Johnny Mack Brown
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.
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
((archive footage))
The Secret Six
(Hank Rogers)
Our Dancing Daughters
(Ben Blaine)
Against the Law
(Steve Wayne)
After Midnight
(Party Boy (uncredited))
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)
Apache Uprising
(Sheriff Ben Hall)
The Last Flight
(Bill Talbot)
Montana Moon
(Larry)
Wells Fargo
(Talbot Carter)
The Valiant
(Robert Ward)
Stagecoach Buckaroo
(Steve Hardin)
Slide, Kelly, Slide
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Between Men
(Johnny Wellington Jr.)
Legends of the West
(Billy the Kid in 'Billy the Kid')
The Courageous Avenger
(Kirk Baxter)
Soft Living
(Stockney Webb)
Billy the Kid
(Billy the Kid)
Cross Streets
(Adam Blythe)
Branded a Coward
(Johnny Hume)
The Fair Co-Ed
(Bob)
Texas Lawmen
(Marshal Johnny Mack Brown)
A Lady of Chance
(Steve Crandall)
The Divine Woman
(Jean Lery)
Short Grass
(Sheriff Ord Keown)
Flames
(Charlie)
Malay Nights
(Jim Wilson)
Desert Phantom
(Billy Donovan)
Rogue of the Range
(Dan Doran)
Partners of the Trail
(Jack McKenzie)
The Texas Kid
(Jack McKenzie)
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
((archive footage))
The Silver Bullet
(Silver Jim Donovan)
St. Louis Woman
(Jim Warren)
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 Gambling Terror
(Jeff Hayes)
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)
Hurricane
(Dan)
Undertow
(Paul Whalen)
Chip of the Flying U
('Chip' Bennett)
Land of Liberty
(Billy the Kid (edited from 'Billy the Kid'))
Jazz Heaven
(Barry Holmes)
A Woman of Affairs
(David Furness)
Wild West Days
(Kentucky Wade)
The Vanishing Frontier
(Kirby Tornell)
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)
Stranger from Santa Fe
(U.S. Marshal Nevada McKenzie, posing as Roy Ferris)
Oklahoma Justice
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Prairie Express
(Johnny Hudson)
Blazing Bullets
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Whistling Hills
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Son of Roaring Dan
(Jim Reardon (Posing as Horace McPhail))
Overland Trails
(Johnny Murdock)
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
(Self (archive footage))
Shadows on the Range
(Steve Mason posing as Steve Saunders)
Six Gun Mesa
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Arizona Cyclone
(Tom Baxter)
Trigger Fingers
(Sam Hurricane Benton)
Valley of the Lawless
(Bruce Reynolds)
Ragtime Cowboy Joe
(Steve Logan)
Undercover Man
(Steve McLain)
Dead Man's Trail
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Over the Border
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Triggerman
(Johnny Mack Brown)
West of Carson City
(Jim Bannister)
Valley of Fear
(Johnny Williams)
West of El Dorado
(Johnny Mack)
Trail of Vengeance
(Dude Ramsay)
Border Bandits
(Marshal Nevada)
The Lost Trail
(Marshal 'Nevada Jack' McKenzie)
The Marshal's Daughter
(Johnny Mack Brown - Poker-Game Player)
Riders of Pasco Basin
(Lee Jamison)
Crossed Trails
(Johnny Mack)
Deep in the Heart of Texas
(Jim Mallory)
Gun Smoke
(Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie)
Outlaw Gold
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Man from Sonora
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Everyman's Law
(Johnny- aka The Dog Town Kid)
The Bounty Killer
(Sheriff Green)
Forever Yours
(Maj. Tex O'Connor)
Oklahoma Frontier
(Jeff McLeod)
Boss of Bullion City
(Tom Bryant)
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)
Flashing Guns
(Johnny Mack)
Silver Range
(Johnny Bronton)
Canyon Ambush
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Requiem for a Gunfighter
(Enkoff)
Little Joe, the Wrangler
(Neal Wallace)
The Old Chisholm Trail
(Dusty Gardner)
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
(Self)
The Play Girl
(Bradley Lane)
Colorado Ambush
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Montana Desperado
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Law of the Panhandle
(U.S. Marshal Johnny Mack Brown)
Raiders of San Joaquin
(Rocky Morgan aka The Black Rider)
Cheyenne Roundup
(Buck Brandon & Gils Brandon)
Man from the Black Hills
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Boss of Hangtown Mesa
(Steve Collins)
Texas City
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Fighting Bill Fargo
(Bill Fargo)
Outlaws of Stampede Pass
(Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie)
The Stranger From Pecos
(Nevada Jack McKenzie)
Six Gun Gospel
(Marshal 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)
Under Arizona Skies
(Dusty Smith)
Drifting Along
(Steve Garner)
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)
Law of the West
(Federal Agent Johnny Mack)
Range Justice
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Back Trail
(Johnny Mack)
The Fighting Ranger
(Johnny Brown)
Hidden Danger
(Johnny Mack)
Frontier Agent
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Gunning for Justice
(Johnny Mack)
The Sheriff of Medicine Bow
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Trails End
(Johnny Mack)
Western Renegades
(Johnny Mack Brown)
West of Wyoming
(Johnny Mack Brown)
Rustlers of Red Dog
(Jack Wood)
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))
Hollywood Halfbacks
Perry Mason
(Warner Griffith)
This Is Your Life
(Self)
Official Detective