Jim Brown

Brown in 2014, photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: James Nathaniel Brown

Date of Birth: February 17, 1936

Place of Birth: St. Simons, Georgia, U.S.

Date of Death: May 18, 2023

Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: African-American

Jim Brown was an American professional football player, lacrosse player, sports analyst, actor, and civil rights activist. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) for eight years, and is considered one of the greatest running backs, and overall players, in league history. He is the only player in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game. Becoming an actor in the mid 1960s, his films include Rio Conchos, The Dirty Dozen, Dark of the Sun, Ice Station Zebra, The Split, Riot, 100 Rifles, Kenner, …tick…tick…tick…, El Condor, The Grasshopper, Slaughter, and its sequel; Black Gunn, The Slams, I Escaped from Devil’s Island, Three the Hard Way, Take a Hard Ride, Fingers, One Down, Two to Go; The Running Man, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Crack House, Original Gangstas, Mars Attacks!, He Got Game, Small Soldiers, Any Given Sunday, She Hate Me, and Animal (2005). He founded the Black Economic Union to help promote economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses.

He was the son of Theresa and Swinton Brown, a professional boxer. He had three children with his former wife Sue Brown. DNA testing indicated that he had Nigerian ancestry.