Brown, Himan 1910-, U.S. Radio Producer
Himan Brown directed and produced some of the most memorable dramas in radio history. His opening signatures are classics: the steam train of Grand Central Station, the urgent "calling all cars" and sirens of Dick Tracy, and the creaking door of Inner Sanctum and Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Radio Mystery Theater. The latter sound effect was the first sound to be trademarked. Brown's longevity in the business is remarkable: his program creation and directing credits span eight decades (1920s-90s), and he has directed more than 30,000 shows.
Brown was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1910 to poor parents who immigrated from Odessa (in what is now Ukraine). Brown could not speak English when he started school; he remained fluent in Yiddish throughout his life. He became involved in theater as a teenager, performing at the Brooklyn Jewish Center under the direction of Moss Hart. He also assisted with his father's dress contracting business throughout his school years, which culminated in a law degree from Brooklyn College in 1931 when he was just 21.
Like many who became successful in the embryonic days of radio, Brown's chutzpah played a role. In 1927 he convinced the licensee of WRNY at the Roosevelt Hotel to let him read poetry (billed as Hi Brow Readings). He then landed an audition at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), where his Jewish dialect characterizations, honed on the Borscht Circuit and drawn from Milt Gross's cartoons, resulted in a month-long stint on the network. First, however, he had to secure, through determined, repeated visits, Gross's permission to use the work.
Gertrude Berg, creator of The Rise of the Goldbergs, heard Brown's performance and asked for help in selling her concept. He sold the series to NBC and played the part of Jake Goldberg in early episodes. Brown later claimed that Berg pushed him out of the show, abrogating their joint partnership agreement. The experience soured Brown but taught him that his forte was program packaging and sales. Functioning as an independent packager during an era in which advertising agencies predominated, Brown matched sponsors with program ideas. He acted in, cast, and directed his earliest serials, Little Italy and Bronx Marriage Bureau, which were seasonal runs for sponsors Blue Coal and Goodman's Matzos.
Brown began working in the early 1930s with Anne Ashenhurst, who, with Frank Hummert--later her husband--produced nearly half of the woman-oriented serials in the mid-1930s. Brown produced and directed the Hummert serials Marie, the Little French Princess; David Harum; John's Other Wife; and Way Down East. He often directed as many as four productions daily. Some of Brown's shows became well known for the premiums they offered. David Harum gave away a horse every week during one promotion. Listeners were also asked to suggest names for Harum's horse; 400,000 suggestions poured in--all attached to sponsor Bab-O's labels. The program was also notable because it was one of the first in which the main character, rather than the announcer, pitched the product.
Brown gave many talented people their first break in radio: the actress Agnes Morehead, writer Irwin Shaw (who wrote Dick Tracy and The Gumps for two years), lyricist and composer Frank Loesser, and others.
His works were sometimes criticized for being too sexy (The Thin Man), too violent (Dick Tracy), or too scary (Inner Sanctum). Inner Sanctum was especially popular, ranking in the top 20 shows for more than 10 years.
During World War II, he worked with the Office of War Information and the Writers War Board. He integrated conservation and war bond appeals into his programs (such as the children's pledge to save paper on Terry and the Pirates: "Turn in every scrap you can, to lick the Nazis and Japan") and produced patriotic home-front serials such as Green Valley, U.S.A. Before America even entered the war, Brown co-produced a series called Main Street, U.S.A., to dramatize the fascist threat. Brown was blacklisted in Red Channels in 1950, along with many notables in the broadcast industry. Years later, he testified in John Henry Faulk's libel trial that he himself had been pressured to drop a blacklisted cast member.
Brown produced public service films (such as A Morning for Jimmy for the Urban League), televised mystery shows (the syndicated Inner Sanctum Mysteries), and a handful of movies in the 1950 and 1960s. He also produced several star-studded televised specials called The Stars Salute to raise money for the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. He directed spectacular Hanukkah festivals held in Madison Square Garden for 18 years running, raising $500 million in bonds for the new nation of Israel.
