny Mack Brown
Outlaw Gold
Johnny Mack Brown
Man from Sonora
Johnny Mack Brown
Everyman's Law
Johnny- aka The Dog Town Kid
Forever Yours
Maj. Tex O'Connor
The Bounty Killer
Sheriff Green
Undercover Man
Steve McLain
Trail of Vengeance
Dude Ramsay
Oklahoma Frontier
Jeff McLeod
Bad Man from Red Butte
Gils Brady / Buck Halliday
Law and Order
Bill Ralston
Law Men
U.S. Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Joe Henderson
Desperate Trails
Steve Hayden
Shadows on the Range
Steve Mason posing as Steve Saunders
Silver Range
Johnny Bronton
Flashing Guns
Johnny Mack
Valley of the Lawless
Bruce Reynolds
West of Carson City
Jim Bannister
Son of Roaring Dan
Jim Reardon (Posing as Horace McPhail)
Ragtime Cowboy Joe
Steve Logan
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Jim Mallory
The Lost Trail
Marshal 'Nevada Jack' McKenzie
Trigger Fingers
Sam Hurricane Benton
The Old Chisholm Trail
Dusty Gardner
West of El Dorado
Johnny Mack
Requiem for a Gunfighter
Enkoff
Little Joe, the Wrangler
Neal Wallace
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
Self
Canyon Ambush
Johnny Mack Brown
Law of the Panhandle
U.S. Marshal Johnny Mack Brown
Over the Border
Johnny Mack Brown
Montana Desperado
Johnny Mack Brown
Stranger from Santa Fe
U.S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie, posing as Roy Ferris
Oklahoma Justice
Johnny Mack Brown
Man from the Black Hills
Johnny Mack Brown
Raiders of San Joaquin
Rocky Morgan aka The Black Rider
Cheyenne Roundup
Buck Brandon & Gils Brandon
Boss of Hangtown Mesa
Steve Collins
Dead Man's Trail
Johnny Mack Brown
Texas City
Johnny Mack Brown
Prairie Express
Johnny Hudson
Fighting Bill Fargo
Bill Fargo
Outlaws of Stampede Pass
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Six Gun Gospel
Marshal Jack McKenzie
The Stranger From Pecos
Nevada Jack McKenzie
The Ghost Rider
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Ghost Guns
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Land of the Outlaws
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Law of the Valley
Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Raiders of the Border
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Range Law
U. S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie
West of the Rio Grande
U.S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie
Flame of the West
Dr. John Poore
Frontier Feud
Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie
Drifting Along
Steve Garner
Under Arizona Skies
Dusty Smith
Border Bandits
Marshal Nevada
The Haunted Mine
Nevada Jack McKenzie
Gun Talk
Johnny McVey
Raiders of the South
Captain Brownell posing Johnny Langdon
Trailing Danger
Johnny
Code of the Saddle
John Macklin
Land of the Lawless
Johnny Mack
The Law Comes to Gunsight
Johnny Mackey
Valley of Fear
Johnny Williams
Overland Trails
Johnny Murdock
Triggerman
Johnny Mack Brown
Back Trail
Johnny Mack
The Fighting Ranger
Johnny Brown
Frontier Agent
Johnny Mack Brown
Gunning for Justice
Johnny Mack
Hidden Danger
Johnny Mack
The Sheriff of Medicine Bow
Johnny Mack Brown
Law of the West
Federal Agent Johnny Mack
Range Justice
Johnny Mack Brown
Trails End
Johnny Mack
Western Renegades
Johnny Mack Brown
West of Wyoming
Johnny Mack Brown
Whistling Hills
Johnny Mack Brown
Rustlers of Red Dog
Jack Wood
The Marshal's Daughter
Johnny Mack Brown - Poker-Game Player
A Woman of Affairs
David Furness
Three on a Honeymoon
Chuck Wells
Saturday's Millions
Alan Barry
The Bugle Call
Bit (uncredited)
Starlit Days at the Lido
Self
70,000 Witnesses
Wally Clark
Crazy House
Johnny Mack Brown
It's Showtime
Self (archive footage)
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
(archive footage)
Against the Law
Steve Wayne
After Midnight
Party Boy (uncredited)
Slide, Kelly, Slide
Johnny Mack Brown
Soft Living
Stockney Webb
Hurricane
Dan
Land of Liberty
Billy the Kid (edited from 'Billy the Kid')
The Vanishing Frontier
Kirby Tornell
Apache Uprising
Sheriff Ben Hall
Legends of the West
Billy the Kid in 'Billy the Kid'
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
Self (archive footage)
Shows
Perry Mason
Warner Griffith
This Is Your Life
Self
Official Detective