Peter Brown (actor)
Pierre Lind de Lappe, known professionally as Peter Brown, was an American actor best known for his role as young Deputy Johnny McKay opposite John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop in the 1958 to 1962 ABC-Warner Brothers western television series Lawman and as Texas Ranger Chad Cooper on NBC's Laredo from 1965 to 1967.
Early life
Brown was born in New York City. His mother, Mina Reaume, was a stage and radio actress, playing the "Dragon Lady" on the Terry and the Pirates radio serial. He had an older brother, Phillip, and two younger half brothers, Paul and Michael. Peter took the name Brown from his stepfather, Albert Brown.During his United States Army service in Alaska with the 2nd Infantry Division, Brown became involved in writing, directing and acting in plays to entertain the other troops. Upon his discharge, Brown studied Drama at the University of California, Los Angeles and soon was appearing in plays and on NBC Matinee Theatre.
He supported himself by working in a gasoline station on the Sunset Strip. One night a man paid for his purchase with a credit card reading "Jack L. Warner". Brown asked the customer whether he was one of the Warner Brothers, the man replied "I'm the last one left". The next day Brown was offered a screen test at the studio.
Career
As a contract player for Warner Brothers, Brown appeared in the films Red Nightmare and Darby's Rangers. Though his role in Onionhead was cut from the completed film, the producer Julius Schermer hired him for Deputy Johnny McKay in Lawman, an important part that lasted from 1958 to 1962. Brown was the last surviving member of the series. Brown also appeared in the 1962 film, Merrill's Marauders.Brown appeared in dozens of other television shows and did several crossovers with other western series as Johnny McKay, including Maverick, in the 1961 episode "Hadley's Hunters," featuring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, along with a host of characters from other Warner Brothers. westerns, including Cheyenne, Bronco, and Sugarfoot. In 1957 Brown appeared as Clay Conover in Cheyenne in the episode titled "Top Hand." In 1958 he appeared as Billy Younger in Cheyenne in the episode titled "Ghost of the Cimarron."
In the Cheyenne episode "Renegades", Brown at twenty-two was cast as 17-year-old Jed Wayne, who enlists in the United States Army after his father is killed in an attack by Comanche renegades. Olive Sturgess played Kathy Donovan, who takes an interest in young Wayne and is the daughter of the fort commander, Colonel Ralph Donovan, who distrusts the Indians. The episode also focuses on the spirit and endurance of Wayne's mortally lame horse and the wisdom of the Comanche chief, Little Elk.
Brown twice guest-starred in another ABC/WB western, Colt.45, with Wayde Preston. He appeared as Dave with Andrew Duggan and Bob Steele, who were cast as Jim Rexford and Sergeant Granger respectively in "The Peacemaker" or "Judgment Day", the series premiere in 1957. Thereafter that same season, he was cast as Jimmy Benedict opposite Charles Bronson as the outlaw Danny Arnold in the episode "Young Gun". In the story line, Benedict, who wants to make a name for himself, challenges Arnold to a gunfight.
After his contract with Warner Brothers lapsed, Brown made two films for Walt Disney Studios, including Summer Magic with Hayley Mills and Burl Ives. He appeared in other television series too, such as Redigo, starring Richard Egan as a New Mexico rancher. He contracted to Universal Pictures for the 1965 NBC western television series Laredo, set on the Mexican border in and about Laredo, Texas.
Brown appeared in the pilot for Police Woman, starring Angie Dickinson. Brown appeared in several exploitation films such as Foxy Brown, Chrome and Hot Leather, and Act of Vengeance.
