Timothy Brown, a long-time NFL running back who was also well known for his roles in both the film and television versions of M*A*S*H., has died. Per The New York Post, Brown died from complications of dementia. He was 82.
Born in Indiana, Brown joined the NFL in 1959, spending most of his 10 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he became a key part of the team’s offensive line, as well as a regular at Pro Bowl games throughout the 1960s. Brown retired from football in 1968, at which point he transitioned into a full-time career as an actor, after having his TV debut on Wild Wild West the previous year. (He’d already also embarked on a sideline as a singer, with singles like “I Got Nothin’ But Time” and “If I Loved You” on Imperial Records.)
Brown’s second acting role was also one of his most prominent, scoring the role of Cpl. Judson in Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H. He also carries the distinction of being one of only a handful of actors to appear in both the film and TV versions of the franchise, although unlike actors like Gary Burghoff, Brown switched roles between the two, taking over the part of Captain Oliver Jones from fellow former NFL-er Fred Williamson. The character recurred throughout the show’s first season, before eventually being written out.
Brown continued to work throughout the 1970s and ’80s, most notably re-connecting with Altman for 1975's Nashville, where he got to indulge both his acting and his singing talents. His final film role was in 2000, where he had a small part in the time travel drama Frequency.
23 Comments
I’m still a big fan of M*A*S*H and always wished his character had more to do. For a show that was politically liberal, Brown’s presence in the cast was a wasted opportunity. I don’t remember him ever being involved in a major plotline. Though I suppose that character’s nickname not entering the zeitgeist (in any significant way) was a good thing for all.
What? He used to throw the javelin.
Good ol’ Javelin-Thrower Jones, they used to call him!
I read the reason they got rid of his character was that the writers were informed(possibly erroneously) that there was no record of any black doctors in the Korean War.
Though it’s also popular speculation that they realized after a few episodes that such an offensive nickname might work as a shock joke in a single film, but in an ongoing series it’s just plain uncomfortable.
Jones was actually a major character in the books, as was Duke Forrest. They were both from the same town in Georgia and lived in the Swamp with Hawkeye and Trapper John. At one point in the first book, and to a lesser extent in the movie, Hawkeye and Trapper punish Duke for making racist remarks about Jones.They were both in the movie, but only Hawkeye, Trapper and Jones made it to the series.
I heard that as well. Based on the hair length/styles, I assume the committment to historical accuracy was on a sliding scale!
There indeed were black doctors in Korea. The series even included one in a later episode, Der Tag, with Capt. Saunders, played by a young Joe Morton (most recently in God Friended Me).While the excuse was used as the explanation for writing the Jones character out of the series, CBS was surely getting backlash over the nickname. While it may well have been quasi-acceptable in the ‘50s, it was most certainly unacceptable by the time the ‘70s rolled around.
I think it was erroneous and there were a couple black doctors.
Was there an episode where the crew punished a racist patient by having the javelin throwing gentleman donate blood? I have vague memories of such a thing, but there’s so much MASH I can’t trust my memory completely.
There was such an episode, but I don’t think he was the donor.
MASH does this magical thing wherein no matter how many times I binge a block of rerun episodes, I always manage to see a new one. I think there’s a secret lab somewhere producing new episodes with time-frozen versions of the original cast. I don’t recall the transfusion episode clearly enough to remember the donor, but it did teach me about the origins of blood donation with the only good Dr. (Charles) Drew 💫
Unfortunately the idea that he died because he was refused a blood transfusion because he was black is an urban legend.
Hm. I’m not sure about that one, but there was an episode where they got a racist officer to resign when confronted with a higher-up who who basically threatened to end his military career for him if he didn’t do it voluntarily. That officer, played by the late, great, Jason Bernard, was not actually senior brass, but was in fact a dentist the 4077 gang enlisted in their ruse. The dentist then insisted Maj. Winchester see him about a bothersome tooth that the major had been ignoring, but the rest of the unit was sick of hearing him moan about it.
So many race-related ruses. There’s another one where they suspect a really nice-seeming officer has been giving black soldiers the assignments most likely to get them injured. They get Potter to pretend to be racist to draw the guy out, and it works. Then they reveal it was all a ruse and I think the officer faces charges.
If it’s the one I remember, the donor is a woman. An injured soldier asks not to be given “non-white” blood. Hawkeye and co. punish him by, uh, giving him a makeover so he looks black as a result of the transfusion. Later he finds out the donor was black and an officer, hears the story about Charles Drew, cue catharsis, lessons are learned, parting joke, credits roll.
That sounds familiar.
Geeeez, all the cast members of Nashville dropping off. Jeff Goldblum better keep himself safe.
sadly the character’s nickname was “spearchucker”
No mention of the character’s nickname, eh? Well, it’s not exactly politically correct in this day and age.
I had no idea what nickname you are all speaking of…so off to Wiki I go.Well now…that’s certainly a time capsule.I haven’t watched MASH in what feels like 30 years..I don’t honestly recall any black characters in the show at all.How does Klinger’s character hold up in today’s environment?
As a Charlie Pride knockoff, Brown had one of the more thankless roles in the film, but, for all the criticism of the movie in Nashville circles for looking down on the industry, they still gave Brown a great showcase for his singing and performing talents instead of just leaving it at the scene where Wade Cooley trashes him for being a sellout. I do sort of wish we’d been able to get his head (I would have happily cut some of the time spent on the Lily Tomlin character’s love life or that Peter Paul and Mary love triangle), but still, the above scene is one of the most visceral in the film, and Brown did well with what he had.