His signature series, CBS Radio Mystery Theater, debuted in 1974. Brown received more than 100,000 letters when he called for early signs of support for the show. Recognized in 1975 with a Peabody Award, the program ran seven days a week for nine years--an amazing record of almost 1,500 original episodes. At its apex, it aired on 350 stations and drew an audience of 5 million--in an era in which radio drama was thought to be extinct. In 1977, Brown created the children's program The General Mills Adventure Theater, dramas commended by the National Education Association for invigorating student interest in literature.
Brown's later works (for example, Americans All) dramatized biographies of famous Americans for Voice of America. He donates his time to such projects, and his foundation, the Radio Drama Network, often finances production costs, working in conjunction with universities and groups such as the Freedom Forum.
Brown is a generous philanthropist and an avid art collector. Still going strong at the beginning of the new millennium, he participated in radio drama workshops around the country, directed live dramas, and worked tirelessly to revive radio drama.
-Patricia Joyner Priest
From Enyclopedia of Radio:
Himan Brown. Born in Brooklyn, New York, 21 July 1910. B.A. in Liberal Arts, Brooklyn College, and L.L.B., Brooklyn Law School, jointly awarded in 1931; radio debut in Hi Brow Readings, 1927. Recipient: Mystery Writers of America Raven Award for Inner Sanctum, 1948; Radio and Television Editors' Director of the Year Award, 1958; American Federation of Television and Radio Artists commendation, Writers Guild Award, Mystery Writers of America Raven Award, and Peabody Award, 1974, for CBS Radio Mystery Theater; Public Relations Society of America/New York's Big Apple Award for work on behalf of the United Jewish Appeal/Federation of New York, 1994; inducted into Emerson Radio Hall of Fame, 1988, and Museum of Broadcast Communication's Radio Hall of Fame, 1995; designated American Broadcast Pioneer, 1997. Lives in New York City.
Radio Series
1927 The Hi Brow Readings; Milt Gross's Nize Baby Readings 1929=-34, 1936=-45, 1949=-50 The Rise of the Goldbergs 1931, 1934=-37 The Gumps 1932=-34 The Bronx Marriage Bureau 1933=-34 Little Italy 1933 Jack Dempsey's Gymnasium 1933=-35 Marie, the Little French Princess 1934=-35 Peggy's Doctor 1934=-39, 1943=-48 Dick 1935=-36 Flash Gordon 1935 Captain Tom's Log 1936=-37 Way Down 1936=-42 John's Other 1936=-51 David Harum 1936=-38 Thatcher Col 1937=-39, 1941=-48 Terry and the Pirates 1937=-42, 1944=-54 Grand Central Station 1937 Dr. Friendly 1938 Main Street, U.S.A. 1938=-48, 1951=-52, 1955 Joyce Jordan, Girl Interne (became Joyce Jordan, M.D., in 1942) 1938=-40 Your Family and Mine 1939=-40 Hilda Hope, M.D. 1941 City Desk 1941=-50 The Adventures of the Thin 1941=-52 Inner Sanctum Mysteries 1941=-49, 1954 Bulldog Drummond 1941=-44, 1948=-49, 1951 Philip Morris Playhouse 1942=-44 Green Valley, U.S.A. 1943=-44, 1946, 1950=-51 The Adventures of Nero 1947 International Airport 1949=-53 The Affairs of Peter Salem 1951 The Private Files of Rex Saunders 1951=-55 Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator 1955=-56, 1959=-60 The NBC Radio Theater (Morning Matinee 1974=-82 CBS Radio Mystery Theater 1977=-78 The General Mills Adventure Theater 1984 Americans All 1988 We, the People 1990 A More Perfect Union 1998=-99 They Were Giants 1999 They Made Headlines
Television Series
Lights Out, 1949=-52; Inner Sanctum Mysteries, 1954; His Honor, Homer Bell, 1955; The Chevy Mystery Show, 1960; The Stars Salute, 1960-66
Films
That Night, 1957; The Violators, 1957
Selected Publications
Editor, Strange Tales from CBS Radio Mystery Theater, 1973
