In Memoriam of British actor Robert Brown (1921-2003)

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2004-09-06

Robert Brown, "M" in four James Bond films - Octopussy (1983) (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989) - and one of the most familiar faces in British film and tv, sadly passed away on this day.

Sir Roger Moore commented:

"I was extremely saddened to hear this news, Robert had been a dear friend for over 50 years and will be sadly missed."

Born in the Scottish Hebrides, after a successful stage career he made his film debut in Cloudburst (1951).

Robert was a very versatile actor and as such he won supporting roles in dozens of films such as Derby Day (1952), Noose For A Lady (1953), Lost (1956), Helen Of Troy (1956), The Man Who Never Was (1956), A Hill In Korea (1956) and The Abominable Snowman (1957).

The following year he co-starred with Roger Moore in the TV series Ivanhoe (1958) which cemented a life-long friendship between the two gentlemen.

Twenty five more film and tv credits followed – including Ben Hur (1959), Dr. Syn alias the Scarecrow (1963) and Operation Crossbow (1965) – before Robert was cast as Admiral Hargreaves in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

Four years later, Bernard Lee who had portrayed ‘M’ in eleven Bond films passed away. Whilst the role was not re-cast for For Your Eyes Only, a new ‘M’ was needed for Octopussy (1983), and producers turned to Robert Brown.

He played the head of MI6 in four films: Octopussy, A View To A Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence To Kill (1989).

Robert also starred in popular tv series such as The Avengers (1965), Danger UXB (1979) and All Creatures Great And Small (1978).

Photo above:
Robert Brown in a scene from The Living Daylights. © 1987 Danjaq S.A. & MGM/United Artists Pictures. All rights reserved.

For more information about Robert Brown, check out his profile on IMDB:

www.imdb.com/name/nm0114533/

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#in_memoriam

#news

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In Memoriam of British actor Robert Brown (1921-2003)

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