Soap operas
Brown also appeared on several soap operas. On Days of Our Lives, he played Dr. Greg Peters from 1972-1979 who was involved in a romance with Amanda Howard. He was Laurie Brooks' attorney, Robert Laurence, on The Young and the Restless when she was on trial for the murder of her former mother-in-law, Vanessa Prentiss. He would return briefly to "Y&R" in between soap stints in the late 1980s.Brown replaced John Shearin as Roger Forbes on Loving during its early days, but was written out after only a couple of months. From 1986-1987, he played Charles Sanders, former ambassador to Mendorra, on One Life to Live The character had a heart attack and died on the evening of his wedding to Lee Halpern. He subsequently played Blake Hayes on The Bold and the Beautiful, the ex-husband of Dr. Taylor Hamilton Hayes.
Personal life
Brown was married five times. His wives were:- Diane Jergens, an actress; they wed on 6 August 1958 and divorced in June 1960.
- Sandy Edmundson, a fashion model; they wed on 26 May 1964 and divorced in March 1971.
- Liliane Alice Yvette Safargy, a fashion model; they wed on 14 November 1971 and divorced in September 1974.
- Mary Kathleen Gauba, a tennis player; they wed on 29 November 1986 and divorced in 1999.
- Kerstin Kern; they wed on 6 September 2008 and the marriage lasted until his death in 2016.
- Matthew by his second wife Sandy Edmundson.
- Joshua, by Amber Karlson, with whom Brown lived from 1974 until 1979.
- Christi, by Merle Pertile.
Brown died on March 21, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona, from complications of Parkinson's disease, aged 80.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1957 | Colt.45 | Jimmy Benedict / Dave | 2 episodes |
| 1957–1960 | Maverick | Deputy Johnny McKay / Rip Fallon / Chris Semple | 3 episodes |
| 1957–1962 | Cheyenne | Ross Andrews-... Billy Younger / Jed Wayne / Clay Conover | - |
| 1958–1959 | Sugarfoot | Deputy Johnny McKay / Davey Reeder | 2 episodes |
| 1958–1962 | Lawman | Deputy Johnny McKay | 156 episodes |
| 1962 | Hawaiian Eye | Teo | Episode: "Lalama Lady" |
| 1962 | 77 Sunset Strip | Trace Morgan / Timmy Ellison | 2 episodes |
| 1963 | ' | Lt. Hodges | Episode: "The Bridge" |
| 1963 | ' | Det. Philip Reardon / Ed | 2 episodes |
| 1963 | Redigo | Johnny Porter | Episode: "The Blooded Bull" |
| 1963–1964 | Wagon Train | Ben Campbell / Aaron Balfour / Benedict O'Brien | 3 episodes |
| 1964 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Chris Forrester / Lieutenant Ben Hollister | 2 episodes |
| 1964–1967 | ' | Tom Conlan / Chad Cooper / Craig Ryan | 3 episodes |
| 1965–1967 | Laredo | Chad Cooper | 56 episodes, three of which are a credit only. Credited as Chad Cooper/Prince Lazlo in "A Prince of a Ranger" |
| 1967 | ' | Eddie Kimble | Episode: "The Enemy" |
| 1969 | ' | Dempster | Made-for-television movie |
| 1969 | Mod Squad | Lou Franklin | Episode: "The Debt" |
| 1970 | Hunters Are for Killing | Raymond Pera | Made-for-television movie |
| 1970 | ' | Scott Norton | Episode: "War Games" |
| 1971 | My Three Sons | Mike Turley | Episode: "The Love God" |
| 1971 | Dan August | Fred Bowers | Episode: "The Manufactured Man" |
| 1971 | ' | Johnny Brown | Episode: "Blind" |
| 1971 | O'Hara, U.S. Treasury | S.A. Bart Herron | Episode: "Operation: Spread" |
| 1972 | Medical Center | Dr. Musante | Episode: "Deadlock" |
| 1972 | ' | Stan Conners | Episode: "Tennis, Emily?" |
| 1972–1978 | Days of Our Lives | Dr. Greg Peters | 10 episodes |
| 1973 | ' | Ray Weaver | Episode: "The Vanishing Lady" |
| 1974 | Police Story | Chuck / Lloyd | 2 episodes |
| 1975 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Mike Ross | Episode: "The Covenant" |
| 1975 | Matt Helm | Episode: "Dead Men Talk", Episode: "Murder on Ice" | |
| 1975 | Police Woman | Paul Monarch | Episode: "Above and Beyond" |
| 1977 | ' | Officer Brady | Episode: "One Last Trick" |
| 1977 | Quincy M.E. | Bondine - College Football Coast | Episode: "Main Man" |
| 1978 | Wonder Woman | Inspector Tim Bolt | Episode: "Hot Wheels" |
| 1978 | Charlie's Angels | Mark Correll | Episode: "Angels Ahoy" |
| 1978 | Vega$ | Richie | Episode: "The Pageant" |
| 1978 | ' | Episode: "Breakout to Murder" | |
| 1978 | Flying High | Richard | Episode: "Brides and Grooms" |
| 1979 | Salvage 1 | Bill Kelly | Episode: "Salvage" |
| 1979 | Project U.F.O. | Steve Rollins | Episode: "Sighting 4026: The Atlantic Queen Incident" |
| 1979 | California Fever | Woods | Episode: "Beach Wars" |
| 1980 | ' | Floyd Baker | Episode: "Officer Daisy Duke" |
| 1980 | Top of the Hill | McCain | Made-for-television movie |
| 1980 | ' | Bodyguard | Made-for-television movie |
| 1981 | Fantasy Island | Patrick O'Herlihy | Episode: "Elizabeth's Baby/The Artist and the Lady" |
| 1981 | ' | Hijacker Thompson | Episode: "Airsick - 1981" |
| 1982 | Dallas | Tom Flintoff | Episode: "Denial" |
| 1982 | Magnum, P.I. | Robert Brighton | Episode: "Heal Thyself" |
| 1983 | Hart to Hart | Ray Martin / Dr. Scott | Episode: "As the Hart Turns" |
| 1983 | Loving | Roger Forbes | |
| 1983 | T.J. Hooker | Lt. Drummer | 2 episodes |
| 1983 | Manimal | Carl McGhan | Episode: "High Stakes" |
| 1984 | Whiz Kids | Androv | Episode: "Father's Day" |
| 1984 | Cover Up | Mark Reynolds | Pilot episode |
| 1984 | ' | Episode: "San Francisco Caper" | |
| 1984 | Riptide | Fred Cushing | Episode: "Peter Pan Is Alive and Well" |
| 1984–1986 | Simon & Simon | Manny Crobett / FBI Agent Frank Kenniman | 2 episodes |
| 1985 | Crazy Like a Fox | Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part" | |
| 1985 | Knight Rider | Episode: "Knight Behind Bars" | |
| 1986 | Airwolf | Herb Waldron | Episode: "Little Wolf" |
| 1986 | The A-Team | Episode: "The Theory of Revolution" | |
| 1986–1987 | One Life to Live | Charles Sanders, III | Featured Role |
| 1988 | Ohara | Austin Snyder | Episode: "Last Year's Model" |
| 1988 | Aaron's Way | Coach Grady | Episode: "New Patterns" |
| 1988 | ' | Mal Hutchins | Episode: "Caught in the Draft" |
| 1989 | Hunter | Fuller | Episode: "Partners" |
| 1989 | Generations | Doctor | 4 episodes |
| 1989–1991 | The Young and the Restless | Robert Laurence | 6 episodes |
| 1990 | Baywatch | Bucky | Episode: "Shark Derby" |
| 1991–1992 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Blake Hayes | 30 episodes |
| 1992 | Wings | Dr. Lasker | Episode: "Noses Off" |
| 1994 | One West Waikiki | Mr. Dineheart | Episode: "Along Came a Spider" |
| 1997 | Babylon 5 | Minister | Episode: "Intersections in Real Time" |
| 2000 | JAG | Bill Layton | Episode: "Real Deal SEAL" |
| 2001 | Disney's California Adventure TV Special | Made-for-television movie |